Search Through Grants for Community Centers in New York City, New York in the U.S.

Leading by Example

The Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation, which is managed by the Center for the Public Interest, has a mission to make grants which bring energy and interest of Brown Rudnick volunteers together with opportunities and resources to create positive social change. To maximize its effect, the Foundation focuses to organizations focused on education in underserved communities in Boston, Providence, Hartford, New York, Washington, D.C., Orange County and London (UK).

Since 2001, over 275 grants have been made and collaborative efforts undertaken with grantees, in each of these locations consistent with this initiative.

Community Grants

The Foundation awards Community Grants in the amount of $2,000 or less, to address specific, one-time, tangible, and immediate needs. Proposals are accepted on an ongoing basis from those on the "front lines" of education (the classroom teacher, student parent, school nurse, etc.) - the kind of need that those with funding authority don't have the resources to make a priority.

Your Proposal for a Community Grant

The Community Grant Program proceeds from the premise that those working on the front lines of the educational system have unique insight into small but significant needs or innovations that are often overlooked and which, when addressed, make a truly positive difference to the community served.

The purposes of the Community Grant Program are to simultaneously

• encourage those involved broadly with the Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest to actively think about the educational needs in the communities of Boston, Providence, Hartford, New York, Washington, D.C., Orange County and London (UK);
• recognize, encourage and collaborate with the front-line educators who often do not have a voice in funding decisions; and
• provide funding to assist with small, concrete projects or needs which will improve education in underserved communities, within a year of the grant award.
• (Grants are geographically limited to proposals that benefit educational programs in Boston, Providence, Hartford, New York, Washington, D.C., Orange County and London (UK). Applications seeking funds for use outside of the boundaries of these cities will not be considered.)

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

We strengthen community voices and ensure everyone has access to vital information and resources to thrive.

Our mission is to build public awareness about critical nonprofit resources, programs, and messages by creating and distributing community-driven public service announcements with local artists and creators.

We believe an informed public
drives an inclusive democracy. Nonprofits are the trusted voices that shape our communities and pave the way for a more inclusive and just world. But in today's crowded media landscape, these vital voices from local communities are often drowned out and lack the tools to harness the power of media and design as catalysts for social impact.

Our PSA Network

The PSA Network is the only free advertising space in the nation for nonprofits, by nonprofits.

The PSA Network is NYC’s first community media cooperative comprised of digital screens with trusted, community partners like health clinics, supportive housing facilities, community centers, and LinkNYC. The PSA Network builds awareness of essential community resources, services, and programs. Acting as a bridge between trusted messengers and underserved populations, the PSA Network puts the power of information into the hands of the community. The PSA Network is a free platform exclusively by and for any mission-driven organization to share information.

Share Your Info Across Our Network

Our goal is to help nonprofits with zero advertising budget share their message with the world. We get trusted and reliable information in front of the communities who need it most, for free.

The PSA Network is a network of digital screens located in community spaces such as health clinics, supportive housing facilities, and community centers that help build awareness about essential community resources, services, and programs.

The PSA Network is a free platform exclusively by and for any mission-driven organization to share information. Acting as a bridge between trusted messengers and underserved populations, the PSA Network puts the power of information into the hands of the community. PSAs are distributed in New York City, on digital screens in community spaces, and on the streets of NYC via LinkNYC’s digital kiosks.

‍F.Y. Eye offers this in kind opportunity to nonprofits at no cost, but please note that our PSA distribution has a significant media value of approximately $150,000, and is sought after by many nonprofits.

Our Work

A public charity, The Trust is a grantmaking foundation dedicated to improving the lives of residents of New York City and its suburbs. We bring together individuals, families, foundations, and businesses to build a better community and support nonprofits that make a difference. We apply knowledge, creativity, and resources to the most challenging issues in an effort to ensure meaningful opportunities and a better quality of life for all New Yorkers, today and tomorrow.

What the Trust Funds

We are metropolitan New York’s community foundation, serving New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties. Our competitive grants are made possible primarily by funds set up by donor bequests and wills, supporting projects to improve the lives of New Yorkers.

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: older adults, the blind or visually impaired, children and youth with disabilities, and people with developmental disabilities. We also support biomedical research and projects promoting animal welfare.

Biomedical Research

Program goals:

• Help early- and mid-career researchers start projects and gather data needed to apply for larger government or private grants.

Grants are made to

• Primarily support research projects for cancer, heart disease, and incurable diseases.
• Research Leprosy (Next Request for Proposals for the Heiser Program for Leprosy Research to be issued in late 2024.)

Leadership For Equity Grant

Investing in Diverse NYC Leaders

Investing in the potential of people is at the heart of our work to build a stronger New York City. With our interest in supporting and helping individuals step into their leadership, we are most interested in issue- or identity-focused programs that bring people from different groups together in a cohort that has sustained contact over a period of time.

