Search Through Affordable Housing Grants in New York City, New York in the U.S.

Letter of Inquiry

Typically, the Altman Foundation uses letters of inquiry (LOIs) to learn more about organizations working in its five program areas. When openings in the Foundation’s portfolio become available, candidates that are a strong fit receive more in-depth reviews by the Foundation’s staff and, potentially, are invited to submit a full application for funding.

Given the volume of proposals in the Foundation's current pipeline, including active grantees that are eligible for renewal consideration, opportunities for new grants are limited at this time. Please note that we have modified the LOI process; only LOIs for the Health portfolio are being accepted at this time. In the upcoming period, areas of specific interest for new grantmaking are outlined below. Once you have reviewed this guidance, if you wish to submit a Letter of Inquiry, please answer our eligibility questionnaire. Regrettably, our small staff is not available to provide additional guidance about the LOIs that are not accepted for further review.

Expand and strengthen quality out-of-hospital health care for the most underserved and vulnerable populations.

Expand access to health care for underserved, uninsured, or vulnerable populations or communities.

Here, a particular focus will be:

• Projects that aim to strengthen and sustain the resilience and capacity of NYC safety net health, behavioral health, and social service providers -- and the ability of vulnerable and/or marginalized populations to find and obtain quality, accessible health and social services and supports -- in an era of reduced federal funding and public benefits;
• Projects that aim to document the value of, help mainstream, and sustain support for ‘whole person’ and/or integrated health, behavioral health, and related social care within New York’s Medicaid and safety net health care systems; and
• Projects tackling (i) barriers to health, behavioral health, and social services (such as affordability, immigration status, and accessibility) that -- at a structural, community, or individual level -- contribute to inequity and result in health disparities or (ii) social needs such as food and housing (when determinative of health outcomes and closely linked to health care)

Full Proposal

If we have suggested that you follow your Letter of Inquiry with a full proposal or if you are a current grantee applying for renewed funding, please log in to the grant portal where you will find the related application form in the “Proposals in Progress” section. Please fill out the application and submit it with the required documents. In the application form, please select from the three types of investments most relevant to your request:

• Investments in Direct Service
  • In this area we support programs and projects that create human gain for people in our areas of focus. Historically, most of the grants in our portfolio have fallen into this category.
• Investments in Capacity Building*
  • At times we believe that making an investment in an organization so that it can achieve and sustain stronger gains for those served is the best investment we can make
• Investments in Systems Change
  • At times we believe that the most pressing need is to make an improvement in the larger context of factors and forces that affect programs and organizations. The Foundation will consider requests for strategic policy, advocacy, and applied research initiatives that advance the Foundation's grantmaking priorities.

*Please note that if you are providing technical assistance services to other organizations, they are your clients and you should designate your request as a “direct service” application. The “capacity building” designation refers to organizations seeking to build their own internal capacity.

What does this program do?

This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

What is an eligible area?

Rural areas including cities, villages, townships and towns including Federally Recognized Tribal Lands with no more than 20,000 residents according to the latest U.S. Census Data are eligible for this program.

How may funds be used?

Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and / or improve essential community facilities, purchase equipment and pay related project expenses.

Examples of essential community facilities include:

• Health care facilities such as hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
• Public facilities such as town halls, courthouses, airport hangars or street improvements.
• Community support services such as child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds or transitional housing.
• Public safety services such as fire departments, police stations, prisons, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles or equipment.
• Educational services such as museums, libraries or private schools.
• Utility services such as telemedicine or distance learning equipment.
• Local food systems such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses.

Grant Approval

Applicant must be eligible for grant assistance, which is provided on a graduated scale with smaller communities with the lowest median household income being eligible for projects with a higher proportion of grant funds. Grant assistance is limited to the following percentages of eligible project costs:

Maximum of 75 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 5,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 60 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 55 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 12,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 35 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 80 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 15 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 90 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income. The proposed project must meet both percentage criteria. Grants are further limited.

Background

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation seeks to dramatically improve the lives of underserved communities across the globe by supporting scalable, innovative, and impact-first solutions that leverage existing systems and stakeholders. Our goal is to find social entrepreneurs with dynamic products or services that have a proven ability to positively impact the lives of underserved people, and nurture those organizations at the early stages by providing capacity, capital, and community.

Our application process is designed to be open and accessible, and we accept applications year round from across our priority geographies and sectors. Borrowing from our venture capital legacy, we find exceptional entrepreneurs and provide them with: 

Capacity

• The core of DRK’s model is deep and extensive operational and technical support for each portfolio organization, both through dedicated hands-on Board service and specialist capacity-building resources for fundraising, board and organizational development, leadership, financial support, and scaling strategy,

Capital

• DRK provides up to $300,000 USD in either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital over a three-year period, and

Community

• DRK convenes our portfolio and alumni annually, facilitating connections and community. 

What We Fund

DRK Foundation funds early-stage social impact organizations solving the world’s biggest social and environmental problems using bold, scalable approaches.

What stage of growth does DRK Foundation typically fund?

Early stage: Organizations who are early stage, which we define as post-pilot and pre-scale. This typically means: 

• Your program, product or service is already being used in the market or in the field, 
• You have early indication that your model is having its intended impact on the beneficiary populations,
• Your organization is relatively young (ideally between two and five years old, although we will consider both younger and older organizations).

Venture funding: In the case of for profits, we typically support Seed to Series A organizations, and never lead rounds; we also generally but not exclusively refrain from participating in financings exceeding a $15M USD post-money valuation.  

NYCT: Healthy Lives

We help providers deliver efficient, patient-focused, equitable, and cost-effective health and behavioral health services to all New Yorkers. We support projects that develop the skills and independence of four groups of people with special needs: the elderly, the blind or visually impaired, children and youth with disabilities, and people with developmental disabilities. We also support biomedical research and projects for animal welfare. 

Health and Behavioral Health

Program goal: to promote an equitable, patient-focused, and cost-effective health and behavioral health care delivery system.

Grants are made to:

Advocate for successful health care reform implementation to ensure:

• maintenance of a strong and viable health and behavioral health care safety net;
• access to comprehensive and coordinated care for those who remain uninsured or underinsured; and
• availability of screening, early intervention, and referral for effective treatment of disease.

Build the capacity of New York City’s health, behavioral health, and human service sectors to succeed in a reformed health care system by:

• developing effective skills training for the professional and paraprofessional health care workforce; and
• strengthening financial and information technology systems to allow transition to value-based payments.

Reduce health disparities between low- and higher-income neighborhoods through investments in disadvantaged communities that:

• improve indoor and outdoor air quality;
• provide safe and inviting parks and open space;
• promote access to affordable and healthy food; and
• engage residents in efforts to encourage physical activity and healthy diets.

