Search Through Grants for Youth Programs in New York City, New York in the U.S.

About Us

The Achelis and Bodman Foundation was formally established on November 25, 2015, from the merger of The Achelis Foundation (established in 1940) and The Bodman Foundation (established in 1945).

Program Areas

In keeping with the broad purposes in its charter documents, the Foundation has chosen to spread its grants over six program areas. Most grants are made in New York City, reflecting its dynamic not-for-profit sector, large and persistent needs, and the staff's and Trustees' "local knowledge." The Foundation also makes grants in northern New Jersey in recognition of the Bodman family's ties to that state, with an emphasis on Newark and Monmouth County. Over 90% of grants fall into one of the following categories:

Arts and Culture

Cultural institutions are among New York City’s most valued resources. They attract visitors from around the world and are one reason why so many people choose to live here. They are also major employers and vital to the City’s economy. The arts were important to Miss Achelis and Mr. and Mrs. Bodman, and so the Foundation has continued to support this area, generally through operating grants to the City’s prominent cultural institutions. The Foundation is most likely to support organizations that promote and sustain traditional concepts of artistic excellence. 

Education

The failure of inner-city public education is a national tragedy with enormous consequences for the children in these schools and for society as a whole. The Foundation has long believed that accountability and competition can contribute to the improvement of urban public schools. Therefore, the Foundation has funded charter schools, voucher programs, scholarships to parochial schools, and research that examines the impact of competition and other factors on K-12 educational performance. The Foundation also has an interest in helping young people and adults to realize their dreams of a college education. Finally, the Foundation seeks to promote intellectual excellence and balance at American colleges and universities.

Employment

Chronic unemployment or underemployment is a harsh and demoralizing burden. The welfare reforms of the mid-1990s increased the need for effective job training and placement programs. Such programs are especially critical for ex-offenders, chronic substance abusers, those with low educational attainments, and those suffering from mental or physical disabilities. The Foundation is particularly interested in supporting programs that emphasize the private sector and entrepreneurship.

Health

It is difficult for small grantmakers to make a significant impact in a field as large and complex as healthcare. Therefore, the focus of the Foundation's grants has been on the health needs of poor children, the disabled, and other disadvantaged populations, as well as on basic biomedical research, where a small grant at a pivotal time in a scientist's research can have a disproportionate impact. The Foundation has also supported the work of policy experts evaluating reforms that would improve the healthcare system and make it more accessible and efficient.

Public Policy

Funding in this category covers a broad range of issues including: K-12 education (listed under ), healthcare, families and marriage, crime prevention, prisoner reentry, philanthropy, the environment, welfare reform, and faith and religion. In all areas, the Foundation's grantmaking is guided by a belief in the merits of economic and political liberty, free enterprise, and personal responsibility.

Youth and Families

The disparate needs of New York City's disadvantaged youth and families are served by hundreds, even thousands, of charitable institutions, ranging from established settlement houses to small neighborhood organizations to local houses of worship. The Foundation supports programs that boost academic achievement, provide positive recreational and educational activities for disadvantaged young people, promote good character and values, preserve families, and encourage responsible parenting. In addition, the Foundation has a special interest in programs that prevent criminal behavior, discourage pre-marital sexual activity among teens, and assist vulnerable populations, such as disconnected youth, children who have been in foster care or suffered abuse, the disabled, and the homebound elderly. The Foundation is particularly interested in funding smaller, neighborhood-based organizations that choose to rely on private support rather than government grants or contracts.

Hayden Foundation Grant

The Charles Hayden Foundation makes contributions only to institutions that serve youth and young adults from the City of Boston and metropolitan New York, with an emphasis on high school through post-secondary success. Priority is given to applicants from New York City and the city of Boston. Metropolitan New York is defined as New York City, and, in New Jersey, solely in the city of Newark. Grants are also made to institutions that support youth activities outside these areas when a substantial majority of the youth served comes from within the Foundation’s defined geographic catchment areas.

