|
The September 11th Fund
On the afternoon of September 11, 2001, Lorie Slutsky, president of The New York Community Trust, met with representatives of United Way of New York to see how two established City philanthropies could respond to the tragedy. The result was the creation of The September 11th Fund.
The Fund made its first grants—to meet victims’ and their families’ immediate financial needs, such as rent and mortgages, food, tuition, and funeral expenses—11 days later. During the first weeks following the attack, staff brought together more than 300 nonprofit groups, as well as City, State, and federal agencies, to determine immediate and longer-term needs, the resources available, and where the money contributed to the Fund—which ultimately came to $538 million—could be used most effectively.
The Fund quickly made grants to nonprofits that were providing health care, legal and financial help, and psychiatric counseling, and paid for meals provided by relief agencies to rescue workers. Everyone affected was helped: undocumented immigrants, people who didn’t have pay stubs, elderly parents who weren’t legal dependents, and first families. We made grants to help nonprofits and small businesses in lower Manhattan—which included a hard-hit Chinatown—recover. And shortly before Christmas, the Fund, through the volunteer assistance of JP Morgan Chase, was able to mail checks totaling $65.7 million to affected individuals.
The Fund’s focus then shifted to helping people and neighborhoods with longer-term recovery, including needs that were not immediately apparent after the attacks. Multi-million programs were designed in-house with a set of benefits and a defined class of eligible applicants: job training and placement, mental health and substance abuse treatment, health insurance, financial aid, and case management.
When the Fund was closed in December 2004, $528 million had been paid out. The remaining funds are committed to construction projects in lower Manhattan and to arts and culture groups that will attract people to the neighborhood. |
