Weekly Resource Round-Up: August 22, 2023
This Week's Resources
NYS COVID and MonkeyPox Updates (Plus Info about the Flu, RSV, and Norovirus)
Feds Approve Migrant Shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn (The City)
Why Your Con Ed Bill is High Right Now — and How to Get Financial Help (The City)
Summer Rising has brought joy for some, boredom for others (Chalkbeat)
This Harlem community center is powered by asylum seekers for asylum seekers (Chalkbeat)
MTA says fare evasion crackdown coming to all NYC buses (Gothamist)
Documented's Immigrant Resources and Job/Housing Discrimination Guides
Free ride: MTA to nix fares on 5 NYC bus routes by late September (Gothamist)
If you have resources to share with our network, please contact Tobi Mojeed-Balogun our Associate Director of Programs Support.
2024 Basic Human Needs Application!
We are thrilled to announce that we will be opening the application for our Basic Human Needs Grant on September 1st at 9 am. We will have informational meetings on September 6th, 7th. and 9th with more information about the application. To learn about EC's grants (including BHN), see here. Please contact me (Tobi) for more information about the information sessions and if you have any other questions or concerns.
NYS COVID and MonkeyPox Updates (Plus Info about the Flu, RSV, and Norovirus)
A lot of the news around mandates, vaccines and restrictions have been a little confusing so I will list some resources below that might help.
Interview with NYC Health Commissioner on COVID bump. Link here.
NYS Department of Health COVID website - It's a one stop shop with an info summary at the top. Link here.
NYC Department of Health Monkeypox Webpage - lots of information and resources about the virus with pictures of the rash included. Find the link here.
With Mpox at Risk of Flaring, Health Officials Advise, ‘Get Vaccinated’ - New York Times - Read here
COVID vs Flu vs RSV info - I found a good article from the Washington post that gives information about three viruses that have been spiking this winter. Read the article here.
The Time Magazine article on the new variant (XBB.1.5) - Link Here
Opinion: Feeding Hungry People is Not Enough (City Limits)
Gregory Silverman is the CEO of West Side Campaign Against Hunger, one of our partners, wrote an op-ed on food insecurity for City Limits.
"...To most, donating a can of cream of mushroom soup or packing white bread peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is seen as a job well done. But people experiencing food insecurity deserve more than the calorie-dense, ultra processed bare minimum. That means choice of food and access to options should not solely be a privilege of the wealthy. As friend and fellow anti-hunger activist Robert Egger always says, “21st Century charity seems to be about the redemption of the giver instead of what it should be about: the liberation of the receiver.” It’s time we phase out the “good is good enough” mentality that has too often been the way the food insecurity industry has operated."
More than 13K rent-stabilized units in NYC are sitting empty for multiple years, report finds (Gothamist)
"More than 13,000 rent-stabilized apartments sat empty for the past two years amid a heated debate over “warehousing” low-cost units, according to a new review of state data.
Tenant organizations, landlord groups and policymakers have been trying to determine the exact number of empty rent-stabilized units in New York as the city contends with a dire housing shortage, surging homelessness and record-breaking rents.
The city’s Independent Budget Office reviewed state data and found that the number of empty rent-stabilized apartments decreased significantly from 2021 to 2022, following a pandemic-related exodus from Manhattan."
Feds Approve Migrant Shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn (The City)
"State and federal government officials have reached a tentative agreement to house migrants at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn after months of negotiations.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that the Biden administration gave the OK for the city to use the former airfield to open another Humanitarian Emergency Relief and Response Center, or HERRC, joining two others on the grounds of Randall’s Island in Manhattan and the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens.
Floyd Bennett Field is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, a national park, so using it as a HERRC required federal permission. It served as an airfield from 1931 to 1971.
The governor said more than 2,000 people potentially could be housed at the site as New York City continues to struggle with an influx of migrant arrivals. It’s unclear when it may open."
Why Your Con Ed Bill is High Right Now — and How to Get Financial Help (The City)
"...In July, the state Public Service Commission approved rate hikes for Con Ed customers, which amount to an increase of about $7 a month for the typical New York City resident, in effect as of this August. Next year, the average residential customer will see their bill increase by another $4 monthly and then $2 more in the following year.