The Foundation's Grantmaking Guidelines

Our Mission Statement details our grantmaking criteria and should be read in conjunction with these Guidelines. We concentrate support on youth development and education programs that present:

• evidence of significant program impact on young people and
• plans for making measurable progress toward well-defined goals in a specific time frame.
  • The Foundation’s long-term goal is for young people to obtain quality education and rewarding careers. Funding is prioritized for organizations that support youth to gain new knowledge and access to academic and career choices. Potential grantees must show evidence that young people in their programs grow in confidence and ability to make informed choices to pursue academic and professional opportunities that build fulfilling careers.

Long-term Impact

The Foundation works to ensure that youth obtain quality education and rewarding careers.

Attributes that the Foundation Seeks in Funded Programs

For youth development programs:

• Relationships between youth and youth agency staff that are caring, consistent, and continue throughout the course of the youth’s long-term development.
• Engaging, enriching and safe activities during the non-school hours.
• Activities and counseling that help youth prepare for post-secondary education.

For school programs (including (1) charter schools, (2) public district schools, and (3) independent and parochial schools that charge a maximum of $12,000/year for tuition):

• Schools must have been in operation for the following amount of time:
• Grades 6-8: until the entering 6th grade cohort has completed the 8th grade and there is 8th grade state test data and high school placement data.
• Grades 9-12: until there is at a minimum one year of graduation and college matriculation data.
• High expectations for student's mental development, reflected in a challenging course of study that emphasizes reading, writing, mathematics and other core skill and content areas.
• Active engagement of parents in their children's education at home and in schools.
• Collaboration with other organizations and programs that can contribute to student's learning.
• Activities and counseling that help youth prepare for post-secondary education.
• Track record of increased student academic achievement.

Outcomes

• Youth have knowledge of, and access to, academic and career choices.
• Youth have the confidence and ability to make their own choices through self determination, critical thinking skills and persistence.

Double-R Foundation Grants

The Double-R Foundation is a private, grant-making foundation that focuses its efforts on the enrichment of life in New York City.

The Foundation supports volunteer-based organizations that provide services to New York City Residents.

What we Do

We seek to enhance volunteer's efforts by:

• Sponsoring specific projects
• Contributing to nonprofit organizations' long-term stability

In the past, Double-R Foundation has supported programs in the following areas:

• Arts in New York City, particularly by new and developing artists, composers, dancers and performers
• City planning programs and organizations that enhance New York City's humanity and harmony with the natural world, including development of outdoor space, promotion of the intelligent use of materials, and educating the public and government about short and long term design alternatives
• Job training programs that link volunteer executives with young entrepreneurs;
• Legal services for the underprivileged provided by attorneys pro bono;
• Art and music instruction in after-school programs;
• Health care and health research;
• Animal-related services;
• Homeless shelters and related programs
• Youth-oriented legal support services promoting alternatives to incarceration in adult prisons and court systems.

NYCT: Healthy Lives

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

Health and Behavioral Health

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

Grants are made to:

Advocate for successful health care reform implementation to ensure:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the background paper that informed this grantmaking strategy here.

Older Adults and People with Disabilities 

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

Grants are made to:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the background paper that informed this grantmaking strategy here.

Program goal

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

Grants are made to:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the background paper that informed this grantmaking strategy here.

Thriving Communities

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

Focus Area: Civic Affairs

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

Grants are made to:

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

The Pinkerton Foundation is an independent grantmaking organization established in 1966 by Robert Allan Pinkerton, the Chairman and CEO of Pinkerton’s, Inc., then the nation’s oldest and largest security company. The foundation, which retains no ties to the firm, supports community-based programs for children, youth and families in economically disadvantaged areas in New York City.  Although we consider a wide range of youth development initiatives, Pinkerton favors direct-service programs that have one overriding goal: to help young people reach their full potential. With that in mind, the foundation looks for groups with capable leadership, high expectations, well-defined goals and active, engaged participants.  Most of the programs we support take place in the after-school, weekend or summer hours and focus on providing opportunities for academic development, career readiness and cultural enrichment. We also support a number of programs that offer a way forward for young people after an encounter with the criminal justice system or years in foster care.

We encourage all potential applicants to read the “What We Believe” section of this Web site for general information. If you believe that your organization’s mission and programs are consistent with the Foundation’s interests then please apply through our Grant Portal .

