2021

The Strategic Grants committee and the Executive Committee have awarded the following grants to 22 organizations in 2021, totaling $1,015,000.

• 540 W Main St | $50,000

  540WMain was founded in 2016 as a grassroots community space in the Susan B. Anthony district of Rochester, NY. Today, our purpose remains unchanged; engaging our community through antiracist, accessible, and compelling digital and virtual content, centering Black and Indigenous thinkers and creators.

• Anti-Racist Curriculum | $40,000

  Teachers participate in a free three-hour professional development session where they engage in the same learning activities as their students. Teachers and district leaders can also access further support offered through our team without charge and follow up professional development sessions that can be tailored to specific needs as well as provide more instructional support, assessment guidance, and access to other sources and content knowledge.

• Breathedeep. – Peer Ambassadors Program | $50,000

  BreatheDeep Peer Ambassadors Programs are a two-in-one program partnership between BreatheDeep and Young Women’s College Preparatory High School (YWCP). These programs will provide a safe space to address mental health experiences, and social-cultural encounters that have produced barriers such as stigma, silence and suppression. These programs will also implement culturally relevant strategies by women counselors and facilitators of color along with restorative/reflective practices that focus on participants lived experiences while fostering emotional and mental healing.

• Community Resource Collaborative | $30,000

  Community Resource Collaborative (CRC) seeks to uplift people between the ages of 18 and 24 affected by violence, either directly or indirectly, including gun violence, domestic violence and trafficking. We collaborate with various channels across New York State and beyond to connect young people with the resources they need to move through their traumas and find personal peace by way of stable housing, employment, mental health and other necessary services. Through the support of CRC, continued personal growth and healing are made possible by ensuring basic human needs are met. We defend and champion humankind through strong advocacy for what is right, equitable and just. Having the availability of gap-filler funds within our organization will eliminate the need to refer clients out to other nonprofit organizations, which then requires transportation, phone calls, documentation, and another enrollment process to get support with an emergency need that likely has to be taken care of immediately, not after transportation, phone calls, finding documentation, and enrollment elsewhere. It will allow us to be successful in our goal of working rapidly and effectively to provide the most impact to our community. When a referral is appropriate and works effectively within the framework required specific to each client, we will utilize all we can.

• Ibero | $50,000

  The Ibero-American Action League, Inc. was incorporated as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization in 1968. Today Ibero has evolved into an agency that serves individuals and families of all ethnic backgrounds, and our unique ability to target the Latino community remains unprecedented in this region. We have offices in Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, Amsterdam, and Geneva. They’ve grown from eight employees to over 180 staff and own Rochester’s first 24-hour Latin radio station, Poder 97.1 FM. About 69% of our employees are experienced bilingual and bi-cultural staff, enabling us to achieve our mission of uplifting, empowering, and advocating for Latinx individuals and the underserved to achieve equity and become fully valued community members. Their Executive Leadership members are advocates, and supporters, and participate in many initiatives that support racial and equity practices for all people.

• Just Cause – Right To Counsel in Evictions | $60,000*

  Rochester’s “Right To Counsel in Evictions” Pilot Project has been established through the Justice For All Coalition, with attorneys from the Legal Aid Society of Rochester (LASROC), Legal Assistance of Western New York (LAWNY), and Just Cause providing the direct services to tenants and Empire Justice Center (Empire Justice) providing impact litigation and advocacy support. The Project will enable those at-risk of homelessness to maintain their housing and prevent eviction by providing legal representation, education, advocacy, and access to available financial assistance to qualified individuals and households. The COVID-19 crisis and associated economic downturn has increased the need for immediate assistance in the area of eviction prevention.

• Mount Hope Family Center | $50,000*

  Mt. Hope Family Center is dedicated to promoting psychological health and preventing maladjustment and mental illness in the lives of children and families. We accomplish our mission by conducting innovative scientific research, developing, providing, and disseminating evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies and training mental health professionals.

• Public Policy and Education Fund NY, Inc | $45,000*

  Statewide housing organizer to provide strategic support to Rochester and other upstate cities for local and statewide advocacy to achieve transformational housing reforms. This work is centered on political education and leadership development, and is a process built on strengthening relationships, outreach, and coalition building. Not only is this initial work critical, but we must have resources to ensure that the work can be sustained. Their work provides Black and Brown communities with skills, tools and knowledge to implement policy changes that shift the housing landscape in their communities. The change in this landscape will lead to eviction protection, rent relief for tenants absorbed by the state and not impacted communities, aid for small landlords, and support for unhoused people.

