2024

In 2024, the Wilson Foundation provided funding to 24 organization partners totalling more than $1,100,000.

• BreatheDeep | $45,000

  BreatheDeep is a community and research-based organization that provides mental health education, mental health support services, and restorative wellness programming to historically marginalized communities. They co-create safe spaces with their participants to assist them to heal from trauma and restore mental wellness. Their network of partners provide mental health and wellness workshops, coaching, and counseling through culturally relevant and research-based strategies, as well as training for teens to become mental health peer ambassadors upon completing teen trauma curriculum under development.

• Common Ground Health | $65,000

  Common Ground Health’s mission is to bring focus to community health issues via data analysis, resident engagement, and solution implementation. Healers Village, an initiative of Common Ground Health, is an ecosystem of healing and wellness that was developed in response to the growing mental health crisis. 

  The project utilizes a culturally responsive, relational approach to healing and wellness to transform mental health systems and supports.  This grant supports training of practitioners through two cohorts to provide an expanded continuum of trauma-informed and culturally responsive mental health services and supports to BIPOC and other clients/patients.

• Connected Communities | $40,000

  CC is a nonprofit in the “Purpose Built Communities” model dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and revitalizing the EMMA and Beechwood neighborhoods of Rochester. Their housing focus is on providing safe and affordable housing for neighborhood families regardless of income level. This two-year grant is focused on the Greenwood Project, which ushers in neighborhood-focused systems change.

• Connected Communities | $100,000

  CC is a nonprofit in the “Purpose Built Communities” model dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and revitalizing the EMMA and Beechwood neighborhoods of Rochester. Their housing focus is on providing safe and affordable housing for neighborhood families regardless of income level. This grant enabled them to leverage state and other dollars to break ground on the Beechwood Family Apartments multi-site housing development.

• Empire Justice Center | $30,000

  Empire Justice Center is a nonprofit law firm that provides needed services to low income and other vulnerable New Yorkers. This advocacy grant educates the public and leaders regarding the roles zoning, affordable housing, and lending play in the housing crisis, primarily in the suburbs around Rochester.

• Education Success Foundation | $36,000

  ESF enables Rochester students and their families to have equitable opportunities to pursue their own visions of success. This grant supports a three-year professional development arc for 200 educators, family Navigators, and other youth development professionals in the areas of positive youth development, trauma responsive approaches, restorative practices, and related content. Strengthened staff and organizational capacity supports 2,400 Rochester children and families on paths to success, annually, while simultaneously advancing systemic change, community priorities, and the mission of the Foundation. A three-year grant of $36,000 a year was awarded for this capacity building program.

• Family Promise of Greater Rochester | $25,000

  Family Promise operates a homeless shelter and related programs in the city of Rochester. It seeks to address the housing insecurity and eviction crisis for renters with low incomes, particularly within communities of color, by preventing evictions which perpetuate poverty and poor health. This program addresses local disproportionate housing insecurity by providing: (1) rental assistance to prevent evictions and (2) security deposits to regain housing. The grant will help assist some of the over 300 families who they expect to serve in this program over the next year.

• Hope585 | $80,000

  Hope585 is a relationship-centered community where marginalized youth and families hope, heal and thrive. Their vision is for a restored community where youth and their families have moved from systemic trauma to a place of power and belonging. They serve youth and families involved in foster care and other systems and those with multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACES). The grant provides general operating support for Hope585’s programs (which include an online portal to meet practical needs; mentoring of foster teens; life skills courses that reach 150 foster youth annually; and cash assistance to foster youth transitioning to independent) and for a new program, which include opening a foster home for teen girls and training and skills development for biological and foster parents.

• Judicial Process Commission | $20,000

  JPC provides various supports to formerly justice-involved people, including a program to remove barriers to their employment and restore other rights called the Civil Action Project. This work helps hundreds of applicants per year gain certificates through a judicial process that can restore eligibility for certain employment and licensures, and help these individuals be in a better position with respect to applications for housing. JPC data show that homelessness, substance abuse relapse, and recidivism decrease as a result of participation in their program, and that main goals of their participants are to gain employment and be able to secure their own housing. A prevention grant of $20,000 applies to the staffing costs of this specific program.