Promising Futures

Our grants build promising futures by helping young people thrive; providing job training and placement; making our educational and justice systems work for everyone; alleviating hunger and homelessness; improving family and child welfare services; and advancing the practice of social work. 

Focus Area: Youth Development

Program goal: to help young, low-income New Yorkers up to the age of 24 overcome obstacles and succeed in life and careers.

Grants are made to:

• Expand leadership opportunities for disadvantaged young people, especially through organizations that:
• have a record of creating programs in communities or operate in a minimum of three public school campuses;
• keep diverse groups of young people engaged;
• work with young people for at least three years; and
• create a role for young people to influence public policy, promote racial equity, or achieve meaningful community improvements.
• Expand or improve employer-driven youth workforce programs that:
• create career pathways in higher wage sectors (e.g. healthcare, technology, hospitality);
• expand internships for young people who are attending school, and those who are unemployed;
• help low-skilled youth get an education, and get job skills by providing training, placement, and post-placement services; and
• improve the City’s career and technical education system.
• Expand the capacity of youth development organizations by:
• supporting intermediaries that provide training, streamline services, improve industry hiring practices, or change public policies; or
• training staff that work with youth to use best practices in leadership development, employment, and nonprofit management.
• Promote policy reforms on issues that affect young people, such as:
• changing New York’s juvenile and criminal justice systems to produce better outcomes for young people; or
• creating better programs that engage and encourage employers to hire less-skilled youth of color.

Background

The Marion E. Kenworthy-Sarah H. Swift Foundation was established by Dr. Kenworthy and her long time associate Sarah H. Swift, MSW, in 1962. Its purpose was and remains to advance mental and emotional health of young people up to the age of 26 by making grants to support innovative programs that advance the mental health of young people through social work, psychiatry, preventive psychiatry and community mental health.

During their lifetimes Dr. Kenworthy and Ms. Swift sought to build bridges between psychiatry and social work with commitment to teamwork and collaboration among helping professions. In this spirit the foundation supports development and improvement of understanding in all mental health areas, including preventative psychiatry, that affect the welfare and emotional health of young people.

Funding Priorities

Proposals eligible for funding are limited to:

• Funding for clinical and mental health services for children and youth.
  • Our original and continuous Mission.
  • Youth are defined as up to the age of 26.
• Organizations only within the five boroughs of New York City.
• Funding primarily for support of general operations.
• Minimum grant is $25,000

Investors Foundation Grant

Invigorating Our Communities

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

Key Characteristics

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

Mission

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

AEO Better World Foundation

The AEO Better World Foundation is a 501(c)3 private foundation established in 1999 to support the community in partnership with AEO Inc, our Brands, and our associates.

We support causes that are important to our associates and customers by making a meaningful impact in their communities through national and global charity partnerships.

MISSION:

We are committed to showing the world that there’s REAL power  in the optimism of youth by supporting causes that educate and empower teens and young adults.

Community Grants

AEO is committed to building a better world and showing the world that there’s REAL power in the optimism of youth by supporting causes that educate and empower teens and young adults. We strive to create positive change by awarding grants to nonprofit organizations at a grassroots level in the communities of Pittsburgh, New York City, Hazleton, Ottawa, and Mississauga (Ontario area). Local 501(c)3 organizations and registered Canadian charities are invited to apply to support programming for teens and young adults in the locations mentioned above. 

Grant Amounts

If an organization is NEW and has not yet received funding from the AEO Better World Foundation, we ask that you submit a proposal for a grant of $5,000. This $5,000 can support a new or ongoing program, and you can have additional funders if necessary.

If an organization has received funding from the AEO Better World Foundation before, your organization is eligible to apply for a grant in the range of $5,000 - $15,000

Lifting up lives, building resilience, changing perceptions.

The Lilah Hilliard Fisher Foundation is committed to making strategic investments into our agricultural, cultural, health, and educational systems. 

Priorities

The Foundation's grantmaking is currently focused on regenerative agriculture and nutrition education efforts nationwide. The Foundation also supports organizations and projects in New York City and Litchfield County, Connecticut that help survivors of human trafficking, champion youth development, advance social justice, and strengthen safety nets for vulnerable populations.