Those increases help pay for the programs (like efficiency incentives), staffing and infrastructure Con Ed needs to deliver electricity, but not the power itself that it purchases.
But there is some good news for certain New Yorkers. Under the agreement that allowed the rate hike to move forward, eligible low-income residential customers could see their bills drop by about $3 monthly as part of the rate changes, according to Con Ed.
Summer Rising has brought joy for some, boredom for others (Chalkbeat)
"...Summer Rising, which runs at hundreds of sites for six to seven weeks in July and August, has been wildly popular, providing students in grades K-8 across the five boroughs with academics in the morning and enrichment activities in the afternoon. It helped reframe what summer school could look like, no longer reserved just for academically struggling kids. This year, the city rejected roughly 45,000 applicants, after the 110,000 available seats were filled. (Some of those applicants eventually got spots as seats freed up, though others were left scrambling for child care.)
Most parents heap praise on the program for helping students learn over the summer months and assisting families with a free child care option. Many are also hopeful that the program will continue next summer even as federal relief money — which funds a big portion of the program — dries up this year.
But while Summer Rising continues to garner praise, some parents at multiple school sites told Chalkbeat they decided to withdraw their kids from the program this year. They cited morning assignments that bled into the activity portion of the day and a lack of activities or field trips — which some site providers said were affected by severe weather. The program’s success had in part relied on its blending of learning and fun, and some worried that balance had shifted for their children."
This Harlem community center is powered by asylum seekers for asylum seekers (Chalkbeat)
"Since coming to the U.S. from Guinea four months ago, 18-year-old Sadio Diallo splits his time between school and volunteering at a community center in Harlem called Afrikana.
The center opened a year ago to help asylum seekers and is run almost entirely by volunteers who are themselves asylum seekers.
Many of them are students like Diallo, who is studying for a GED diploma. He spends his days at the center translating for recently arrived African migrants who speak Arabic, Wolof, and Pulaar, taking each asylum seeker through every page of their SNAP application for food benefits and assisting them through the process."
T-Mobile Hometown Grants Program
Here is a capital grant we found. If you're thinking abut applying and need help, let me know.
T-Mobile Hometown Grants Program
Application deadline: Applications are reviewed on a quarterly basis; the upcoming deadline is September 30, 2023. Grant amount: Up to $50,000 Description: The T-Mobile Hometown Grants Program is providing up to $25 million over five years, through 2026, to fund community projects in small towns across the United States. Each quarter, 25 grants of up to $50,000 are provided for shovel-ready projects to build, rebuild, or refresh community spaces that help foster local connections in small towns. Examples of eligible projects include, but are not limited to, adaptive uses of older and historic buildings into community gathering spaces, improvements to outdoor parks or trails, and technology projects for public libraries. Applications are accepted from elected officials, town managers or employees, tribal leaders, or nonprofit community leaders from small towns with populations of less than 50,000.
Funder Profile Available to Members of GrantStation
MTA says fare evasion crackdown coming to all NYC buses (Gothamist)
"MTA officials said on Thursday that a strict fare evasion crackdown is coming to the city’s buses — and warned riders across the five boroughs they’d be hit with tickets if they don’t pay.
Starting next month, officials will deploy unarmed MTA guards known as EAGLE teams onto local buses. They’ll issue tickets between $50 to $100 to those who can’t prove they swiped a MetroCard or tapped to pay on the agency’s OMNY readers.
The agency will also be sending NYPD officers to 20 bus hubs around the city to help support enforcement by the EAGLE teams, officials said." Read more here.
Documented's Immigrant Resources and Job/Housing Discrimination Guides
"Documented has gathered all of the resources we can find to help immigrant New Yorkers. New links will be added and the following pages will be constantly updated. If you would like us to add information to this list or have questions, please reach out to us at info@documentedny.com."
"The New York City Human Rights Law is one of the most comprehensive anti-discrimination laws in the country, prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on race, color, religion/creed, age, national origin, immigration or citizenship status, gender (including sexual harassment), gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, military service, marital status and partnership status. As a newsroom that serves immigrant communities, Documented has written a comprehensive guide for immigrants."