Foster the independence of people with mental illness and substance use histories by:

• expanding innovative programs that offer clinical care as well as practical services, such as housing, employment, and education; and
• advocating for expansion of participant-led or informed service models that are sustainable and effective.

Read the background paper that informed this grantmaking strategy here.

Older Adults and People with Disabilities 

The Trust has a coordinated approach that reflects the common challenges and opportunities for the following groups of people: older adults, children and youth with disabilities, people with blindness and visual disabilities, and people with developmental disabilities. We support projects that target low-income individuals and communities.

Grants are made to:

Make New York City communities—especially those that are under-resourced—accessible, welcoming, and inclusive for people with special needs by:

• supporting research and pilot efforts that demonstrate these principles; and
• ensuring that laws that fund services and expand opportunities are implemented fully and effectively.

Ensure that health, social, education, and vocational services allow people with special needs to live up to their fullest potential by:

• supporting and replicating proven strategies that help these populations receive appropriate education, high quality vocational preparation, and equal employment opportunities;
• testing new approaches that use technology and other innovations to help people with special needs remain as independent as possible; and
• supporting families and caregivers of people with special needs.

Build the capacity of nonprofits serving people with special needs by:

• ensuring the workforce serving these populations is provided effective training, better career pathways, and increased job quality;
• helping agencies create appropriate financial and management systems, and partnerships to benefit from new financing mechanisms through Medicaid and Medicare.

Read the background paper that informed this grantmaking strategy here.

Mission

The mission of the Hearst Foundations is to identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States can build healthy, productive and satisfying lives. Through its grantmaking, the Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of focus—culture, education, health and social service—and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. In each area of funding, the Foundations seek to identify those organizations achieving truly differentiated results relative to other organizations making similar efforts for similar populations. The Foundations also look for evidence of sustainability beyond their support.

Whether providing a scholarship to a deserving student, supporting a rural health clinic or bringing artists into schools so children can see firsthand the beauty of the arts, the Foundations’ focus is consistent: to help those in need, those underserved and those underrepresented in society. Since the Foundations were formed in the 1940s, the scale and capabilities of the grant making have changed, but the mission has not.

Culture Grant

The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those that enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent. Supported organizations include arts schools, ballets, museums, operas, performing arts centers, symphonies and theaters.

Funding Priorities in Culture

In the recent past, 25% of total funding has been allocated to Culture. Organizations with budgets over $10 million have received 60% of the funding in Culture.

The Hearst Foundations are only able to fund approximately 25% of all grant requests, of which about 80% is directed to prior grantees and about 20% is targeted toward new grantees.

Types of Support

Program, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Program goal

To mitigate the effects of poverty, increase opportunity through effective services and public benefits, and reduce racial disparities.

Grants are made to:

Focus on early intervention and prevention to enable vulnerable children to grow up in stable families and succeed in school and life by:

• supporting a continuum of early childhood programs from birth to kindergarten;
• strengthening services for families with children at-risk of foster care placement and for youth already in care;
• reducing entry and re-entry into the homeless shelter system and increasing long-term housing stability; and
• increasing access to income supports and healthy, affordable food.

Expand proven and promising practices that help those in need lead productive lives by:

• supporting research, policy, and programs that direct resources to alleviate hunger, homelessness, and poverty; and to move individuals to stability and independence;
• advocating for wide-ranging, quality services that help poor individuals and families succeed.

Build the capacity of government agencies and nonprofits serving low-income New Yorkers by:

• supporting the coordination and integration of services across City agencies and service providers;
• training and supporting public and nonprofit human services workers; and
• advancing efforts that improve the funding, contracting, and support of human services agencies.

Read the background paper that informed this grantmaking strategy here.

The Labcorp Charitable Foundation

We believe every person deserves equitable care and education.

In 2020 Labcorp established a private charitable 501(c)(3) foundation to advance our desire to bring quality healthcare access to all by supporting education and our local communities. 

Common grant opportunities include:

• Supporting food pantries and meal programs
• Providing healthcare and patient services for underserved populations
• Encouraging STEM programming
• Advocating for healthy lifestyles through ongoing medical research and screening

Thriving Communities

We make grants to groups that protect and create affordable housing, promote equity in the arts, improve civic engagement, and protect our environment. We support agencies working on these issues at the neighborhood level, as well as government and nonprofit institutions developing strategies. We also support efforts to improve the functioning of nonprofits and government.

Focus Area: Civic Affairs

Program goals: to ensure a representative political process and improve the function of government by encouraging voting, holding state and local government accountable, and promoting civic literacy for children and new immigrants.

Grants are made to:

• Encourage voting through projects that:
• Support reform of election administration and voting infrastructure.
• Remove obstacles to voting, especially for low-propensity voters.
• Share nonpartisan information about candidates and elected officials.
• Make local and state government more accountable through projects that:
• Support efforts to make Albany work better for the citizens of the city and the state.
• Strengthen nonprofit civic groups.
• Provide citizens and advocates with information and skills needed to promote effective governance.
• Promote civic literacy in children and civic learning for our newest citizens through projects that:
• Encourage civic engagement among immigrants and their children.
• Enrich civic learning opportunities for children and youth.
• Focus on neighborhoods and constituencies with low levels of civic participation.

Philanthropy is our commitment to communities in which we operate and broader society. We focus our resources on a limited number of key projects that can deliver valuable benefits from our contributions and those of our partners. We give priority to innovative, high-quality projects that meet the following criteria:

• promote sustainable development
• offer an opportunity for Roche to use its expertise and logistics capabilities
• involve Roche actively at an early stage with local authorities and established partners
• engage Roche employees in cultural (focus on contemporary arts), educational and social activities
• managed by an accredited charity

Our four focus areas

Humanitarian and Social

We direct the majority of our philanthropic donations to humanitarian and social development projects.

Science and education

We are dedicated to programmes that promote scientific interest and provide educational opportunities for young people around the world.

Community and Environment

We are committed to building stronger communities and responding to natural disasters sustainably.

Arts and Culture

We support groundbreaking contemporary art, cultural projects and activities that explore the parallels between innovation in art and in science. 

Thriving Communities

We make grants to groups that protect and create affordable housing, promote equity in the arts, improve civic engagement, and protect our environment. We support agencies working on these issues at the neighborhood level, as well as government and nonprofit institutions developing strategies. We also support efforts to improve the functioning of nonprofits and government.

Focus Area: Community Development

Program goal: to build and sustain strong communities and create economic opportunities for residents of low-income neighborhoods.

We support a mix of citywide and local community development activities as well as citywide technical assistance, policy research, and advocacy. 