• JustCause | $35,000

  JustCause’s mission is to improve the quality of life of low-income residents of Monroe County by ensuring the existence of a readily available panel of skilled volunteer attorneys to resolve serious civil legal problems. JustCause mobilizes volunteer attorneys to provide legal assistance to individuals who cannot afford to hire an attorney when facing eviction, foreclosure, and many other civil legal problems. By connecting local attorneys with individuals in need, JustCause raises awareness of the extreme wealth and racial disparity in our community, mobilizing lawyers to provide direct assistance to clients as well as advocate for structural change. The HomeRights program empowers over 1,000 Rochester families with critical legal knowledge to safeguard their housing rights, targeting families at risk due to misunderstandings about complex housing laws that can lead to evictions and foreclosures. The HomeRights program will also train 50 human service providers in essential topics to prevent misunderstanding about housing law and reduce housing-related trauma. A two-year grant of $35,000 a year supports this prevention program.

• Mary's Place Outreach | $25,000

  Mary’s Place Outreach provides case management, outreach, and basic services to new arrival families in the northwest corner of Rochester. This grant supplied general operating funds to bridge a period of time that the organization sought a partner with whom to merge or share services.

• Our Local History | $40,000

  OLH's mission is to support and empower students, teachers, and communities with the tools to engage with and own their local history of civil rights through inquiry, equity, and civic action. With their expertise in centering the learner on important and sometimes difficult topics, the grant will create additional impactful community workshops that go deeper on the historical and current housing system in Rochester using primary research such as papers of Joe Wilson and Franklin Florence, as well as interviews with folks still living with relevant historical knowledge. They will draw parallels to recent housing recommendations generated by the city/county's joint Commission on Racial & Structural Equity (RASE) and share the lessons learned from efforts in the past to change the trajectory of zoning and other discriminatory housing practices that worked to exclude low income and Black and Brown residents and hinder greater Rochester's economic growth. A two-year advocacy grant of $80,000 ($40,000/yr) was awarded.

• Partners in Community Development | $30,000

  The Parents Elevating their voice to Educate and Empower Each other to Eliminate Disparities and Inequities in Services related to the Emotional health of our Kids (PEEEEEEK) program builds trusting relationshipos in communities of color and addresses stigmas associated with mental health and services from a racial equity lens. It also aims to impact change with behavioral health providers to foster a system built for BIPOC children and families.

• Person Centered Housing Options | $50,000

  PCHO provides housing to those experiencing chronic homelessness through the “Housing First” model. This model prioritizes providing immediate access to housing without imposing strict prerequisites such as sobriety or participation in treatment programs. This grant would support 15 chronic homeless households annually at Cecilia’s Place, a rehabbed former factory converted into high-quality housing in a low-income Rochester neighborhood. Cecilia’s Place includes permanently supportive housing with wrap around services that meet the specific needs of each housed individual.

• Public Policy and Education Fund of New York | $45,000

  PPEFNY is a state-wide housing organizer that provides strategic support to Rochester and other upstate cities for local and state-wide advocacy to achieve transformational housing reforms. Staff work with underserved communities to build skills and knowledge to advocate and implement policy changes that shift the housing landscape, leading to eviction prevention, rent relief, aid for small landlords, and support for unhoused people.

• REACH Advocacy | $25,000

  This grant enabled REACH Advocacy to support general operating expenses as well as enhance crucial supports at their low barrier shelter, including professional trauma-informed care training as well as wage increases for its shelter monitors.

• Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative | $25,000

  RMAPI is he only multi-sector collective action organization working toward upward mobility for all families in Rochester. Its Unity Agenda seeks to achieve this by focusing on Dignity and Belonging, Power and Autonomy, and Economic Success. The grant funds general operating support to sustain collective action efforts, and create long-term change in systems and structures.

• Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach | $20,000

  SCPO is the only program in Monroe County providing residential wraparound services to individuals re-entering the community from the incarceral system where the can have stable housing and receive support as they work to achieve their goals. Goals may include family reunification, mental stability, ending chemical dependency, and vocational/educational advancement. This 5-year grant matches a NYS grant to expand supportive housing.

• St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center | $25,000

  SJNC is a neighborhood health clinic that has served the uninsured and underinsured in our region with quality health care services for 30 years. Their model of service delivery, with many volunteers that provide countless hours of direct care, enables the clinic to have a greater impact. This capacity building grant provides trauma informed care training for clinic staff and volunteers that includes a “train the trainer” module to enable the long term sustainability of trauma-informed practice improvements. As well, the grant includes funding for the Executive Director to continue her involvement in a facilitated cohort of nonprofit executives engaged in training and professional development.