Free ride: MTA to nix fares on 5 NYC bus routes by late September (Gothamist)
"Free rides are coming to five city bus routes by Sept. 24, the MTA said on Monday.
MTA officials said during a committee meeting that fares won’t be collected on one route in each of the five boroughs for at least six months as part of a program mandated by the state.
The B60, which runs in Brooklyn between Williams and Flatlands Avenue, in Canarsie, and Williamsburg Bridge Plaza.
The M116, which operates across Manhattan, primarily along 116th Street, Manhattan Avenue and W 106 Street.
The Q4 LCL/LTD, which runs in southeast Queens between Cambria Heights and Jamaica Center.
The S46/96, which runs in Staten Island between the St. George Ferry Terminal and West Shore Plaza.
The BX18 A/B, which runs in a loop in the western Bronx between Undercliff Avenue or Sedgwick Avenue and Grand Concourse"
Hudson Link Employer Toolkit
Our friends at Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison put together an employer toolkit for hiring formerly incarcerated people. Thank you to Sean Pica, Eldredge Blalock, Elisabeth Santiago, and the rest of the team at Hudson Link for this important resource. The toolkit can be found here. If you have any questions about hiring formerly incarcerated people, please contact Elisabeth Santiago from Hudson Link's Alumni Services at esantiago@hudsonlink.org.
Community Food Funders Newslink
Community Food Funders has opened up their newsletter to a wider audience (so not just food funders). "Each month, CFF compiles a newsletter with news, articles, reports, and events for those in our region interested in an equitable and sustainable food system." Highlights on this month's newsletter include:
New Exploratory Grants Program - In 2023, the Tauck Family Foundation (TFF) plans to distribute several exploratory grants ranging from $10,000 to $25,000. The intention is to use learnings from a variety of grantee partners to help inform and further refine their areas of focus and the specific impact they seek to achieve through their giving. The Foundation seeks to support communities and groups most affected by climate and other environmental challenges by distributing grants to organizations for new or existing efforts that contribute to healthy land use and regenerative ecosystems. A link to their Exploratory Grant Eligibility Checklist, Guidelines, and Application as well as other resources is available here. You can also read about the Foundation's recently announced shift to the environment sector with new vision, mission, and long-term outcomes. Application deadline: August 1, 2023
Study: Food insecurity among households with children during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic - Understanding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic among households with children is necessary to design appropriate public health responses that protect food and nutrition security. The objective of this research was to understand predictors of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic among households with at least one child. Consistent with other data collected and analyzed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study contributes findings that emphasize the need for enhanced public health responses and emergency preparedness measures that protect food and nutrition security.
Food Forward NYC: 2-Year Progress Report - Food Forward NYC is the City’s first ever 10-year food policy plan, laying out an comprehensive policy framework to reach a more equitable, sustainable, and healthy food system by 2031. Food Forward NYC emphasizes the importance of equity and choice - enabling a food system where everyone should be able to access the food they want wherever they may want it. To enable this choice, we need to support both our food workers and our food businesses. To strengthen the sustainability and resiliency of our food system, we need to rethink our food infrastructure and deepen our connections with the region.
NY Healthy Food, Healthy Lives Match Program - This ioby match opportunity may be of interest to BIPOC-led organizations using grassroots fundraising approaches to support food justice work in New York State. For approved participants, donors are matched up to $1,000 and projects may access up to $5,000 in matching, until the program ends. Learn about eligibility requirements and share your idea.
Dyson Foundation Mini-Grant Program - The Dyson Foundation’s mini-grant program funds capacity-building projects that improve a nonprofit’s administrative, governance, or programmatic functions. Mini-grants enable nonprofit board, staff, and volunteer leaders to develop new skills through specific consultant-led capacity-building activities, or through conferences, seminars, and other relevant training opportunities. Mini-grants are available to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and libraries in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Grants are available on a rolling basis.
I will continue to include highlights from each month's newsletter on our weekly resource round-ups but if you would like to subscribe yourself, the link is here. The link to last month's newsletter is here and their archive is here.
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That's all for this week -- thanks for all you do!