This Week's Resources
Hudson Link Employer Toolkit and Spring Benefit
If you have resources to share with our network, please contact Tobi Mojeed-Balogun our Associate Director of Programs Support.
NYS COVID Mandate Updates
A lot of the news around mandates and restrictions have been a little confusing so I will list some resources below that might help.
PIX11 COVID Updates - kind of NYC-centric but state information is sometimes included. Link here.
The relevant highlight is that NYS governor Kathy Hochul has tested positive for COVID as numbers have jumped across the country
NYS Department of Health COVID website - It's a one stop shop with an info summary at the top. Link here.
Federal COVID website - covid.gov - it's pretty bare bones but you can search your county and get COVID level
All of the counties in the diocese were medium level except for Bronx and Orange counties which were at low level.
If you have any other resources, please feel free to share them with me so I can share them with everyone!
2022 Bulk Buy Application!
We are thrilled to announce that we will begin accepting proposals for our 2022 Bulk Buy Program! Bulk Buy allows us to aggregate food purchasing across the Diocese and means free high-quality food for EC programs. You can find our brief application form HERE! Please contact me (Tobi) with any questions or concerns.
Volunteer and Program Coordinator at All Angels' Church Community Ministries
Our friends over at All Angels' Church is hoping to bring on a Interim Volunteer and Program Manager this summer and they would love any recommendations. The job description is linked here. If you have any questions, inquiries, or recommendations, please contact Rebecca Hampe at rhampe@allangelschurch.com.
Hudson Link Employer Toolkit & Spring Benefit
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.
Hudson Link will also be having their Virtual Spring Benefit on this Thursday, May 12, 2022 (IN TWO DAYS!!). RSVP here if you're interested in attending!
ActivePlus
Our friends over at Active Plus work with the community to create a culture of healthy and active living.They provide health and physical education for youth coming from vulnerable communities. Regarding their mission they have said: "This mission embodies our purpose, drives our everyday actions, and is at the core of who we are as an organization. We believe that, by exposing children and teens to new activities, mindsets, information, and behavior at a young age, we can change the course of the rest of their lives."
Visit their website at https://www.activeplus-nyc.org/ to learn more!
Sing For Hope - Young at Arts Programming
Our Friend Sharyn Pirtle over at Young at Arts shared with us some programming that might be of use to our community:
"The first free program that I'd like to share is on our Open Arts platform that can interactively reach students, the elderly or any other group suffering from pandemic isolation, with curated arts programming. We have 2 interactive "Careers in the Arts" series, coming up on Open Arts. I have attached a flyer and any one can RSVP to these events HERE. The 2nd project is a 30 minute vaccine confidence musical, Don't Throw Away Your Shot that we had created, cast and filmed in New York and includes 20 or so Young at Arts performers. Like the Careers in the Arts, this program also includes a live talk back with the artists. The musical was underwritten through a grant from the CDC Foundation and we have the funding to present the performance 40 times, both virtually and in person throughout the NY area. To find out more about bringing the musical virtually to a school or other youth organization, visit the Sing for Hope website."
Peer Defense Project Youth Punishment Educational Guide
The Peer Defense Project is a student-led group of students and legal professionals working to provide legal tools for students in New York. Towards that end they have created a political education guide with information about the history of the punishment of students in New York among other information. While EC does not endorse the political positions in the guide, the "know your rights" section can be a helpful resource for helping kids advocate for themselves both inside and out in the public school system. The link to the whole guide is here and the link to the "know your rights" section is here.
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:
Grant opportunities from CSPI - "Center for Science in the Public Interest’s (CSPI’s) first round of grantmaking for 2022 is now open. CSPI seeks to support communities as they explore local, state, and federal policy interventions to elicit systemic change and advance a just and equitable food environment."
New York Foundation Grant Cycle (informational webinar) - New York Foundation makes core grants of $45,000, renewable for up to 3 years for established groups and 5 years for emerging organizations. What does New York Foundation fund? What is the application process? This webinar will help you assess whether your organization is eligible for a grant, better understand how we use our criteria in our grantmaking, and learn how to apply. Application deadline: July 1st.
New Funding for USDA Grants - The USDA announced supplemental American Rescue Plan Act funding for the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP). In fiscal year 2022, LAMP will receive a total of $97 million in competitive grant funding to help local and regional food entities develop, coordinate and expand producer-to-consumer marketing, local and regional food markets and local food enterprises. Informational grant webinars are offered for each grant program. Programs under LAMP that are currently accepting grant applications include
Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) - Deadline May 16
Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) - Deadline May 16
Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) - Deadline May 16
Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) - Deadline May 2
plus loads more!
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!