Areas of Interest

The Lilah Hilliard Fisher Foundation has a geographic focus on organizations working in the northeastern United States in the following areas:

• Regenerative agriculture
• Soil health
• Biodiversity
• Nutrient-dense foods and nutrition education efforts

We ask that your project or idea fit within at least one of these areas of interest. Project proposals outside of these areas are by invitation only.

Wolf Kahn Foundation

The Wolf Kahn Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the artistic achievements of Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) and to sharing them with audiences, scholars, and other artists towards a greater understanding of his work and his lasting contribution to American art of the Second Generation New York School.

Through its grants program and other initiatives, the Foundation supports artists and arts organizations that educate youth and the broader public and that advance artists’ careers through exhibitions, publications, and residencies.

Grants

The Wolf Kahn Foundation grant program continues Wolf Kahn’s commitment to fellow artists, the environment and its effect on creative work, and to the vitality of organizations that advance artists’ careers and educate youth and the public. Guided by our mission, the Foundation supports projects that reflect the practices that shaped Wolf Kahn’s life and work: observation, experimentation, and respect for the work of other artists.

Recent successful proposals include support for exhibitions, publications, residencies, and community or museum-based arts education programs, with an emphasis on projects that advance social justice or environmental awareness through the arts. General operating support for organizations whose programming aligns with these priorities and the Foundation’s mission will also be considered.

Grants are usually in the range of $5,000 to $15,000.

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

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

Funding Priorities

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our Mission

To help New Yorkers—especially those in low-income areas—come together and improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods.

Community Leader (All In Neighborhood) Grants

A Community Leaders Grant is a microgrant given out to New Yorkers by CitizensNYC. CitizensNYC awards microgrants of up to $5,000 to community-building projects carried out by resident-led groups to improve neighborhood life, strengthen local leadership, and scale community partnerships.

Selection Criteria

• Clarity
  • Are the descriptions of the project and its goals clear? Is the outreach strategy clear? Is the work plan adequately detailed, focused, realistic and clear? Does it support project goals?
• Quality of Life Impact
  • Is the project expected to improve quality of life issues identified by residents and community members?
    • Major Improvement
      • The impact of the project is anticipated to be lasting (longer than one year) and notice on a daily or almost daily basis.
      • For example: Transforming an abandoned, crime-ridden lot into a multi use community garden where residents begin growing produce and feel safe within the timeline of the project, or creating a new summer internship program for local youth to lead a community farmers market, where youth train new interns for the following year.
    • Moderate Improvement
      • The project is anticipated to either initiate or complete an effort that is anticipated to have a strong impact on the quality of life.
      • The impact is anticipated to last for several months or longer and is noticed on a weekly basis.
      • For example: Cleaning up an abandoned, crime-ridden lot in preparation for establishing a multi-use community garden, creating an athletic program that will last for a season or creating a new youth internship program that lasts for a year.
    • Minor Improvement
      • The project is anticipated to create a temporary (a few weeks or less) impact on the improvement to the quality of life issues identified by residents or community members.
      • For example: Making improvements to an established community garden, hosting a weekend job fair, or continuing an internship program that existed a previous year.
• Community Engagement
  • Is the project expected to build community engagement and capacity for the future?
    • Major Improvement
      • The community group will expand the number of members within the group who are representative of the community; the community group will strengthen its relationships to other organizations, community groups, city services, or public representative (i.e. co- facilitating workshops or engaging partners in ongoing work); the project involves a newly formed group that has an established organizational structure.
      • Alternatively, the project will establish an ongoing forum, space, or activity for community residents to interact around common interests such as history, art, culture, or physical activities.
    • Moderate Improvement
      • Forming a new community group that has an established organizational structure; expanding group membership; the group is strengthening relationships with other organizations, community groups, city services, or public representatives. (i.e. having a partner organization take part in a workshop series as a participant)
    • Minor Improvement
      • Bringing community members and residents together to participate in a one-time social or stewardship activity (i.e. learning/artistic/cultural event, clean-up or gardening event); making small steps towards building relationships with other organizations, community groups, city services, or public representatives (i.e. sending a newsletter to community groups to inform them of a workshop)
• Need
  • Does the proposal clearly convey that the project is warranted and needed in identified neighborhood or for a particular community (identity-based)?

