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  • Writer's pictureEpiscopal Charities
    • Sep 26, 2023
    • 10 min read

Weekly Resource Round-Up: September 26, 2023

This Week's Resources

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 Is Now Open!


We are thrilled to announce that the application for our Basic Human Needs Grant is now open! The deadline for the application is September 29th at 5 pm. We will be having BHN Grant Seekers meetings during the first week of September on the 6th at 6 pm, 7th at 2 pm, and the 9th at 9 am with more information about the application. You can find the link to the application here. 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

  • US News and World Report article on newest variant (BA.2.86) - Link Here

  • COVID is back in NY. What to know about schools, nursing homes and more (lohud.) - link here


How to Keep Tabs on COVID Through Wastewater Testing in NYC (The City)


"Three years into the pandemic, low testing rates and spotty case reporting are making it harder to know how widespread COVID is in New York City at any given moment.

Hospitalization rates remain a useful indicator, but by the time a flood of patients are admitted to the hospital for COVID, the virus has already spread.

To get an early warning sign that COVID is surging, health officials have turned to wastewater data — and THE CITY is adding this new tool to our Coronavirus in New York City tracker.

So, how does wastewater monitoring work?" Read more here.


Safe Church Training


Safe Church is handled by the Diocesan Human Resources Department which can be reached at safechurchinfo@dioceseny.org. You can also call 917 414 0156.



What the 18-Month TPS Extension Means for Venezuelans in New York City (Documented)


"For months, City Hall has been continuously appealing to the federal government to expand work authorization for the tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived and sought shelter in New York City since last spring.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a significant action in that direction: the agency extended and redesignated Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, temporarily shielding Venezuelans who have arrived in the U.S. before July 31 from deportation – and giving them a chance to obtain work permits. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the move “due to extraordinary and temporary conditions in Venezuela that prevent individuals from safely returning,” DHS said in a statement.


“We really want to thank President Biden for hearing our call,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference Thursday, noting that he spoke with the White House Chief of Staff on Wednesday night. “That announcement was well received by us.”" Read more here.


NYC Failing to Process Most Food Stamp, Cash Benefit Applications on Time (City Limit)


"New York City’s timely processing of cash and food assistance applications plunged to new lows last fiscal year, continuing a spiral Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has attributed to an ongoing pandemic spike in demand, as well as agency staffing shortages.


The Human Resource Administration (HRA) promptly worked through just 28.8 percent of cash assistance applications during the year that ended in June, down from 82.3 percent the year prior and north of 90 percent before that.


Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly referred to as food stamps, saw a slightly less dismal application processing rate of 39.7 percent, down from 60.1 percent the year prior and well below the city’s 90.6 percent target.


Katie Kelleher, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, bemoaned the collapse of a system that once worked efficiently. “New York City knew how to manage this—knew how to deliver benefits [on time],” she told City Limits." Read more here.


Campus food pantries see greater demand, more state dollars (The Columbian)


"SOUTH BRONX, New York — In the South Bronx, one of the nation’s poorest communities, Hostos Community College has long positioned itself as an educational pathway out of poverty. But to make that journey, many Hostos students must contend with more than their schoolwork.

Without the school’s child care center, students who are single parents would struggle to attend classes. Hostos offers legal and financial services to immigrant students who lack permanent legal status, so they can comfortably pursue a degree.

And because many Hostos students often go hungry, the school has its own food bank.

Hostos is not alone: The number of food pantries on U.S. college campuses has ballooned from 80 to around 800 in the past decade. Hunger on college campuses is not a new phenomenon, but advocates say awareness of the issue, as well as legislative action to address it, is increasing." Read more here.


Mayor Adams pitches dorm-style apartments, hallway bathrooms in NYC housing plan (Gothamist)


"Would you share a hallway bathroom with a bunch of your neighbors in exchange for cheaper rent?

Mayor Eric Adams’ latest effort to address the city’s housing crisis means more New Yorkers could soon face that question. As part of an ambitious housing package unveiled last week, Adams is proposing rules that allow for new single-room occupancy (SRO) housing, a type of dorm-style apartment complex where tenants have their own private studios but typically share kitchens and bathrooms.

SROs were once ubiquitous across New York City before officials banned most new SRO construction over six decades ago, when the low-cost accommodations were linked to perceptions of rising crime, disorder, and “urban blight.”

Now Adams says it’s time to reverse course and lift “limitations on small and shared units.”" Read more here.


Fatal Overdoses Reach Historic Levels In NYC, Officials Say (Patch)


"NEW YORK CITY — Fatal overdoses in New York City reached historic levels in 2022 as deaths topped 3,000, new data shows.

The deaths — of which eight of 10 were tied to fentanyl — prompted Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan to issue an advisoryfor city dwellers, providers and people who use drugs. New Yorkers to take actions such as being equipped with and trained in the anti-overdose drug naloxone, the advisory urged.

"This crisis is killing a New Yorker every three hours and is impacting every individual and family in our city and in our nation," Vasan said in a statement. "No one is spared, even if you think otherwise." New York City saw 3,026 overdose deaths in 2022, a 12 percent rise over the previous year, according to the provisional data." Read more here.


More NYC teachers are frequently out sick following COVID-19 pandemic (Chalkbeat)


"New York City teachers are calling out sick more frequently in the wake of the pandemic, following a national trend of increased educator absences as COVID-19 and other illnesses continue to swirl, city data shows.

During the six years prior to the pandemic, about 14% of teachers each school year used more than their 10 allotted sick days on average. That percentage sank to historic lows during the two school years in which classes were fully or partially remote, according to city numbers.

But when full-time, in-person classes resumed in the 2021-2022 school year, the number of teachers using 11 or more sick days jumped to 16% and continued climbing to nearly 19% last school year, according to the most recent Mayor’s Management Report." Read more here.


Hudson Valley Job Market Continues Tight (Patch)


"HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The New York State Department of Labor recently released preliminary local area unemployment rates for August 2023, and the data shows the job market continues to be tight in the Hudson Valley.

"In the wake of the economic uncertainty generated by the pandemic, many businesses report that they continue to struggle with filling open positions," New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said when releasing the DOL's annual workforce survey in early September." Read more here.


T-Mobile Hometown Grants Program


Here is a capital grant we found. If you're thinking abut applying and need help, let me know.


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


NYC migrant crisis: Where to volunteer and what to donate (Gothamist)


"Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly urged New Yorkers to volunteer or donate to help ease the asylum-seeker crisis, but figuring out where to go to help or what items to give can be difficult.

For information on how New Yorkers can help, Gothamist spoke with the mayor's office as well as several organizers involved in daily efforts to aid migrants who have recently arrived in the city." 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:


  • 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!


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