Grants are made to:

• Preserve affordable housing in low-income neighborhoods.
• Promote strategies for job creation and linking low-income residents to jobs.
• Develop new sources of capital and innovative community development tools.
• Enhance the capacity of community development organizations to function effectively.
• Monitor and document the effects of community and economic development policies on poor communities.

Read the background paper that informed this grantmaking strategy here.

Thriving Communities

We make grants to groups that protect and create affordable housing, promote equity in the arts, improve civic engagement, and protect our environment. We support agencies working on these issues at the neighborhood level, as well as government and nonprofit institutions developing strategies. We also support efforts to improve the functioning of nonprofits and government.

New York City Environmental Grantmaking Program

Program goals: to become a climate-smart metropolis; create healthier, more livable communities; and protect urban ecologies.

Grants are made to:

• Become a climate-smart metropolis by:
• reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
• improving the energy efficiency of buildings and various industries;
• increasing the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy resources;
• supporting distributed (on-site) generation, establishing microgrids, and modernizing the grid; and
• encouraging climate resilience and adaptation to climate change particularly in vulnerable low-income communities.
• Create healthier, more livable communities by:
• preventing air pollution;
• reducing the risk of exposure to toxic substances especially for disadvantaged residents;
• reclaiming and redeveloping brownfields;
• creating, improving, and enhancing open space and improving access to the City’s waterfronts; and
• ensuring that environmental benefits and burdens are shared equitably.
• Protecting urban ecologies by:
• safeguarding the City’s critical watersheds;
• preventing pollution of the waterways: and
• preserving and enhancing wetlands, urban tree cover, and wildlife habitat.

Funding

Our grants usually range from $5,000 to $200,000; an average grant is around $90,000. Often, a grant from The Trust cannot fully support a project, so we want to know where the rest of the money will come from.

Helping Build Better Futures

Our mission is to deliver great value to our customers every day. For over four decades, our deep commitment to the principles of providing value and caring for others has helped define our culture. It extends beyond the walls of our stores, distribution centers, and offices, and into our local communities around the world. The intersection of these principles defines our global community mission:

Deliver great value to our communities by helping vulnerable families and children access the resources and opportunities they need to build a better future.

Our Social Impact Areas

We bring our community relations mission to life around the world by focusing our giving on four social impact areas where we believe we can have the most impact and are critical to helping families and children succeed and thrive.

Basic Needs

We are passionate about supporting nonprofit organizations that help fill critical basic needs such as a warm meal, clean clothing, and a safe place to sleep for vulnerable families.

Education & Training

Our efforts have focused on quality enrichment and extracurricular programs that provide skills, resources, and opportunities to support school and career success for children, teens, and young adults.

Patient Care & Research

We support organizations that deliver services to families and children facing health challenges and life-threatening illnesses.

Empowering Women

We support programs that provide services ranging from help for those fleeing domestic violence, to others that offer education, training, and job placement resources.

About Us

At Trinity Church, we believe that every person is created in the image of God and that our faith requires us to use our gifts to care for them. We help build neighborhoods, expand institutional capacity, and promote change-making legislation through strategic and interlocking efforts: direct services programming at Trinity Church, grantmaking and gifts, and advocacy.

What We Fund

Our grantmaking focuses on four strategic initiatives rooted in a love for New York City and a strong commitment to building an equitable society in which the allocation of resources, opportunities, and hardships are not determined by race. 

• Housing & Homelessness
• Racial Justice
• Mission Real Estate Development
• Leadership Development
• Neighborhood Support

Neighborhood Support

In 2023, Trinity's Neighborhood Support team launched a grants program to make deeper investments into the emotional well-being of our community.

Marginalized and under-resourced communities face multiple, intersecting oppressions — from systemic racism and policing to poverty, underfunded public schools, and violence — that create toxic stress. We now have a well-established body of research demonstrating the significant and deteriorating impact of toxic stress on health and well-being, especially for children and families deprived of safety nets.

This dynamic was exacerbated dramatically by the pandemic, and continues to worsen, with communities and families managing the consequences of toxic stress with minimal to no resources. Their struggle is compounded by the lack of recognition and funding for programs that support a holistic, multi-generational approach to mental health.

Our goal with this new grants program is to help begin to fill this gap in funding, particularly for programs that take a well-rounded approach to emotional well-being with a focus on children.     

We seek to co-develop — alongside each neighborhood in Lower Manhattan — the necessary supports that help strengthen our communities and yield overall child, family, and community well being.

Our Focus: The Emotionally Well Child

The emotional well-being of children is directly tied to the functioning of their community, schools, caregivers, and the families with which they live. When relationships are reliably responsible and supportive, they can actually buffer children from the adverse effects of other stressors. Reducing stressors affecting children requires addressing the stresses on their families. When children are emotionally well, they’re better able to:

• Reach emotional milestones
• Reach developmental milestones
• Learn healthy social skills
• Learn how to cope when problems arise
• Have a positive quality of life
• Function at home and in school

Our Strategy: Resourcing Whole-Family Models of Care

With this special initiative, Trinity's Neighborhood Support team is maintaining our commitment to Lower Manhattan, specifically communities that lie south of 14th Street.  Our vision is an emotionally well community, with a strategic focus on the emotional well-being of children, from prenatal development through age 21.

Our funding strategy was developed to lift up models of care that embrace whole families, delivered by organizations that know and work in the community and who center the community in finding solutions.  

The relationship between three factors — family income and resources, education, and employment — consistently emerged as a driver of family well-being. This causal loop is virtuous (i.e., the more resources you have right now, the more you will have in the future) to the families with enough resources, and vicious for families without adequate resources (i.e., the fewer resources you have right now, the less you and your children will have in the future).

To truly thrive, families need to:

• Be able to navigate systems related to education, social services, and healthcare
• Obtain affordable, quality childcare
• Have the space to build community and deepen relationships

In partnership with the Neighborhood Council, Trinity determined that the strategic focus of its Neighborhood Support Grantmaking would be for holistic programs that support the emotional well-being of the whole family and focus on prevention and early intervention.

Downtown Fund 

The Downtown Fund provides targeted support for nonprofit organizations serving the Lower Manhattan area, dedicated to advancing the well-being of children, families, and the community. Funding focuses on initiatives related to education, health, social capital, and economic empowerment. Gifts ranging from $500 to $10,000 are available.

The Charles H. Revson Foundation operates grant programs in Urban Affairs, Jewish Life, Biomedical Research, and Education.

Urban Affairs Grant Program

The Urban Affairs program is focused on projects that enhance New York City’s vitality as a leading and livable urban capital.

We partner with civic and cultural institutions, local government, and independent nonprofits that design innovative, feasible initiatives to address the common needs of diverse New Yorkers.

The Foundation continually seeks opportunities to strengthen the city’s pluralistic communities and civic spaces, re-envisioning public libraries, affordable housing, and local public affairs journalism to cultivate engaged, creative urban citizens.