At the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, we believe that strong leadership is necessary to create a more equitable and vibrant New York City. Therefore, we are committed to investing in groups that develop the leadership of New Yorkers to advance equity and to address structural inequities.

This is our primary grantmaking stream. Through it, we support New York City-focused efforts that:

• Approach leadership as a practice, rather than an identity. We don’t believe leadership development is for a select few or about superheroes. We see leadership as a practice that can be strengthened and honed through a variety of means, including gaining knowledge, perspective and skills, as well as engaging in individual and collective transformation processes. We invest in groups that identify, train, and support people and communities to grow their leadership abilities.
• Develop leadership for equity, particularly race equity. Recognizing that structural inequities have been perpetuated by exclusionary approaches to leadership, we fund those developing leadership for equity, especially developing the leadership skills of people from racial identity groups that have been historically excluded.
• Bring people together in sustained relationships over time. We’re looking for something that’s bigger than the sum of the parts. Some groups call this a “cohort,” which may be composed of member-leaders of an organizing group, different staff of multiple organizations, or other configurations of people engaged in relationship building toward action. We believe this type of approach expands the possibilities for systems-level change.
• Can demonstrate a long-term commitment to leadership development and knowledge of how to run a leadership development program well. We’re interested in funding those that have the track record or have done the research to offer effective leadership development programs. 

Our Program Areas

The Sills Family Foundation’s primary grants program intends to help children from low income families live up to their highest promise by concentrating on the following four areas:

Comprehensive Services to Families in Crisis- With a special focus on families impacted by incarceration

The Sills Family Foundation has a major focus on programs that support families impacted by the criminal justice system. We partner with programs that work to strengthen the parent/child bond during incarceration through facilitating transportation for prison visits, creating child-sensitive visiting areas in correctional facilities, providing parenting education classes to incarcerated parents, as well as supporting families through the re-entry period. This effort extends to addressing the inequities in the bail system, preventing juvenile detentions, and providing high quality legal services to low income populations.

In considering the rehabilitative opportunities so rarely provided to incarcerated individuals, the Foundation supports higher education and arts programming inside correctional facilities. The Foundation has begun to play a role in deepening policy makers and service providers’ capacity in this field. The Sills Family Foundation is proud to be a member of the NY Initiative for Children with Incarcerated Parents, as well as the New York Youth Justice Initiative.

Support to Underserved Communities- Through improved access to early education and reduction of neighborhood violence

Low income neighborhoods and schools experience a disproportionate amount of school suspensions, violence, arrests and damage to the community through involvement in the criminal justice system. We support programs that seek to intervene in this destructive cycle and help young people stay on the path to success.

Early education can make a world of difference in how a child goes on to succeed in school, work and life. This is especially true for children challenged by poverty, homelessness and other forms of trauma. Children who start kindergarten behind their peers may continue to face problems throughout school. Getting kids off to a good start is critical to their future.

We are committed to high-quality education experiences that help children live up to their highest potential. We want to improve chances for all children to succeed in life through access to education, early intervention and family supports such as mental health counseling and job skills classes for their parents.

Programs Supporting Immigrants, Refugees and Asylees

We believe all human beings have the right to pursue their dreams of building a better home for themselves and their families, and that newcomers to the US should have access to necessary legal, educational, and material needs.

Environmental Justice- With a focus on contaminants that harm the developing embryo, fetus and infant

Toxic chemicals are released into our environment every day. Children consume pollutants in their food, air and water, their toys, candy, even baby bottles. These hazards can cause serious health problems, ranging from asthma and cancer to brain impairment and behavioral problems. They take a greater toll on the most vulnerable: pregnant women, fetuses and children.

We want to protect families from lead, mercury and other toxic compounds. The foundation supports organizations that embrace the ideals of environmental justice and that protect against poor communities carrying a greater share of the toxic burden. We invest in programs that work to reduce pollutants in our air, water, food and homes so that the minds and bodies of our infants and children stay healthy and strong.

Arts and Culture- Arts education and other creative opportunities to support underserved populations

Arts and cultural activity can provide people of all ages important tools of self expression, can open paths to new forms of communication and can strengthen self esteem. We believe that high quality arts programming in schools, community centers and senior centers can be a powerful tool of social justice. The Foundation seeks to support culturally sensitive collaborations between teaching artists, educators and community leaders to bring the positive power of the arts to under-resourced schools and communities.

Funding Priorities

The Sills Family Foundation funds nonprofits that support early childhood education, environmental justice, arts and culture, and families in crisis, with a focus on families and communities impacted by the criminal justice justice system as well as refugees, migrants and asylees.