Background

The Citi Foundation’s Global Innovation Challenge is an open call for applications or request for proposals (RFP) designed to provide catalytic grant funding to community organizations across the world. This year, the Foundation invites proposals from community organizations developing innovative employment solutions for low-income youth primarily between the ages of 15 and 24.

Funding Overview

Despite recent progress, young people globally continue to experience challenges in their pursuit of employment, including skills mismatch and gaining access to quality jobs. According to the International Labour Organization, 65 million young people globally are unemployed. Since the Citi Foundation’s inception, advancing youth employability has been integral to our mission of supporting low-income communities globally. The Citi Foundation invested more than $300 million over the last decade alone in programs that supported over one million young people in expanding their skills, experience and networks through its Pathways to Progress initiative. Building on our funding journey, this year’s Global Innovation Challenge is focused on youth employability, and we invite proposals from community organizations developing innovative employment solutions for low-income youth primarily between the ages of 15 and 24

These innovative solutions could include, but are not limited to:

• Technical and vocational training programs that upskill or reskill low-income youth and move them into employment, which could include paid internships, apprenticeships or formal employment.
• Entrepreneurship programming that specifically focuses on the incubation or scaling of youth-led enterprises to increase job creation and access to selfgenerated income.
• Efforts to embed financial education programming into workforce development initiatives equipping low-income youth with financial skills and access to safe and affordable financials tools. 

Mini-Grants Program

NewYork-Presbyterian’s Mini-Grants have provided financial assistance to local, grass roots community-based organizations (CBOs) since 2011. Initially launched in Northern Manhattan, this grant opportunity has successfully supported dozens of CBOs in developing their health and wellness programming.

Grant proposals have focused on a range of topics, including:

• Nutrition and food insecurity
• Urban gardening
• Music and the arts
• Sports and dance
• Youth development

We invite CBOs whose programming supports health and wellness for communities across New York City and Westchester County to apply!

Mini-grants are awarded to fund either new or ongoing health and wellness programs and projects. Proposals should have the potential to be sustainable after the end of the grant and should identify a plan for continuation beyond the funding period. NewYork-Presbyterian seeks to partner and engage with small, health and wellness focused CBOs that are focused on organizational sustainability and growth.

Funding

The Mini-Grant is a three-year funding program with renewal opportunities starting after year one.

• $5,000
• Second year – up to $7,500
• Third year – up to $10,000

Funding is contingent upon meeting annual grant requirements. Organizations must maintain a 501c3 status or have a Fiscal Sponsor and may not have an operational budget that exceeds $500,000.

Frances L. & Edwin L. Cummings Memorial Fund Grant

The primary interest of the Frances L. & Edwin L. Cummings Memorial Fund is to support organizations operating in New York City and Northeastern New Jersey [view map] that provide programs and services in the areas of social welfare, education and health. The Fund has a special interest in youth programs located in these regions.

We are, however, unable to provide funding for programs within the cultural arts category.

We invite you to browse our site to determine if the work of your organization falls within our areas of interest, and, if so, to learn more about how to apply for a grant.

Areas of Interest

The Cummings Fund’s main interest is in the piloting or expansion of new, innovative programs of organizations primarily based in New York City and its more urbanized surrounding areas in Northeastern New Jersey (i.e., Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union Counties) [view map]. Exceptions to the geographic restriction are granted only when a Co-Trustee or Advisory Board Member has personal knowledge of an organization outside of this region. 

The Co-Trustees generally endeavor to creatively fill existing community needs in areas particularly under-funded at present. The Cummings Fund has a particular interest in programs serving young people.