• Refugees Helping Refugees | $30,000

  Refugees Helping Refugees (RHR) is a non-profit organization that serves refugees of Western New York. RHR seeks to foster the growth, self-determination, and self-reliance of Rochester’s refugee community by making them agents of their own advancement. REFUGEES HELPING REFUGEES is a community-based, refugee-led organization in Rochester, NY. Our mission is to foster the growth, self-determination, and self-reliance of refugees in our city and county. They provide the education, training, and support that enable refugees/our community members to build on their own strengths in order to advance and thrive in society. Our programs and services include English language, citizenship, and health education; work experience training; legal clinics; and comprehensive case management. RHR also provides academic support for youth and senior activities. Through active participation, refugees/members of the refugee community develop essential skills, grow confidence, and gain independence.

• Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network – Eviction prevention and rehousing program | $10,000

  The Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network, Inc. (RAIHN) is a not-for-profit, interfaith, culturally-competent organization that assists homeless families to achieve sustainable independence by supporting them with tailored services, including shelter, food, personalized case management, and a broad network of caring volunteers. Families are admitted for emergency housing no matter their DHS sanction status or history. The eviction prevention and rehousing program provides financial support to families for eviction prevention and/or move-in expenses for relocation. Families also receive at least one year of follow-up services.

• Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services – Project Support | $45,000

  RRRS functions as an agency trying to “fill the gaps” that are not covered by other agencies. The overall goal is to help our new Americans become self-sufficient using a complimentary approach of all agencies. Their basis is social enterprise – using housing as our mainstay. It provides stable income support complementing grants and donations and as landlords we get to know our families on a holistic basis. Success with housing families generates referrals by them to the rest of their communities.

• Rochester Regional Health: Healthy Mom | $35,000*

  The Healthy Moms program is focused on creating a nurturing and supportive environment that is life-changing and empowers women to reach their highest potential. It is funded by Rochester Regional Health and the Rochester Regional Health Foundation. The Healthy Moms Program provides moms with the support they need to reach their full potential as a parent and as an individual. Moms pick the services they are interested in and create a customized plan of what they would like to accomplish at Healthy Moms.

• Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative – General Support | $50,000*

  RMAPI and the Wilson Foundation share a common goal – ending poverty in Rochester. Much like the Wilson Foundation, RMAPI seeks an end to poverty by improving quality of life and increasing self-sufficiency of individuals and families in our community. When it was formed, RMAPI set an aspirational community goal of reducing poverty by 50% in 15 years. To do this, RMAPI is focused on increasing income, increasing accessibility/affordability of basic needs (including housing), decreasing the concentration of poverty, and doing all of this through the lens of our Guiding Principles: Addressing Structural Racism, Addressing Trauma, and Building Community.

• The Children’s Agenda | $45,000*

  The Children’s Agenda advocates for effective policies and drives evidenced-based solutions for the health, education and success of children. We are especially committed to children who are vulnerable because of poverty, racism, health inequities and trauma.

• The Hub585, Inc – The Life Launch Program | $40,000

  The Life Launch Program will focus on teenagers in foster care ages 13-18 years old living in Monroe County. Our pilot program will consist of 10-15 youth between June 2022 and Jan 2023 and then after the pilot the program will add another 15-20 young adults. Over 50% of the referrals for the pilot program are for BIPOC teens who are requesting mentors from the BIPOC community.

• Ubuntu Village Works | $30,000

  Village Works will offer clinicians training in culturally responsive therapeutic modalities. They offer an Intensive Immersion Learning Series in Culturally Competent and Anti – Racist Treatment for Black Families for white clinicians. For Black Clinicians, they propose the NTU Psychotherapy Certification course. The learning opportunities will equip clinicians with the tools to effectively engage Black children, youth, and families in therapeutic relationships that reframe the condition, needs, and strengths of black people in a way conducive to good outcomes.

• YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County – General Support | $50,000*

  Funds will be used to prevent prolonged periods of housing instability through investments the Emergency Housing Programs. It is critical YWCA has flexibility in order to respond to complex barriers, primarily impacting women and families of color living in extreme poverty, resulting from unimaginable impacts of the covid pandemic. To exasperate the impacts of a pandemic, local shelters are required to required to become licensed by 2023. YWCA will leverage our full continuum of housing programs to support those who exit the shelter to maintain long-term housing stability. The goal of the program is to make sure supports and benefits remain in place, so that the client retains housing and can achieve personal goals, such as education, ending addiction treatment, or finding employment. Program servs over 500. 86 beds per night – largest support of transitional housing for women and their children.

*Multi-year