Funding Criteria

The organizations we invest in support families and communities to overcome obstacles created by poverty, racism and other forms of marginalization. The programs we support have passionate leaders, are community based and offer potential for systemic, sustained change, including the possibility of replication. We seek to fund organizations for whom our grantmaking capacity will make an impact.

Grant Making Budget

Most of our grants range from $10,000 to $25,000. The Foundation accepts applications for one-year grants only, with the possibility of renewal grants for extended periods. Many of our grants support general operating needs.

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.

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 Asian Cultural Council’s (ACC) Organization Grant program offers an opportunity for arts and culture organizations in Asia and the United States to pursue travel and activities that enable a deep cultural exchange experience for the organization, their staff, and other individuals and communities with whom they connect.

ACC’s Organization Grants support a range of activities that advance international dialogue, the sharing of practices and ideas, and the building of relationships across borders. Organization Grants may support travel to another country, territory, or region for their activities and/or hosting activity participants in the country, territory, or region where the organization is based. 

What do ACC’s Organization Grants offer? 

Exploration and Exchange 

ACC offers Organization Grantees funding to conduct cultural immersion, research, and to increase access to artistic communities or cultural resources in a specific country, territory, or region, and exchange knowledge with peers.  Such programming supports relationship-building across borders, encourages more global and nuanced perspectives among organization staff and activity participants, and can develop capacity and inspiration for future cultural exchange opportunities.

Individualized Support

ACC support services are intended to enhance the proposed plan of activity, increase access to artistic communities and cultural resources in the chosen destination(s), and deepen the cultural exchange experience. Support services may include:

• Advice and recommendations related to the logistical or substantive aspects of the Organization Grantee’s activities
• Introductions to ACC alumni and other arts professionals and institutions that are relevant to the Organization Grantee’s research and cultural exchange objectives  
• Invitations to local ACC events and gatherings, where possible

Please note that ACC does not have offices and staff throughout Asia; therefore, some support services, such as making specific connections, may be limited. (ACC has its headquarters in New York City and affiliate offices in Hong Kong SAR, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan ROC.) Please keep this possibly limited programmatic and logistical support in mind while developing your proposal. Proposals should be feasible, with or without additional guidance from ACC.  

About Mini-Grants

We award Mini-Grants for individual readings ($150 to $450 per session) and/or workshops ($200 to $300 per session) that may or may not be part of a larger reading series or festival. Mini-grants are paid by P&W directly to the individual writer. The entity organizing or hosting the event must act as the lead sponsor and must submit an application for support. As part of the application, please be prepared to provide the name of the participating writer, proposed event date(s), and amount requested, per the ranges listed above. 

New York State and California organizations that sponsor readings and workshops may apply for Mini-Grants to pay writers for their participation. All grants are paid by P&W directly to the writer. Due to a mandate from our funders, grants for events outside of New York City (i.e. New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx, and Richmond counties) are restricted to writers who are New York State residents; there is no restriction in California.

If a grant is awarded, payments are sent directly to the writer approximately two to four weeks after the event. To support as many literary events as possible, we generally grant no more than $3,000 to organizations during our fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), and across all grant opportunities; in California, the annual cap per organization per year is $1,500.

Decisions on maximum grant amounts are based on the availability of funds and are made at the discretion of Poets & Writers. These caps fluctuate depending on the availability of funds in each jurisdiction and the number of applications we receive.

Organizations are strongly encouraged to match P&W’s payment to the writer. However, if an organization is not able to match or add to the writer’s fee, we will still consider the application.

Funding Priorities

As part of our belief that literature is vital to sustaining a vibrant culture and our mission to help create an environment in which literature can be appreciated by the widest possible public, priority is given to organizations that:

• serve a culturally diverse audience
• feature culturally diverse writers
• feature writers who have not previously presented at that venue
• present programs in rural or other underserved areas
• have not previously received R&W support (If an organization has received R&W funding in the past, we consider whether it has followed the grant guidelines and returned reports in a timely manner.)
• are able to match R&W's payment to the writer (not including in-kind contributions such as meals, lodging, and travel)
• have a publicity and marketing plan to draw audience, and a track record of attracting audiences to past events.

Deadlines

• New York & California- June 1, 2025
• New York- August 31, 2025 ; November 30, 2025 ; March 1, 2026

Performing Arts Grant Guidelines For 2025-26

The Foundation’s core mission in the performing arts is to support the not-for-profit producing and presenting organizations of New York City that deliver the highest quality work on stage in dance, music, opera and theatre regarding both classical legacies and contemporary forms. The Foundation also supports an extremely limited number of pre-professional conservatory and development programs in New York City for early-career artists. In accordance with the wishes of its founders, the Foundation sustains historic levels of support for select constituent organizations of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Having concluded its emergency responses to the Covid pandemic and temporary changes to our application process, the Foundation has fully restored its pre-Covid grantmaking calendar, with four possible ‘due dates’ for the submission of grant applications. Organizations may submit funding requests only once within any given 12-month period.