For more information, please see the FAQs for grant seekers.

Investors Foundation Grant

Invigorating Our Communities

We created the Investors Foundation to help make a sustained, positive difference where our customers and employees live and work—reflecting our mission to do right by our customers and neighbors. Together with the Bank, the Foundation builds and leverages purposeful relationships with not-for-profit organizations, local businesses, public servants and other pillars of the community to foster welcome change.

Key Characteristics

• Civic-Minded Initiatives: Foundation efforts focus on the arts, education, health and human services, youth programs, affordable housing and more. Since inception in 2005, the Investors Foundation has given more than $40 million to thousands of worthy community organizations in New Jersey, New York City and Long Island.
• Aligning with the UN SDGs: The Foundation is aligning its efforts closely with those of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular: no poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; climate; quality education; and, economic growth.

Mission

Investors Foundation is dedicated to supporting creative initiatives to diverse community organizations that support Arts, Education, Health and Human Services, Youth, and Affordable Housing in communities the former Investors Bank served. 

The Impact Fund awards recoverable grants to legal services nonprofits, private attorneys, and small law firms who seek to confront economic, environmental, racial, and social injustice. Since our founding in 1992, the Impact Fund has made more than 800 recoverable grants totaling more than $10 million for impact litigation. We award grants four times per year, most within the range of US$10,000 to US$50,000.

Social Justice

The Impact Fund provides grants and legal support to assist in human and civil rights cases. We have helped to change dozens of laws and win cases to improve the rights of thousands. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Texas and North Carolina, incarcerated people with mental health disabilities are forced to remain in jail despite being found not guilty and unable to proceed with a criminal trial.
• In Orange County, California there are currently 13 gang injunctions under effect, which disproportionately affect young men of color.
• In Chicago, Illinois, the city’s homeless shelter program is inaccessible to people with disabilities.
• In Springfield, Oregon, the city and its police department used excessive force against Black Lives Matter protesters.
• In West Virginia, the state fails to protect children in foster care from abuse and neglect. 
• In Montana, voter suppression laws disadvantage young adults and give priority to gun owners.
• In Gary, Indiana, a gun manufacturer negligently marketed and distributed its guns, leading to an epidemic of gun violence in the city. 
• In Vancouver, British Columbia, the police perpetuate systemic discrimination against Indigenous people through bureaucratic measures.

Environmental Justice

The Impact Fund provides grants to support local litigation for environmental justice. These grants are for cases aiming to help people or communities who are affected by environmental harm or who lack access to basic environmental needs, such as clean water, clean air, adequate waste treatment, and green spaces. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Centreville, Illinois, the city’s failure to maintain its sewer system has caused raw sewage to flood peoples’ homes, endangering the property and health of a predominantly Black community.
• In Fresno County, California, the California Department of Transportation approved a highway expansion project that would increase air pollution and traffic in one of the state’s most environmentally burdened communities.
• In downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the proposed expansion of a highway would divide the region's Black, Asian, and Latine neighborhoods and cause pollution and ill health.
• In North Dakota, the five-month closure of a highway in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests disproportionately affected the livelihoods and health of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe members.
• In Ontario, Canada, mercury contamination of the English-Wabigoon river system causes catastrophic environmental and health impacts for the Grassy Narrows First Nation.
• In Sacramento, California, the county government and Sacramento Area Sewer District violated the Clean Water Act by discharging raw sewage into nearby rivers.
• In the Eastern Coachella Valley in California, 1,900 residents of the Oasis Mobile Home Park suffer from arsenic-laced drinking water, wastewater contamination, and overcharging for utilities.

Economic Justice

The Impact Fund provides financial and other forms of support to cases fighting for economic justice. From workers' rights to consumer protection for vulnerable populations, impact litigation is a powerful tool to hold corporationss and the government accountable. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Brooklyn, New York, a prominent mortgage lender engaged in predatory practices, leaving homeowners of color at risk of losing their homes. 
• In Washington, live-in caregivers are unconstitutionally excluded from the state’s wage-and-hour protections.
• In Ravalli County, Montana, the county has created a “modern-day debtors’ prison” by incarcerating people unable to afford pre-trial fees. 
• In San Diego, California, vehicle ordinances target unhoused vehicle owners even when no adequate housing alternative exists.
• In New York, a federal immigration detention facility is violating minimum wage and forced labor laws by forcing detainees to work for just a dollar a day. 
• In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the city and county destroy the property of unhoused individuals and conduct forced evictions from public spaces. 
• In Miami, Florida, insurance companies discriminate against a nonprofit community development corporation renting to tenants with Section 8 rental subsidies.

Background

The Grants and Mission Investing (GMI) team at Trinity Church Wall Street uses the tools of philanthropy, our convening power, and our voice to advance Trinity’s mission goals.

Trinity Church has engaged in a strategic visioning process to clarify and articulate our core values and mission priorities. As a result of this process, Trinity’s grantmaking programs align with the church’s mission goal of building neighborhoods, leadership, and capacity.

Neighborhood

Trinity’s neighborhood is New York City — stretching from the sidewalks outside Trinity Church, Trinity Commons and St. Paul’s Chapel to all five boroughs, from members of our congregation to those who live and work in the city, to the millions of visitors we welcome each year. Guided by our core values, we believe that our neighborhood will thrive when we see an end to mass homelessness and mass incarceration. Through our grantmaking and other investments, we seek to realize positive alternatives for how New Yorkers can reach their potential and grow.

Housing and Homelessness Strategic Initiative - Break the Cycle of Mass Homelessness in New York 

Trinity Church Wall Street’s Housing and Homelessness Initiative seeks to break the cycle of mass homelessness and housing instability in New York City. This initiative advances Trinity’s mission priority to build up our neighborhood by advocating for New Yorkers who find themselves in shelters or who are on the brink of losing their housing. In addition to providing grants* and Program Related Investments, Trinity will use its voice and congregation to promote policy changes and solutions that address housing instability and homelessness.

Mass homelessness has reached an all-time high in New York City, with more than 60,000 people, including 22,000 children—over 25 percent of whom are under the age of five—sleeping in shelters each night, and an estimated 4,000 adults sleeping on the streets and in subways. With over 90 percent of people in the shelter system self-identifying as Black or Latino, there is no denying that homelessness disproportionally impacts communities of color. To address this issue, the Housing and Homelessness Initiative is working in close coordination with Trinity’s Racial Justice Initiative which is committed to dismantling racism by breaking the cycle of mass incarceration.

Areas of Focus

PREVENT: Trinity will promote housing stability, and prevent New Yorkers from falling into homelessness, by supporting the creation and preservation of extremely affordable housing.