• The Center for Teen Empowerment | $20,000

  TE's prevention-focused approach to youth development includes hiring Youth Organizers to use their own voices and skills to address systemic inequities in their own neighborhoods and community. YOs report strong skill building, including increases in pride, civic engagement, the ability to respectfully disagree with others, improved school work, feeling better equipped to avoid violence, and better resolving conflict. This grant of $20,000 supports general operations.

• The Center for Youth | $25,000

  The Center for Youth provides services to youth ages 12 – 24 years facing housing instability. This grant supports the Arnett House which includes housing, counseling, workforce readiness, and advocacy for vulnerable young people ages 16 - 24 years in a transitional living site with 24/7 staff. The six-bed facility has a trained, compassionate staff skilled in trauma informed care and social/racial justice issues. The goal is to The Center for Youth provides services to youth ages 12 – 24 years facing housing instability. This grant supports the Arnett House which includes housing, counseling, workforce readiness, and advocacy for young people ages 16 - 24 years in a transitional living site with 24/7 staff. The six-bed facility has a trained, compassionate staff with skills in trauma informed care and social/racial justice, with aims to prevent chronic homelessness among a vulnerable population. The goal is to prevent chronic homelessness among this population.

• The Child Advocacy Center | $40,000

  Item descriptionThe Child Advocacy Center believes that every child deserves a childhood filled with potential, and envision a community where all children are safe and free from abuse. This grant supports the facility and intake processes of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) members who provide intervention services for children impacted by physical or sexual abuse, or who have been a witness to a violent crime. The co-located collaboration reduces trauma for kids and their parents/caregivers, who receive all services related to the traumatic event at just one location. Parents/caregivers and the child affected have as their first point of contact a highly skilled, trauma-informed intake professional. Anticipating the growth of intervention services due to expanded prevention services has meant that another intake position is being added. This grant partially funds the facility that houses the MDT members as well as the new intake position.

• The Children's Agenda | $45,000

  TCA advocates for effective policies and drives evidenced based solutions for the success of children. This two-year grant supports TCA’s work to improve the lives of children b engaging leaeers in systemic change through advocacy, research, and collaboration. One of their initiatives is to extend state fundingto help parents pay for housing and other child-related expenses.

• The House of Mercy | $60,000

  The House of Mercy is a 76-bed shelter serving those experiencing homelessness in one of the poorest areas of Rochester. Although basic needs support, such as food, clothing, and shelter—all of which House of Mercy provides—are important, they recognize that their guests face a number of complex hardships, including physical and mental health challenges, and addiction struggles. To address them, HOM treats each guest with a trauma-informed, whole-person approach as relevant programming and a social work team guides them on their journey from homelessness to housing. This grant supports general operating expenses.

• Untrapped Ministries | $50,000

  Untrapped Ministries (UM) is a community focused organization working to change the lives of Rochester’s most vulnerable youth through the understanding that Economic Empowerment, Health and Wellness and a sense of Connectedness and Belonging are inextricably connected to the success of our youth. The grant would support the replication of the Community Vanguard model, to reach and teach young adults who can themselves become credible messengers for their peers, recruiting and support additional youth, as well as paying stipends to the youth.

• VOA of Western NY | $30,000

  The VOA seeks to create lasting change in the community by providing services to the unhoused, those reentering the community, children, and those experiencing food insecurity. The grant assists the VOA in becoming a single-source model of care for those served by integrating care (such as behavioral health, substance use treatment, primary care, and comprehensive care coordination) within their continuum of supportive housing programs for families and individuals, serving 2,500 people. Of their adult residents, 70% struggle with a behavioral health condition. Although homeless populations experience a disproportional need for mental health and substance use treatment, their complex needs go largely unmet. This grant partially funds a new Payee Relations & Project Coordinator staff member to lead an initiative for the VOA to become established as a Medicaid payee.

• YWCA | $50,000

  The YWCA of Rochester & Monroe County helps women and girls facing homelessness and other crises by dispeling stereotypes and promoting racial justice on the path to a health, successful future. YWCA provides the entire continuum of housing designed to prevent a return to homelessness. This grant allows the YWCA to respond to complex barriers, primarily impacting women and families of color living in extreme poverty.