In accordance with the wishes of its founders, the Foundation’s primary mission is to support New York City’s large-scale dance, music, opera and theatre companies of national and international importance. Continuing that legacy, the Foundation provides major funding to many of the constituent organizations based at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

In addition, the Foundation also sustains commitments to a broader range of New York City’s not-for-profit performing arts producing and presenting organizations. This support is directed primarily at established institutions that have the expertise, knowledge, capacity, and artistic judgment to offer traditional work, new creations, or a varied repertoire that enhances the aesthetic and intellectual life of New York City.

The Foundation also provides grants to an extremely limited number of conservatory and development programs in New York City dedicated to young professionals seeking full-time careers in the performing arts. 

Most performing arts requests to the Samuels Foundation are for general operating support, although we also accept proposals for targeted creative projects, or local season support from New York City performing arts organizations that might otherwise be on tour. 

The Foundation maintains an open-door policy for inquiries, and welcomes new applications that fit within our guidelines from the diverse sectors of New York’s performing arts community. However, it is important that all applicants be aware that the Foundation receives many more requests for support than it could ever fund, and for that reason most first-time grant applications are not successful. Even though 2025-26 funding is unlikely for groups not already on our performing arts roster, we are always interested in learning about additional organizations that match our priorities.  

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. 

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.

Support Healthy Minds and Safe Communities

As a church, we are tasked with caring for the whole person—body, mind, and soul—and that means we must recognize and care for those who are ill. Faith communities can offer compassion, sanctuary, and community for those afflicted with mental illness.

As a church, we operate under the belief that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and has dignity, value, and worth, regardless of race, gender, class, or other human characteristics. 

Our collective safety rests on our ability to support vulnerable and marginalized members of our communities instead of punishment and incarceration.

New York City has led the nation in decarceration efforts, but far too many people remain behind bars, with a disproportionate number of people of color impacted.

Areas of Focus

Trinity’s Racial Justice Initiative will support efforts that fall within three areas of focus, as described below.

Lead:

Trinity will help advance a new, racially equitable justice system that centers community-based restorative and transformative approaches instead of incarceration.

Few people think the criminal legal system is fair, but we have yet to realize support for full-scale alternatives. Trinity seeks to build the infrastructure to scale both restorative and transformative approaches that are rooted in communities, respond to violence, and deliver justice. Trinity supports the communities most affected by violence, incarceration, and trauma, following the wisdom of residents who are best positioned to identify what is needed for safety and justice.

Activities we support under the Lead strategy have the following goals:

• Invest in the well-being and healthy minds of young people by supporting community-driven mental health and learning support for young people, including those in schools.
• Promote an affirmative vision for justice by engaging local faith leaders in media work to offer a healing, restorative safety/justice vision.
• Secure public investment to scale promising, non-punitive, approaches to end the cycle of trauma and violence.

Prevent:

Trinity will help end unnecessary pretrial detention and racial disparities.

Successful organizing and advocacy have produced legislative victories that ended cash bail for most misdemeanors, reformed discovery practices, and ended the practice of charging 16-year-olds as adults. Building on this momentum, Trinity seeks to ensure equitable implementation of these laws while sustaining the advocacy and organizing infrastructure to continue reducing incarceration rates in New York. We also will disrupt racially unjust pipelines into the criminal legal system by continuing to support the scaling of school-based restorative justice efforts while exploring ways to uncouple the growing links between immigration and criminal legal systems, and the criminalization of immigrants.

Activities we support under the Prevent strategy have the following goals:

• Safely reduce the jail population in New York City by support efforts to end cash bail and youth incarceration and hold implementing agencies accountable for racially equitable outcomes.
• Build and sustain positive school climates to ensure all students have access to social, emotional, and restorative approaches.
• Protect immigrants from criminalization to ensure that immigrant New Yorkers have meaningful access to due process and are protected from unnecessary detention and deportation.

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 support under the Liberate strategy have the following goals:

• Expand housing options and mental health services for justice-involved New Yorkers.
• End the continuous punishment of poor people with criminal records as it relates to housing, employment, and education.

The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) is a transformative incubator that secures two vital yet scarce resources—rehearsal time and performance space—for New York City choreographers and dance companies across the five boroughs. Housed within the City University of New York (CUNY)–the nation’s largest public urban university system–CDI is a residency program that supports local artists, enhances the cultural life and education of college students, and builds new dance audiences at CUNY performing arts centers.

CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI)

New York City choreographers and dance companies are invited to apply for residencies via the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI). Designed to take advantage of existing facilities while integrating New York City’s dance community with the public university system, the CUNY Dance Initiative provides local artists with rehearsal and performance space on 13 CUNY campuses across the five boroughs, plus 4 partner organizations.