Given the loss of affordable housing stock in the last decade and the paucity of housing affordable to extremely low-income New Yorkers, the development and preservation of such units is core to our strategy. Trinity’s aim is to help increase the pace of construction or preservation of extremely affordable units by 20 percent above the rate of recent years. Trinity will also explore ways to better identify and help at-risk New Yorkers from becoming homeless and combatting income-source discrimination that weakens the utility of rental subsidies.

Activities we will support will have the following goals:   

• Expand access to extremely affordable housing, including supportive housing by:
  • Providing bridge financing, down-payment assistance, and guarantees for affordable housing preservation and development
  • Building capacity for nonprofits to own and operate affordable housing
• Enable housed, but vulnerable, New Yorkers to stay in their homes by:
  • Funding research on predictors of homelessness
  • Supporting universal prevention activities to help vulnerable New Yorkers upstream
• Eradicate discriminatory housing practices and lower the barriers of entry into the housing market for communities of color, including justice-involved individuals and other vulnerable populations.

LEAD: Trinity will help end the cycle of mass homelessness for families.

  New York City’s band-aid approach to homelessness, which relies largely on shelter and hotel placements, has failed to reverse the growing crisis. Not surprisingly, while nearly all New Yorkers think more must be done to address homelessness, less than three in ten have hope for improvement. Trinity Church will focus on shifting the narrative towards hope and political commitment to effective solutions, spurring an ambitious, collaborative, public-private effort to stem the tide of family homelessness. Trinity will also invest in innovative financial models that provide near-term impact and the potential to scale up promising approaches. 

Activities we will support will have the following goals:   

• Identify clear, unifying solutions to addressing family homelessness and aligning champions behind a shared solution.
• Identify and implement solutions that break the cycle of generational homelessness with a focus on children and youth.
• Support innovative financing approaches to address homelessness that can be scaled.

LIBERATE: Trinity will help end homelessness for justice-involved New Yorkers.

  Central to the efforts to end mass incarceration and homelessness is the liberation of people leaving jail and prison. However, after serving their time, returning citizens often encounter barriers to finding employment, obtaining education and training, and securing housing. Trinity seeks to leverage our combined expertise in both the racial justice and housing and homelessness systems to support the holistic needs of returning citizens and center their voices in the movement to end mass incarceration. We will have a deep focus on increasing housing options for New Yorkers who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system.  

Activities we will support will have the following goals:   

• Expand supportive housing for justice-involved, complex-care homeless New Yorkers.
• Develop other housing options and services for re-entering New Yorkers.
• End the continuous punishment for poor people of color with criminal records related to housing, employment, and education.

What does this grant fund?

While Trinity offers both program grants and general operating support, we strongly encourage organizations that are seeking funding through the Housing and Homelessness Initiative to apply for program grants. 

The Venable Foundation envisions that its philanthropic investments provide essential resources to nonprofit organizations in communities across the country. Guided by the belief that everyone has the right to equitable employment opportunities, healthcare, housing, food, and a vibrant cultural community, Venable grantees ensure that economically disadvantaged people are given the tools they need to thrive.

The average size of a Venable Foundation grant is approximately $10,000. First-time awardees are usually on the smaller end of the spectrum. It is up to the organization to determine what it feels is an appropriate request.

Funding Priorities

Grant support is provided to assist with general operations and projects. Currently, the Venable Foundation’s funding priorities include:

• Human Services
• Legal Services
• Education
• Workforce Development
• Youth Impact
• Health
• Environment
• Arts and Culture

You can learn more about each of these funding priorities below:

Human Services – The Foundation has a strong track record of supporting a breadth of essential human services, including programs that impact people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, incarcerated and returning citizens, LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities, and those affected by domestic violence and housing insecurity.

Legal Services – We support the delivery of free or affordable legal services in our communities. Pro bono consulting and representation focus on a variety of issues, including domestic violence, housing, immigration, public benefits, and discrimination, among other areas. Legal service nonprofits providing “know your rights” training and other activities are also supported. The Foundation also supports training for youth and adults to ensure diversity and access to careers in the legal profession.

Education – The Foundation supports a wide array of early childhood, in-school, and out-of-school time initiatives that provide in-depth opportunities for learning and engagement to position children for success and level the playing field for economically disadvantaged youth.

Workforce Development – We believe that every individual deserves the opportunity to pursue gainful employment. Thus, we support organizations with the goal of developing the workforce of today and tomorrow. Successful programs recruit and train individuals and place them in relevant jobs so that they can earn a sustainable living wage for themselves and their families. Skill development is focused on low-income, underemployed, and unemployed community members, and on preparing youth for careers after their schooling is complete.

Youth Impact – The Foundation invests in services that impact children in each of our communities. These initiatives ensure economically disadvantaged youth are healthy and safe and have opportunities to thrive.

Health – The Foundation is committed to improving wellness and increasing access to care for economically disadvantaged individuals in the region. Successful organizations and programs work to eliminate barriers to healthcare for all ages and provide accessible and no-stigma testing for a variety of diseases. We support pediatric to geriatric services that address a variety of health concerns.

Environment – We support organizations involved in the preservation of our natural resources and those that are addressing natural or man-made disasters in our target regions. Programs educate communities and work for change on a variety of environmental issues, from wildfires to pollution.

Arts and Culture – The Foundation supports initiatives in the arts that promote deeper public engagement and build up the creative economy, with an emphasis on low-income and underserved communities.

Our Mission

The Scherman Foundation invests in the economic, political, and cultural transformation necessary for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to reclaim and build power. 

Our Strategic Framework

We believe that investing in cultural, political, and economic transformation together advances justice to realize our vision. We support organizations working at the intersections of these transformation areas inside our strategic framework. This framework is the foundation of our more specific and evolving program priorities.

• Economic Transformation
  • Our focus on economic transformation acknowledges that the root causes of economic inequity are linked to white supremacy and racial injustice and that the economic well being of BIPOC individuals and communities is critical for liberation.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Strategies and models that provide BIPOC communities with greater access to capital, assets, and opportunities
    • Economic stability and security for BIPOC individuals and families
    • Advocating for more equitable economic systems through policy reform, institutional changes, and increased transparency
• Political Transformation
  • We believe that those who have been excluded must lead the way in dismantling current political structures and creating new, inclusive, and reflective democratic processes.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Work and priorities that are driven by BIPOC communities
    • Forging multi-racial coalitions working toward racial justice
    • Reforming political structures and processes to make the political system more accessible and accountable to BIPOC communities
    • Increasing the participation of BIPOC communities in democratic processes and decision-making at all levels
• Cultural Transformation
  • Recognizing the crucial role of culture in advancing justice, we support organizations that harness storytelling, expression, and artistic activism to drive systemic change.
  • Our focus is on collaborative narrative change strategies, innovative storytelling frameworks, and equitable media accessibility.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Public Narrative Change: Combating misinformation and harmful stereotypes through investments in journalism, local news outlets, and nonfiction narratives
    • Artistic Expression: Supporting the creativity and work of BIPOC artists and communities without imposing agendas or conditions and transforming the field to do the same
    • Artivism: Using art as a tool for organizing grassroots movements and collective action, including funding on-the-ground storytelling and public art projects

General Criteria

We consider the following general criteria in our grantmaking process.

