2019
Strategic Grants Committee awarded a total of $289,893 to 15 organizations in 2019.
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Partial funding provided for teen mentoring program that begins in middle school and stays committed to the participants year-round through high school. The participants have at least three risk factors shown by extensive research to be most predictive of dropping out of school: failing grades in core subjects, multiple school suspensions, low standardized test scores, low socioeconomic status, living in single-parent home, school attendance less than 95%, and/or over age for a grade level. The prevention-focused program includes social, civic and recreational activities, as well as rigorous educational enhancements such as financial literacy, tutoring and experiential learning.
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Partial funding provided related to Connected Communities’ work to provide safe and affordable housing for neighborhood families regardless of income level. The advocacy-focused grant supports the hiring of seven single parents or guardians of color as Resident Ambassadors from the community, educating them on current community work and conditions and listening to their experiences and challenges to shape Connected Communities’ work in a meaningful way. They will also serve as ambassadors and touchpoints for other residents to learn about their community, available resources, and how to self-organize and self-advocate for their own needs and desires for the future of the community.
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Partial funding provided to support the efforts of Exploration Elementary Charter School, serving nearly 200 students in grades K-2, nearly 90% of whom qualify for free/reduced lunches, to build its capacity to address the trauma suffered by its students through the creation of a Wellness Center. The Wellness Center will serve as a safe space to meet the needs of students who have been impacted by trauma where they can explicitly learn social/emotional coping skills, practice how to manage their emotions during the school day, and engage in restorative conversations with peers and adults with the intent of repairing harm. Training will also be provided to staff and offered to parents.
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Partial funding for this prevention-focused consortium of high-quality summer learning programs, specifically for the Social/Emotional Learning Components of each program, including Horizons at Harley, Horizons at MCC, Horizons at U of R, Encompass 3D, Encompass Discovery Grows, summerleap at Allendale Columbia, summerleap at SUNY Brockport, Soaring Stars at SUNY Geneseo.
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Partial funding provided for a rolling fund to assist with up-front costs necessary for the repairs facilitated by the NCS, a NY State-designated Neighborhood Preservation Company, in the northwest quadrant of Rochester. It takes 4-6 weeks for the state to send reimbursements after the jobs are complete. This fund will help hire contractors who are unwilling to wait for the delay and help the organization’s cash flow. The NCS’s mission is to revitalize and sustain city neighborhoods by providing access to decent, safe, affordable housing. They provide home repair assistance to lower income first-time home buyers and existing owner-occupants. All households have incomes at or below 80% of the Area Median Income. A significant proportion of those households include a family member with a physical disability and could benefit from adaptive modifications to the home, as well as repairs.
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The Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) is a multi-sector community collaborative working towards three population-level outcomes: increasing household income, improving the accessibility and affordability of basic needs, and reducing the concentration of poverty within neighborhoods. These three population-level outcomes are in service to the community’s efforts to reduce poverty, while also increasing self-sufficiency and improving quality of life in the region. RMAPI is utilizing a collective impact approach to achieve its outcomes and support other work being done in the community. This grant provides capacity building in the form of funding for staff and technology to operate the collaborative effectively. Specific support will help purchase of and training on Clear Impact Software which will better measure and analyze the community work; the development of a robust communication plan; and clearer facilitation plan for the sub-committees. The funding will help the many sub-committees and community communicate better and be aligned on one database system.
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Full funding as a match to a national challenge grant to provide financial support to families for eviction prevention and/or move-in expenses for relocation. Families are admitted for emergency housing no matter their DHS sanction status or history, and receive at least one-year of follow up services.
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Partial funding provided to expand a vocational program to homeless, formerly justice involved who have graduated from Nielsen or Jennifer houses (structured housing) and who move into the newly constructed "Voters Block" permanent housing as a part of their successful re-entry into the community. The expanded vocational program would provide 18-36 months of support onsite to ensure employment retention. This is a pilot prevention-focused program that will develop an evaluation tool to gauge the success of the program that, if proven, will seek federal funding after the three year initial phase.
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Partial funding provided to proposed three-year project of capacity building to train and develop teachers at RCSD elementary school #33 in trauma-informed care. School #33 is the partner school to Connected Communities (a grantee of Wilson’s). Dr. Susan Hildenbrand, who is engaged in research and practice focused on creating trauma sensitive school communities, will work with staff to ensure the practice is embedded into the school culture through intensive training, coaching, and classroom observation. Other outcomes will be tied to the School Improvement Plan, but one aims to reduce teacher turnover by 25%. The initiative specifically aligns with the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) guiding principles for Building Trauma Responsive Communities.
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Partial funding for a third-party evaluation company and third-party facilitator to deliver the facilitation for the Trauma Informed Care Learning Collaborative for nine funded agencies (trauma-informed culture capacity building). The project aims to help build trauma responsiveness across the agencies, giving them opportunities to learn best practices and gain advice about challenges in this work. The Foundation partners with the Rochester Area Community Foundation in this work.
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Partial funding provided to provide prevention services to homeless and runaway youth, including education, counseling, shelter and housing, and youth development opportunities, to ensure they are safe, healthy and successful. Funding is specific to the Arnett House, a transitional home for LGBTQIA ages 12-18 who stay for 3-6 months, or longer if necessary. Case mangement support is provided for at least one year after youth find permanent housing.
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Partial funding provided to the advocacy efforts of The Children’s Agenda for effective policies and evidence-based solutions for the health, education and success of children, at the local, state and federal levels. They are especially committed to children who are vulnerable because of poverty, racism, health disparities and trauma. The All Kids Thrive Initiative includes recommendations for policy and funding changes in the areas of maternal health support, strengthening early childhood development services, and creating opportunities for high quality childcare. The plan will develop an infrastructure to build this work into long-term state change through the Department of Education’s NYS Regents’ Blue-Ribbon Committee on Early Childhood and Medicaid’s First 1,000 Days initiative.
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Partial funding for the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies curriculum, an evidence-based program to facilitate the development of self-control, emotional awareness, and interpersonal problem solving skills for children with indicents of trauma. The Mt. Hope Family Center assists Rochester’s most vulnerable children and families by working to mitigate the consequences of difficult circumstances and limited financial, social, and emotional resources for their lives and communities. The evidence-based trauma-informed prevention and early intervention services aim to improve family functioning and outcomes. Funding is for a 7 week summer program, where children will meet 3 days a week for 4 hours.
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Veterans Outreach Center offers a comprehensive portfolio of supportive services designed to meet the needs of veterans and their families through direct service, community collaboration, and advocacy. The Female Veterans Self Sufficiency Project helps female veterans and their families through access to basic needs, training and support and housing connections. Transitional housing is offered while helping families connect to landlords.