Independent choreographers and professional companies working in a variety of dance styles, from contemporary to classical and culturally specific forms, are encouraged to apply.

Our Work

A public charity, The Trust is a grantmaking foundation dedicated to improving the lives of residents of New York City and its suburbs. We bring together individuals, families, foundations, and businesses to build a better community and support nonprofits that make a difference. We apply knowledge, creativity, and resources to the most challenging issues in an effort to ensure meaningful opportunities and a better quality of life for all New Yorkers, today and tomorrow.

What the Trust Funds

We are metropolitan New York’s community foundation, serving New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties. Our competitive grants are made possible primarily by funds set up by donor bequests and wills, supporting projects to improve the lives of New Yorkers.

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: older adults, the blind or visually impaired, children and youth with disabilities, and people with developmental disabilities. We also support biomedical research and projects promoting animal welfare.

Animal Welfare

Program goal: for the humane treatment and medical care of animals.

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.

Arts Program

We believe New York City's arts landscape drives not only its cultural vibrancy but also promotes political and economic power among its residents. By investing in place-based work and local efforts, we can best support the conditions necessary to build that power through and within the arts while also uplifting generative creativity that is at the heart of the deep artistic history and diverse cultural foundations that have shaped New York City.

We also believe in supporting the interconnectedness among BIPOC artists, communities, the arts field, and activism. Movements cannot exist without artistic power, and art and creation itself is a form of power—both must be prioritized. A percentage of our funding will be allocated to citywide arts support services and advocacy rooted in racial justice, ensuring the sustained transformation of the arts field at large.

Funding Priorities

In Central & South Brooklyn, the South Bronx, East and Central Harlem, and on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, we support organizations that:

• Focus on arts, cultural, and narrative work through a racial justice lens
• Build BIPOC-led arts infrastructure and provide unconditional, holistic support for BIPOC artists, ensuring their artistic freedom and creativity are respected, resourced, and amplified
• Enhance economic opportunities and access for communities through arts and culture, including partnerships with local vendors, events, and engagement
• Support the use of art and "artivism" as means of political leverage and advocacy both within the arts field and across areas to build community power
• Ensure BIPOC art and culture workers have a seat at the table where resource allocation and decision-making occur
• Support the power and presence of long-standing BIPOC communities in the area, preserve and promote local cultural heritage, and address gentrification's impact on local communities while fostering continued artistic generation
• Engage with and benefit diverse audiences
• Bolster BIPOC-led and serving arts and cultural networks and underfunded cultural organizations

Outside of our geographic priorities, we also support:

• “Bridge” theaters across the city that center BIPOC artists and transformative works. Our goal is to change field norms and make NYC productions more accessible
• Arts and cultural networks that have presence and roots in multiple neighborhoods or boroughs, unify advocacy, representation, and transformation efforts in the field, and act as gateways for BIPOC communities to access the arts
• Arts advocacy, support, and services grounded in racial justice to transform the arts field at large and leverage traditional audiences and venues, ensuring a more equitable arts landscape that reflects the city's diversity

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.

Our Mission

Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) creates connections:

• by cultivating bonds between extraordinary artists and communities
• with exemplary performances in active dialogue across the arts
• in our flexible intimate spaces, inviting conversation, and new relationships

Our art and our audiences reflect the dynamic energy of all five boroughs of New York City. We invite everyone to join us as we celebrate creative expression from around the world.

The Democracy Cycle

Over a 5-year period, The Democracy Cycle – a collaboration between the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) and Civis Foundation (an affiliate of Galvan Initiatives) – will commission and develop a total of 25 new performing arts works across the fields of theater, dance, music, opera, and multi-disciplinary performance that express themes related to the nature and practice of democracy, particularly as it is practiced in the United States.

Purpose

Our hope is that the commissioned projects will enrich and expand discussion of and participation in democracy – be it in the national, state, regional, or hyperlocal community realm – as it is practiced within the United States and worldwide. The Democracy Cycle project is inspired by the following beliefs:

• Democratic values are a global expression of humanity’s striving to live with one another with respect and in peace.
• Democracy, as practiced in the United States, includes a history of founding exclusions. It has been, and must continue to be, the ongoing work of our society to expand upon the ideals of inclusivity embedded in our founding documents.
• Democracy faces significant perceived and actual threats in the current moment, both domestically and internationally.
• The Intersection of capitalism and democracy creates both opportunities and tensions.
• Artists are the beating heart of democratic values because of their ability to imagine new worlds, envision new possibilities, and provoke meaningful discourse across divides.

The primary focus of The Democracy Cycle will be on democracy as it is currently being practiced in the United States. However, commissioned projects may include references to democracies worldwide provided they have potential for informing and deepening our understanding of American democracy.