• Organizations that are accountable to or directed by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.
  • While we prioritize BIPOC leadership, our main focus is on organizations where BIPOC communities have clear influence and decision-making power over the organization's strategy, direction, programmatic work, and finances.
• Organizations that are intersectional in their work and practices.
  • Intersectionality recognizes that individuals hold multiple identities, shaping their experiences with power.
  • We look for organizations that demonstrate a deep understanding of intersectionality in their mission, programs, and practices; center the voices and experiences of those most affected by multiple forms of oppression; and address the interconnectedness of racial justice with economic status, gender, LGBTQ+, and/or disability justice as well.
• Organizations that work with others to build movements toward racial justice.
  • Movement-building is the long-term process of organizing and empowering individuals and organizations to collectively work towards systemic change and a shared vision.
  • We look for organizations and coalitions that reflect key characteristics of movement building including an authentic mass base; grassroots leadership; a shared ideology or narrative; broad coalition-building; and strategy to create and sustain structural change beyond specific organizations or campaigns.
  • The Foundation supports organizations focused on organizing and advocacy, while our Arts funding includes a wider range of approaches

Environmental & Climate Justice Program

Over the next 20 years, and likely beyond, climate chaos will be a primary driver of economic, social, cultural, and political change in the U.S.  But while transformation is inevitable, a Just Transition one that replaces fossil fuel systems that drive racial and economic inequality with structures that are decentralized, equitably distributed, and democratically controlled—will only be achieved through grassroots climate organizing and movement-building that embodies racial justice.

Climate change disproportionally harms Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, whether it is adjacency to noxious fossil fuel facilities that drive sky-rocketing asthma rates, the poisoning of Indigenous peoples’ lands, or the ocean inundation of unprotected communities already suffering from climate-driven heat waves. In New York, these harms will be increasingly exacerbated by climate-driven immigration, pitting one historically oppressed group against another. This reality is central to the environmental and climate justice movement. It is also the movement’s strength because frontline communities of color are the natural leaders to build economic, cultural, and political power in the fight to shape climate transformation. Local and state based community organizations and mass-based coalitions embody the intersectionality, first-hand knowledge, and determination rooted in lived experience that informs and drives systemic change.  

Funding Priorities

New York Regional Focus

The Foundation will focus its support on New York City and State in order to seek synergies with grantees in its other programs, facilitate deep staff engagement and support of the field, and take advantage of the moment. The state and city are at dramatic climate policy tipping points, positioned to demonstrate that a transition to climate sustainability is inextricably interwoven with the fight for racial justice. Having won historic legal commitments to a Just Transition—the CLCPA, Local Law 97, etc.—our grantees are working to defend those wins and fight for aggressive implementation. 

In order to leverage regional synergies (and confront regional challenges), the Foundation will continue to fund a limited number of grassroots groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Local Frontline Organizations and Allies

The Foundation funds multi-issue, BIPOC, community-based organizations, or coalitions of such groups, with a primary focus on racial justice and climate sustainability, from democratically controlled renewable energy projects and local/state policy to local climate resiliency and green jobs. These groups approach climate through the lens of local needs and concerns of historically oppressed communities. They are not first and foremost focused on emissions reductions (the usual measure of climate strategies) but on intersectional approaches such as asthma and PEAK plant transition; community self-sufficiency and solidarity through renewable energy microgrids and resilient, community-controlled community infrastructure; and the creation of energy efficient housing and green jobs. This complex intersectionality requires the Foundation to vet groups on the viability of their goals and strategies and on the authenticity of their community roots, power building, and accountability.

The Foundation provides targeted support for mass transit work. The city and region are uniquely shaped by the benefits and inequities of mass transit. These systems intersect with issues of economic access, health inequities, affordable housing, and, of course, climate. While almost all of the ECJ program’s grantees work at least tangentially on transportation issues, the Foundation funds a core group of grassroots organizing, advocacy, and policy groups and campaigns working exclusively for equitable mass transit.

The Foundation also supports a limited number of policy, legal, and technical support organizations allied with, and accountable to, frontline groups and coalitions.

National Climate Justice Groups

The Foundation will support a limited number of national Climate Justice groups distinguished by the following characteristics:

• A strong grassroots base in New York BIPOC communities, primarily through affiliations
• The capacity to both support and amplify New York climate justice groups
• An intersectional approach addressing racial, political, and economic justice in addition to climate
• A cohesive racial justice narrative built with other organizations and community partners

Our Mission

The Scherman Foundation invests in the economic, political, and cultural transformation necessary for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to reclaim and build power. 

Our Strategic Framework 

We believe that investing in cultural, political, and economic transformation together advances justice to realize our vision. We support organizations working at the intersections of these transformation areas inside our strategic framework. This framework is the foundation of our more specific and evolving program priorities.

• Economic Transformation
  • Our focus on economic transformation acknowledges that the root causes of economic inequity are linked to white supremacy and racial injustice and that the economic well being of BIPOC individuals and communities is critical for liberation.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Strategies and models that provide BIPOC communities with greater access to capital, assets, and opportunities
    • Economic stability and security for BIPOC individuals and families
    • Advocating for more equitable economic systems through policy reform, institutional changes, and increased transparency
• Political Transformation
  • We believe that those who have been excluded must lead the way in dismantling current political structures and creating new, inclusive, and reflective democratic processes.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Work and priorities that are driven by BIPOC communities
    • Forging multi-racial coalitions working toward racial justice
    • Reforming political structures and processes to make the political system more accessible and accountable to BIPOC communities
    • Increasing the participation of BIPOC communities in democratic processes and decision-making at all levels
• Cultural Transformation
  • Recognizing the crucial role of culture in advancing justice, we support organizations that harness storytelling, expression, and artistic activism to drive systemic change.
  • Our focus is on collaborative narrative change strategies, innovative storytelling frameworks, and equitable media accessibility.
  • We support organizations that focus on:
    • Public Narrative Change: Combating misinformation and harmful stereotypes through investments in journalism, local news outlets, and nonfiction narratives
    • Artistic Expression: Supporting the creativity and work of BIPOC artists and communities without imposing agendas or conditions and transforming the field to do the same
    • Artivism: Using art as a tool for organizing grassroots movements and collective action, including funding on-the-ground storytelling and public art projects

General Criteria

We consider the following general criteria in our grantmaking process.

