FPWA Distributes $120,000 in Program Grants to Local Nonprofit Organizations

First time FPWA has awarded six program grants totaling $120,000; awardees received $20,000 grants to fund year-long programs

Press Release – (New York, NY) – This morning FPWA awarded six of its member agencies with a $20,000 grant at its annual Program Grants Breakfast at its office in Lower Manhattan. The grants support programs that are aligned with the FPWA mission and help to enhance the lives of New York’s most vulnerable.

Grants were awarded to fund programs from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 that align with at least one of FPWA’s three strategic pillars – reducing poverty, advancing upward mobility, and creating shared prosperity. FPWA awards program grants on an annual basis to its member agencies to support new direct service projects that are linked to FPWA’s advocacy agenda. Grants must address emerging social service issues or needs that the agency has identified.

This year’s awardees are the Asian Americans for Equality, Edwin Gould, Exodus Transitional Community, Inc., New Alternatives for Children, Inc., New York Asian Women’s Center, Inc. and New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc. Programs funded by the awards included an integrated job referral and placement platform for Flushing, Queens; a faith-based program to support formerly incarcerated fathers; and an entrepreneurship program to increase the vocational prospects of women in substance abuse treatment. This year’s grants include:

• Asian Americans for Equality – Flushing Employment Network – Flushing, Queens
• Edwin Gould – College Success – Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
• Exodus Transitional Community, Inc. – Faith in Fatherhood – East Harlem
• New Alternatives for Children, Inc. – Career Initiative
• New York Asian Women’s Center, Inc. – Economic Empowerment Workshop
• New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc. – Recovery Through Entrepreneurship for Women – Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

At the ceremony, Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement House, one of last year’s program grant awardees, also returned to discuss their 2015 project, helping immigrants establish worker cooperative businesses.

“One of the many ways that we address the needs of New York’s most vulnerable is through FPWA’s annual program grant awards,” said CEO and Executive Director of FPWA Jennifer Jones Austin. “These grants provide community-based organizations with an opportunity to address specific needs in their respective communities—things to improve economic well-being, workforce readiness and social services that will ultimately lead to poverty reduction. We are especially thrilled to be able to double the amount of money in grants this year, which means that more individuals and communities will be served. “

“We are grateful to FPWA for the opportunity to receive this grant,” said Julio Medina, Founder and Executive Director of Exodus Transitional Community. “Made possible with this funding, Exodus is thrilled to provide a faith-based fatherhood program to our participants that supports family restoration after incarceration. The Faith in Fatherhood program strives to increase a father’s emotional, physical and financial presence in the lives of their children to increase individual earning power and household income, as well as impact the economic and emotional health of generations to come. Everyone who walks through our doors is part of the Exodus family, and we are excited to bring this value out into the community. ”

“We are extremely grateful to FPWA for this grant,” said Larry Lee, Executive Director at the New York Asian Women’s Center. “Often, domestic violence survivors don’t leave their abuser because they need to find a job and because they have legal immigration barriers to working. This grant will help us address these twin impediments to a survivor leading a safe and secure life.”

“For nearly 40 years, New York Therapeutic Communities has been committed to providing addiction treatment services for adults in the criminal justice system,” said Ronald Williams, Founder & President of New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc. (NYTC). “With this grant, NYTC will be able to expand the highly successful “Recovery Through Entrepreneurship” (RTE) program to our female residential program, Serendipity II. RTE is an applied learning program for ex-offenders designed to provide basic computer literacy and entrepreneurship skills. Entrepreneurship has been recognized as a path to successful reentry and it’s important that we provide marginalized populations with opportunities for economic success. Expansion and implementation of this program for women will assist in providing a critical path to upward mobility and employment, which has been demonstrated to reduce relapse and recidivism as well as contribute to the restoration of families, we are grateful to FPWA for recognizing this important program.”

“This grant is an opportunity for New Alternatives for Children, Inc. (NAC) to substantively increase our programming in the area of employment, for the youth and parents we serve,” said Arlene Goldsmith, LCSW, Ph.D. Executive Director. “We are very much looking forward to helping them with job readiness, employment resources, and financial literacy education, which is often transformational. For the youth particularly, this encouragement will have long-lasting impact. Once again, a small grant from FPWA is propelling NAC in an important direction and we hope will lead to the leveraging of future resources from other sources for these services.”

“We are thrilled with this award, which will seed our College Success program for youth in foster care,” said Keith Little, Executive Director of Edwin Gould. “Without the necessary supports, our youth are struggling to succeed from the time they begin college, putting them at a distinct disadvantage from the vast majority of their peers. College Success will harness their inherent resiliency and cultivate their ability to thrive and succeed.”

“Asian Americans for Equality is honored to partner with FPWA in the fight for a city that reflects our shared dream of equality and shared prosperity for all New Yorkers,” said Christopher Kui, Executive Director of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE). “AAFE knows from 42 years of working on the ground for immigrants and all those in need that this dream starts with strong partnerships and access to resources for innovation. Funding from FPWA will support AAFE’s pilot project, Flushing Employment Network, which aims to bring together jobseekers, small businesses, training programs, and employers to provide crucial opportunities for the most vulnerable, unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers living in Flushing, Queens, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city.”

Source: Jobsnews