Selection Criteria

Readers and panelists will consider the following in selecting the commissioned projects:

• How does the proposed work expand, critique, or celebrate democracy, the practice of democracy, and democratic ideals?
• How has the artist or artists identified and responded to ideas or themes related to democracy, including core democratic principles and values (ex. political equality, majority rule, minority rights, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, among others.)
• Does the work demonstrate clear potential for generating meaningful reflection and discourse on democracy as demonstrated by project narrative, samples of prior work, and artistic history of its collaborators.

Funding

Each selected artist will receive $60,000 in support, consisting of a commission of $30,000 to create the new work as well as an additional $30,000 in support of the work’s development process (research, readings, workshops etc.).

Challenge Overview

Peace and stability are baseline conditions for economic prosperity and a thriving society, and both are at risk with escalating conflicts and economic shocks. Instability and conflict can severely erode economic prospects, reverse years of development gains, and exacerbate vulnerabilities. Poverty and lack of quality jobs contribute to conflict. With 114 million people forcibly displaced due to war, violence, and climate-related disasters, two billion workers worldwide in informal, precarious jobs, and disruptions from AI and other tech, the stakes are high.

Technology and innovation can be powerful tools to promote peace and prosperity. Social media has increased misinformation and polarization, but when well-designed, it also improved cohesion and civic participation and reduced the odds of violent conflict. Similarly, while technology can lead to more precarity, it can also facilitate more inclusive financial systems, new job opportunities, and more resilience. Ethically designing and implementing technology is a key component of building and maintaining more peaceful communities and inclusive economies. 

MIT Solve seeks exceptional solutions leveraging technology to increase peace and prosperity. Our focus centers on solutions that: 

• Promote and sustain peace by increasing community dialogue, civic participation, reconciliation, and justice efforts; strengthening cyber security, and monitoring or preventing violence, misinformation, and polarization.
• Foster financial and digital inclusion by supporting access to credit, digital identity tools, and insurance while securing privacy and personal data.
• Generate new economic opportunities and buffer against economic shocks for workers, including good job creation, workforce development, and inclusive and attainable asset ownership.

Special Call: Black & Brown Innovators in the US Program

Systemic inequities and institutional failures contribute to Black and Brown families in the US owning just 24 cents for every $1 of white family wealth. As part of Solve’s ongoing work on US racial equity, we encourage those from the US working to address these disparities to apply for the Challenge and receive additional support through our Black & Brown Innovators in the US Program.

Prizes

MIT Solve - Solver Award

All Solver teams selected for Solve’s Global Challenges and the Indigenous Communities Fellowship will receive a $10,000 grant funded by Solve.

The Seeding The Future Food Systems Prize

The Seeding the Future Food Systems Prize is open to high impact innovations focusing on transforming food systems to be more sustainable, and to enable equitable access to safe and nutritious food that is affordable and trusted. Solutions benefitting underserved communities, countries or regions are encouraged to apply. Up to $150,000 will be awarded to two or more high-impact solutions selected for any of Solve’s 2025 Global Challenges. This prize is supported by the Seeding The Future Foundation, a private nonprofit organization that seeds and supports innovative solutions to help improve the global food system.

The E Ink Innovation Prize

The E Ink Innovation Prize is open to solutions that currently utilize or propose to utilize ePaper materials, technology, or displays to address problems of global importance in any of Solve’s areas of impact, including topics such as architecture, education, or intercultural understanding. The prize is funded by E Ink, a corporation that advances healthy solutions and a sustainable future using ultra-low power, daylight readable displays. Up to $100,000 will be awarded to up to four Solver teams selected for any of the 2025 Global Challenges or Solve’s existing portfolio of alumni teams. E Ink may also opt to provide materials and technical support to its prize recipients.

The AI for Humanity Prize

The AI for Humanity Prize is open to solutions leveraging data science, artificial intelligence, and/or machine learning to benefit humanity. The prize is made possible by The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, a philanthropy committed to advancing AI and data solutions to create a thriving, equitable, and sustainable future for all. Up to $150,000 will be awarded across several Solver teams from any of the 2025 Global Challenges.

The GM Prize

The GM Prize is open to solutions that help create smart, safe, and sustainable communities around the world. The Prize is funded by General Motors, which is working toward becoming the most inclusive company in the world and is dedicated to making STEM education more accessible and equitable. Up to $150,000 will be awarded across up to six Solver teams from the 2025 Global Learning Challenge, the 2025 Global Climate Challenge, and the 2025 Indigenous Communities Fellowship.