• Organizations that are accountable to or directed by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.
  • While we prioritize BIPOC leadership, our main focus is on organizations where BIPOC communities have clear influence and decision-making power over the organization's strategy, direction, programmatic work, and finances.
• Organizations that are intersectional in their work and practices.
  • Intersectionality recognizes that individuals hold multiple identities, shaping their experiences with power.
  • We look for organizations that demonstrate a deep understanding of intersectionality in their mission, programs, and practices; center the voices and experiences of those most affected by multiple forms of oppression; and address the interconnectedness of racial justice with economic status, gender, LGBTQ+, and/or disability justice as well.
• Organizations that work with others to build movements toward racial justice.
  • Movement-building is the long-term process of organizing and empowering individuals and organizations to collectively work towards systemic change and a shared vision.
  • We look for organizations and coalitions that reflect key characteristics of movement building including an authentic mass base; grassroots leadership; a shared ideology or narrative; broad coalition-building; and strategy to create and sustain structural change beyond specific organizations or campaigns.
  • The Foundation supports organizations focused on organizing and advocacy, while our Arts funding includes a wider range of approaches.

Strengthening New York Communities Program

New York is where the Scherman Foundation began. For much of its history, the Foundation made grants to challenge inequities and improve the conditions of New York City communities most in need. This focus on social justice remains at the core of our grantmaking today, with a clearer focus on racial justice as expressed in our new vision, mission, strategic framework, and program guidelines. 

New York remains an important part of our grantmaking, with its own distinct grants program. The Foundation is dedicated to challenging the inequities that still exist in New York and building the power of its communities to create a better and more just future for all. With our clearer focus on racial justice, our New York grantmaking recognizes that resourced BIPOC communities, including communities of immigrants—newly arrived and multi-generational—are powerful catalysts for economic, political, and cultural transformation for all.   

Funding Priorities

Housing and Land Use

A stable, decent home and a vibrant thriving neighborhood are elemental to the economic, political, and cultural transformations that the Foundation seeks. The Foundation will therefore continue to prioritize grassroots, movement-building organizations fighting for housing and land use justice in New York City and State. The current crisis in housing and land use is the result of long-term, intentional economic and racial discrimination and neglect. The solution is, therefore, not simply increased supply—more of the same— but qualitatively different housing and land use systems reflecting stability, autonomy, and joy. That systemic change is only achievable through the mobilization and grassroots movement-building leadership of those most deeply affected: low wealth, primarily BIPOC communities.

The Foundation will fund groups based in specific neighborhoods as well as organizations and coalitions with city and state-wide reach.

We support organizations that address the following issue areas separately or in combination:

• Tenant supports and protections for regulated apartments, including rent stabilized units, public housing, and those covered by Good Cause Eviction protections. This includes access to rent relief and expanded housing vouchers, and full implementation of the Right to Counsel in Housing Court
• Preservation of affordable housing and neighborhoods through the strengthening of BIPOC residents’ and communities’ voices in decisions about their future. This includes increased access to capital and alternative land, housing, and business ownership models, including community land trust and social housing, that build BIPOC community power and economic stability.
• Promotion of equitable and inclusive development of affordable housing and communities through the shaping of policy and decisions on housing and land use, including zoning and planning

Workers’ Rights and Justice

New York has been and continues to be shaped by its BIPOC and immigrant communities, particularly by its low-wage workers from those communities. Their contributions fuel economic growth, strengthen social bonds, and anchor resilient neighborhoods. Therefore, we are committed to advancing worker rights and justice for BIPOC and immigrant communities in New York to better support workers and their families as they build greater economic stability and security for themselves, their loved ones, and their neighbors.

We support organizations that address the following issue areas separately or in combination:

• Protections for low-wage, informal workers, including, but not limited to, delivery and food industry workers, construction workers, domestic workers, and street vendors
• Systemic access to fair wages, work opportunities, training, and language justice for BIPOC and immigrant communities
• A fairer, more accessible childcare system for workers, families, and providers, particularly one that supports low-wage, informal workers from BIPOC communities.

We interpret workers’ rights and justice broadly and recognize that organizations may work on these and other related issues.  We also prioritize applicable organizations that apply a gender justice lens to their work, recognizing the disproportionate challenges faced by BIPOC and immigrant women in the workforce.

Other Priorities

As stated in our programmatic guidelines, the Foundation looks to support organizations that primarily use grassroots organizing and advocacy. However, we also consider grantees whose work incorporates or focuses on narrative and culture shift related to one of the above priorities.

We also consider organizations that take an intersectional approach, contextualizing housing, land justice, worker justice, and immigrant justice issues within a broader framework that is responsive to the needs of those most impacted. This framework should align with the Foundation's other program priorities, which include environmental and climate justice and civic engagement. We offer limited support to capacity-building organizations that provide crucial assistance to organizing and advocacy groups within our priority areas. We expect to expand this portfolio to include at least one new priority.

Background

The number of single adults aged 65 and older in New York City’s primary shelter system has more than doubled in the last decade1. The City’s dearth of affordable housing options, coupled with challenges maintaining safe, accessible housing on fixed incomes, contribute to this increase in homelessness among older adults. The City’s shelter policies, which often mandate entry into—and prolonged stays in—overcrowded, mixed-age shelters before accessing assistance with permanent housing compound the problem.

Beyond those in shelters, many older New Yorkers face housing insecurity. More than 60 percent of the City’s older adult renters are rent-burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent2. The City has a severe shortage of affordable senior housing, with some waitlists exceeding 300,000 individuals and wait times averaging six years3. Finally, the City’s aging housing stock presents accessibility and safety challenges. A significant percentage of older adults report poor housing conditions and difficulty aging in place.

The New York Community Trust (The Trust) seeks proposals for innovative solutions to prevent homelessness among older adults and facilitate successful transitions from the shelter system into permanent affordable housing. 

Calling to Serve

Since its inception in 2016, the Robinson Foundation has sought to demonstrate God’s love through sharing the gifts we have received. We understand the often unspoken hardships and struggles that people in and outside of our community face everyday. As such, our contributions are focused on relieving these hardships for the betterment of our world.

As a family-operated foundation, we pray that our small efforts will not only create immediate change in the lives of our neighbors, but will help set those lives on a course for success in the future. We are thankful for each and every day we have on this earth to use what God has granted us to make a difference.

Areas of Interest

• Animal Welfare
• Children & Families
• Disaster Relief
• Education
• Medical Assistance
• Nature & Wildlife Conservation
• Poverty Relief
• Religious & Spiritual Endeavors
• Veterans' Issues

Grant Considerations

We take many different aspects of applications into account when making grant issuing decisions, however these are some of the high-level questions we ask ourselves during the process:

• How does the organization serve their key audience goals?
• Is the organization fiscally responsible?
• Will a grant have a tangible, meaningful impact?
• Will we see direct results from this grant?
• Does the organization have other financial contributors?