The Fund provides support for:

• New program development
• Staffing for new programs and program expansion
• Capacity building (technical/management assistance)
• Consulting services (e.g., to assist the Board’s development of a strategic plan)

The major fields of interest are:

• Social Welfare, especially programs addressing issues including child welfare, youth development, juvenile delinquency, housing/homelessness, and employment/job training.
• Education, especially efforts to reform the public education system or programs that serve public school children from disadvantaged backgrounds including but not limited to in-school and afterschool STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and literacy initiatives, staff/teacher training and development, college guidance and success, and counseling services.
• Health Care, especially institutions and programs that connect economically and socially disadvantaged populations to health care and mental health services.

On a less frequent basis, the Fund also provides funding for:

• Medical Research, which has been pre-screened, ranked and given high priority by an objective, national scientific advisory committee.

Background

The Youth Service Improvement Grants (YSIG) program supports activities to improve the quality of direct services for young people ages 5 to 25 in the five boroughs of New York City. The goal is to strengthen existing services by helping youth-serving nonprofit organizations address challenges or remedy problems at the point of service, where staff and youth interact.

YSIG urges applicants not only to discuss their organizations’ promise and potential, but to identify gaps or challenges in the services they provide. We ask applicants to be critical and reflective, to consider why and how complications exist, and to articulate how they intend to improve the ability of their programming to provide positive impact on youth.

Examples of problem areas for improvement include:

• inadequate curriculum,
• gaps in the service skills of frontline staff, or
• a limitation in current services that adversely affects participants’ experiences.

Beyond these examples, we welcome other compelling needs for service improvement.

In addition to grant support, the Foundation also provides grantees access to technical assistance, including one-on-one support as your organization works toward successfully implementing the improvement project. In addition, three cohort-wide “learning community” meetings allow for peer-based learning and coaching, as well as opportunities to discuss challenges, seek advice from peers and colleagues, and collaborate across projects in a supportive space.

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

Goldman Sachs Community Development Grants Program

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

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

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

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

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

The Equity Builders Initiative

Multi-year Unrestricted Grants

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

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

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

The Change Makers Initiative

LMI Homeownership Focused Grant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mission

The mission of the Keith Haring Foundation is to sustain, expand, and protect the legacy of Keith Haring, his art, and his ideals. The Foundation supports not-for-profit organizations that assist children, as well as organizations involved in education, research and care related to AIDS.

Grants

The Keith Haring Foundation was established in 1989 by the late American artist Keith Haring to support US-based non-profit organizations that provide opportunities for young people and those directly impacted by HIV/AIDS. The Foundation is working to break cycles of persistent disparities in healthcare, academic advancement, and employment opportunities.

Areas of Focus

Youth

The Keith Haring Foundation will consider funding requests concentrating on New York City’s most vulnerable youth and adolescents, with the aim of helping them to become self-sufficient adults. Programs that provide long-term support and mentoring to young people are particularly invited to apply.

HIV/AIDS

The Keith Haring Foundation will consider funding requests from organizations that assist residents of NYC and the South-Eastern US who are living with HIV or at high risk of transmission. Priority will be given to serving the populations most vulnerable to HIV infection, poor health outcomes, and its attendant consequences.

Arts & Culture

The Keith Haring Foundation will consider funding requests from institutions that provide educational and cultural enrichment that directly enhances a deeper understanding of Haring’s life and work. Applicants should reflect upon the breadth of their programming and public outreach as it specifically relates to Haring’s legacy of social activism and cultural contribution, and to the historical context of his creative and philanthropic vision.

If your organization has been awarded a grant from the Keith Haring Foundation, please wait two full years before submitting a renewal request. If your organization has not been awarded a grant, please wait one full year before resubmitting.

LISC and Foot Locker, Inc., through the Foot Locker Foundation, are launching a third round of grants for the Foot Locker Foundation Community Empowerment Program, a multi-city initiative to support nonprofit community organizations that empower youth in underserved communities. The program aims to bridge gaps driven by racial inequity and promote youth empowerment and community wellness—all while supporting community-based organizations led by people of color. 

What we’re offering 

The Foot Locker Foundation Community Empowerment Program offers two types of grants: 

• Grants to support current youth programming, create new programming or extend existing programming. These grants will range from $25,000 to $75,000 over one year. 
• Grants to support capital improvement projects that enhance the impact of youth programming. These grants will range from $25,000 to $100,000 over one 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.