The Citizens Workforce Innovation Prize

The Citizens Workforce Innovation Prize seeks to accelerate the development of solutions that will prepare people for today’s opportunities and the workplace of the future, advance new ways of working, and drive economic impact within communities. Funded by Citizens, the prize furthers the company’s commitment to helping communities meet today’s demands while positioning themselves well for the future. Up to $100,000 will be awarded to up to four Solver teams across all 2025 Global Challenges or Solve's portfolio of alumni teams. Preference will be given to solutions that can be implemented to address workforce development challenges in Boston, MA and New York, NY that also have scaling potential to other geographies.

The Crescent Enterprises ‘AI for Social Innovation’ Prize

The Crescent Enterprises ‘AI for Social Innovation’ Prize supports groundbreaking solutions that leverage data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to tackle critical global social challenges. Sponsored by Crescent Enterprises - a diversified conglomerate spanning industries such as ports and logistics, power and engineering, food and beverage, life sciences and business aviation - the prize reflects the company’s dedication to innovation, sustainability, and meaningful global impact.

Up to $100,000 will be awarded to as many as four Solver teams addressing the 2025 Global Challenges or selected from Solve’s portfolio of alumni teams. This prize aims to recognise and accelerate the growth of transformative solutions, driving positive change for a better future.

Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Ocean Innovation Prize

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Ocean Innovation Prize is open to solutions supporting innovation for coasts, oceans, and the broader blue economy. The prize is funded by Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, which is committed to protecting and progressing planetary health. Up to $100,000 will be awarded to one Solver team.

The Community Innovation Prize

The Community Innovation Prize is open to innovative solutions for communities by communities. Up to $200,000, as well as custom workshops addressing innovator needs will be awarded to up to four Solver teams who are current or past Solvers across Solve's US Equity portfolio. Preference will be given to innovator teams based in or implementing/planning to implement in Chicago, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Houston, New York City, and/or Philadelphia in the areas of Health, Economic Prosperity, Climate, or Indigenous Communities.

The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute

We’re funding a more sustainable New York State. The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) was established to give businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and communities across the Empire State the resources and expertise they need to realize the benefits of sustainability.

Community Grants

Each year, NYSP2I awards funding to support projects that raise awareness and understanding and lead to the implementation of pollution prevention practices and/or behaviors at the local level with the goal of improving the health, environmental quality, and economic vitality of communities in New York State.

The program is designed to support initiatives that raise public awareness and understanding of environmental issues and that lead to adoption of sustainable practices.

City of Water Day

Join hundreds of organizations in all five boroughs, Westchester and Rockland counties, and New Jersey that have joined City of Water Day by signing up to host free in-person community programs on and about local waterfronts.

For a limited number of participating organizations, the New York–New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP) can provide funding support ranging between $1,000-$4,000. This support can be used for costs associated with producing an event on City of Water Day. We encourage organizations to work with local artists, schools and universities, agency partners, and community-based organizations to creatively raise awareness of climate change and resilience in their local communities. This year’s theme centers on uniting NY and NJ communities in a celebration of our interconnected waters and a commitment to a brighter, more climate resilient future.

Participating organizations and their City of Water Day events will be listed on the official website and shared widely by the New York–New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP) and Waterfront Alliance across social media platforms, through press releases, and more.

City of Water Day events are independently produced by the many wonderful, diverse civic organizations and public agencies that steward our waterfront and waterways. For all the organizations registering their July 12th City of Water Day celebration, Waterfront Alliance and New York & New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP) will provide a partner “toolkit,” which will include guidance on messaging and educational takeaways for your community participants.

City of Water Day is a region-wide day of free, family-friendly events on or near the water!

Now in its 18th year, City of Water Day—taking place this year on Saturday, July 12—is a region-wide day organized by Waterfront Alliance and New York–New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP), to champion a climate-resilient New York and New Jersey harbor. 

Dozens of communities across all five boroughs, Westchester and Rockland counties, and New Jersey will host events on and near the water that celebrate the importance of a resilient and equitably shared waterfront. From free kayaking to rowing to hands-on workshops, these events offer community members opportunities for fun, education, and access to their local waterfront.

Culpeper Arts & Culture

Goal: Support a Vibrant and Inclusive Arts Community in New York City

The Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture grants honor the legacy of Charles E. Culpeper by supporting the artists and arts and cultural organizations that make New York City one of the world's most dynamic creative capitals. The Fund is inspired by the conviction that arts and culture promote free expression, foster a deeper understanding of human experience and diverse communities, and provide a fresh lens on persistent problems and emerging challenges.

Strategies

• Supporting the role of artists in the creative process and in the presentation of their work, with an emphasis on artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQ+, women, nonbinary, and disabled.
• Providing time, space, and financial resources through residencies in New York City and at the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at The Pocantico Center, in partnership with artist-led organizations, artist collectives, and cultural leaders.
• Elevating arts advocacy efforts, field research, cultural-civic movements, and cultural leadership development opportunities to strengthen the arts and culture field and the creative community.