Community Partnership Award

The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.

Six organizations are selected by an independent committee to receive the Community Partnership Award.

• The Thomas J. Moran Award is given to the national award-winning program and includes $100,000 and a documentary video about the program.
• The Frances R. Hesselbein Award is given to a partnership that is addressing social challenges in more than one community, or which demonstrates the potential to be replicated in other communities. This recipient receives $75,000.
• Four other organizations are named Honorable Mention recipients for their programs, and each receives $50,000.

Since its inception in 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 262 partnerships from cities and towns across America. Like so many of our clients working in the nonprofit community, Mutual of America is dedicated to having a direct, positive impact on society.

Goldman Sachs Community Development Grants Program

At Goldman Sachs, we believe that strong communities are the foundation of a prosperous society. Through our Community Development Grants Program, we provide funding for non-profits that are making a difference in low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities.

Eligible not-for-profit organizations are invited to apply for funding from the Goldman Sachs Bank USA Community Development Grants Program. The grants program seeks to support community development programs that serve low- and moderate- income individuals or communities and address key community needs such as:

• Affordable housing
• Community services such as education, including financial education for youth and consumers
• Small business development
• Neighborhood revitalization

The Equity Builders Initiative will provide organizations with 3-year unrestricted grants. Organizations must focus on affordable housing, small business development, neighborhood revitalization, and/or community services.

In addition to the new Equity Builders Initiative, we are also continuing our practice of offering 1-year program-related grants. This year we are focusing on homeownership for LMI households. Select organizations will receive a one-time grant up to $200,000.

The Equity Builders Initiative

Multi-year Unrestricted Grants

Through more than 50 meetings with nonprofit partners in 2023, we heard an urgent need for trust-based, multi-year, general operating grants.

As a result, we are introducing our new Equity Builders Initiative, which will award more than $1 million in unrestricted funding over three years to each selected organization.

Eligible organizations must serve New York City, Hudson and Essex Counties in New Jersey, or Salt Lake City, UT.

The Change Makers Initiative

LMI Homeownership Focused Grant

In addition to the new Equity Builders Initiative, we are also continuing our practice of offering 1-year program-related grants. This year we are focusing on homeownership for low- and moderate-income (LMI) households.

Select organizations will receive a one-time grant up to $200,000 towards their homeownership initiative.

Eligible organizations must serve New York City, Hudson and Essex Counties in New Jersey, or Salt Lake City, UT.

Ponce Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ponce Financial Group (PFG), is a Minority Depository Institution (MDI), a certified CDFI and a certified SBA lender. Ponce Bank is a federally chartered savings association with deep New York City roots and steadfast commitment to equitable access to banking.

Ponce was founded in 1960 by Latino community members of the South Bronx to address the under-serving and under-banking that existed in communities of color and counter the targeted disinvestment in those neighborhoods. Our Bank has earned a reputation for serving the needs of our communities by emphasizing the importance of personal banking and by promoting local economic development. We employ a highly qualified and professional staff and offer a wide variety of products and services designed to meet the needs of our customers and our communities. We are honored to serve our communities and will be honored to serve you through the Ponce De Leon Foundation.

Ponce De Leon Foundation’s mission is to help address the economic and social challenges faced by the communities we serve by supporting programs targeted towards our core priority areas: affordable housing, healthcare, economic development, education, social services, cultural events and targeted programming for Youth and Senior services.

The Ponce De Leon Foundation is accepting proposals for community projects that seek to positively impact individuals, groups and services in the above noted core areas. 

The Elizabeth M. Pfriem Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation established in March 2015 and based in Rye Brook, New York.

Elizabeth M. Pfriem was the daughter of a Polish immigrant coal miner moves with her family at the end of World War II from the dying coal mines of Scranton, Pa., to the prospect of a better life in the prosperous city of Bridgeport. When you talk about business impact and philanthropic influence in Bridgeport, Mrs. Pfriem’s legacy is to be admired with the likes of P.T. Barnum and industrialist Frank D’Addario. She went about her business quietly yet her impact was wide and loud that benefited school kids, neighborhoods, social service organizations, medical facilities and the Barnum Festival for which she served as ringmaster, the only woman to occupy that role in its 70-year history. 

The Elizabeth M. Pfriem Foundation is dedicated to improving the human condition by supporting public charities that provide education, health services, food security, and safe, affordable housing, primarily focusing on the greater Bridgeport, Connecticut area. The foundation's mission centers on facilitating provisions that help vulnerable populations, especially children and families in need. It supports organizations that align with its goals of enhancing education, healthcare, food access, and housing safety. The foundation is committed to sustainable, high-impact programs that address community needs, particularly in Bridgeport.

Foundation Grants

Grants are made by invitation only to 501(c)(3) public charities that demonstrate fiscal responsibility, strong leadership, and innovative programs poised for growth. The Elizabeth M. Pfriem Foundation considers organizations that fit our funding criteria and align with our mission statement. The Foundation reviews Letters of Inquiry on an ongoing basis. Applications received after the deadline date will be considered for the following year.

Community Progress Makers Fund

Community Progress Makers is a Citi Foundation initiative aimed at supporting local community organizations connecting low-income communities to greater social and economic opportunity. The Foundation first launched the Community Progress Makers initiative in 2015 with a vision of empowering local community organizations to grow their transformative impact through unrestricted, trust-based funding. The Foundation is committing an additional $50 million to support a fourth cohort of Community Progress Makers. Through an open request for proposals (RFP) process, the Foundation will select 50 community organizations to receive the following over three years: 

• $1 million in unrestricted grant support
• Access to technical assistance from national experts and leading researchers
• Opportunities to connect and share learnings through webinars and local and national gatherings

Selection Priorities

For this funding opportunity, the Citi Foundation will prioritize organizations that demonstrate:

• Deep connections to the communities served
• Track record of partnering with other community organizations and stakeholders to achieve positive change
• Utilization of data to inform planning and the capacity to collect, analyze, and share data, results, and learnings
• Track record and innovative vision in one of the following areas of work: 
  • Affordable Housing and Access, such as efforts to promote housing affordability; home ownership; and resident support services to help people more easily access employment, education, health, and childcare.
  • Economic Development, including the provision of technical assistance to small businesses; commercial corridor revitalization efforts; and green economy strategies that promote job creation.
  • Financial Health, such as efforts in delivering financial coaching; integrated financial capability services; and savings and asset building strategies.
  • Workforce Readiness, including organizations preparing young people and/or adults for careers and entrepreneurship.