Ira W. DeCamp Foundation Grant

The DeCamp Foundation was established in 1970 by Elizabeth DeCamp McInery in memory of her late husband Ira W. DeCamp. Over the past 20 years, the DeCamp Foundation’s grantmaking has supported a wide array of organizations within three major program areas: health, social services and education. Grants have been concentrated in the New York metropolitan area.

Funding Interests

The foundation’s grantmaking currently focuses on three areas:

Community-Based Health Care

Community Health grants will support community health centers and select primary care providers in the metropolitan area.

Funding will be provided for:

• capacity building (e.g., leadership development, staff training and improving fundraising or other key resources);
• organization improvement activities (e.g., strategic planning; markets, operations and systems analysis; performance measurement and process improvement); and
• capital projects (e.g., renovations, new space acquisition and development, information technology and infrastructure enhancements).

Foster Care

The foundation’s Foster Care Grants Program seeks to support programs in the metropolitan area that address one or more of the following:

• Programs designed to support service linkages and partnerships with different service providers within the child welfare community (e.g., substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health and housing). 
• Training and strategies to recruit and retain qualified caseworkers and front-line staff at foster care agencies.
• Recruitment, training, and support for caregivers, including foster parents and kinship caregivers.
• Services for older and transition age youth, including education, job training, and independent living skills, with a focus on innovative and youth-driven programming.
• Services for special populations such lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.
• Policy and advocacy efforts around issues such as (but not limited to) housing for youth in foster care, legal support for youth in care, updating the foster care rate-setting methodology and sustaining quality-assurance programs.

Workforce Development

Workforce Development grants will support workforce development organizations (including intermediaries) in the metropolitan area. Funding will be provided for:

• Capacity building (infrastructure investments that enable the organization to expand, sustain and manage its services more effectively).
• Program development (investments in new aspects of the program that will enhance the training and placement experience.
• Research and evaluation (to understand the impact of job training programs and of public policy in this area).

Geographic Focus

• New York City

Type of Support

Capacity-building, project, and capital

About 

Founded as Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, LMCC serves, connects, and makes space for artists and community.

Since 1973, LMCC has been the champion for independent artists in New York City and the cultural life force of Lower Manhattan.

We envision New York City as a place in which artists and community in dialogue are creating a more just, equitable, and sustainable society.

Creative Learning Grants Program

Creative Learning supports artist-led projects of any discipline that draw on arts education practices to engage older adults in in-depth arts learning and hands-on creation of artistic works. Funding is provided for sequential, skill-building arts study and participatory arts projects that take place in accessible community-based settings such as senior centers, recreation centers, public libraries, and community centers.

Creative Learning supports projects taking place in Manhattan neighborhoods from Inwood to the Battery between January 1–December 31, 2026.

The program funding is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs’ Greater New York Arts Development Fund and the New York State Council on the Arts’ Statewide Community Regrants.

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.

The Lois Lenski Covey Foundation

The purposes of The Lois Lenski Covey Foundation are to advance literacy and foster a love of reading among underserved and at-risk children and youth.

Lois Lenski, celebrated author and illustrator of over one hundred children's books and the 1946 Newbery medalist for Strawberry Girl, established the Foundation as a charitable institute 50 years ago. Since then the Foundation has assisted over 400 organizations in their efforts to nurture reading skills, gain access to books, and instill a love of reading.

Literacy Program Grants

Lois Lenski, children’s book author and 1946 Newbery medalist for Strawberry Girl, understood that childrens’ ability to read is imperative for their success and their ability to understand the world around them. Toward that end, the Foundation provides grants to innovative and effective literacy programs that serve children from disadvantaged populations in the following regions: greater Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia and surrounding areas, and the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas.

 The Foundation provides grants to organizations that serve economically or socially at-risk children. New literacy programs are welcome to apply, as are those with a proven record of effectiveness.

Purpose and amount of the Grants

We are interested in literacy programs that engage children in activities that advance literacy and foster a lifelong love of reading. Programs may introduce or assist pre-school children in the enjoyment of books, or increase school-age children's reading skills. Literacy activities can take a variety of forms and can take place in a variety of environments, including but not limited to classrooms, after-school settings, community centers, libraries or other public spaces, or in the home. Programs that demonstrate innovative, positive, or unique approaches are desired.

We support programs that have repeated and regular interaction with youth by skilled staff or volunteers who provide stepped programming to advance literacy. We also recognize the benefit of two-generation approaches to literacy advancement, wherein parents, other family members, or caregivers are educated in the importance and methods of exposing a child to books and reading. 

Grants from the Foundation may go to general program support. We will also consider funding for a specific purpose that might otherwise not receive attention from other funders. Literacy grants from the Foundation have ranged from $2,000 to $10,000. We are interested in partnering with grantees and thus applications for renewals will be considered.