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The Trust
Emergency Fund

2020-08-20-NAFR-Lennon-Family--cropped and shaded
A student at one of the family shelters run by BronxWorks does her schoolwork online thanks to a grant from the Emergency Fund. Photo by Aaron Cipollina/BronxWorks

The Trust Emergency Fund

Helping New York recover from the Covid-19 Pandemic

With your help, our Emergency Fund is addressing both immediate challenges and efforts to re-establish the vibrancy of the city over the months ahead. As we have for close to 100 years, The New York Community Trust is aggregating the collective generosity of New Yorkers to help their neighbors—this time as they confront the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

See a full list of grantees
Your generosity in action

The Trust draws upon its decades of experience and an expert grantmaking staff to identify nonprofits that are key to responding to this unprecedented chapter in the city’s history. Here are some of the recent grants from the Emergency Fund:

Remote learning for homeless students: Grants to BronxWorks, CAMBA, HELP Social Services, and Women In Need for the expansion and enhancement of the organizations’ homeless shelters so school-age children residing there can continue to receive educational support while staying within federal guidelines on social distancing.

Maintaining green spaces: A grant to the City Parks Foundation so it can maintain even more needed open spaces throughout the five boroughs through the summer. 

Supporting students with disabilities: A grant to INCLUDEnyc to provide support—given in English and Spanish—to children with disabilities and their families while classes are held both online and in person in the fall.

Helping foster children learn: A grant to the Jewish Child Care Association of New York so children at risk of being placed in foster homes can receive help for their education during remote learning.

Nonprofits adapting: So nonprofits can improve their services during the pandemic, a grant to Behavioral Ideas Lab so they can help them adapt to new conditions with behavioral science principles.

Training teen advocates: A grant to the Red Hook Initiative to expand their Anti-Violence Project, which trains young people in geographically isolated Red Hook to organize and advocate for social reform, including efforts to curb police violence and prevent evictions during COVID-19.

Helping front-line staff with trauma: A grant to Vibrant Emotional Health to design and carry out virtual mental health workshops for workers at social service nonprofits. 

Saving arts education: Because public schools’ arts education is threatened by budget cuts and the move to remote learning, we have given grants to a unique partnership of the following nonprofits to create online curricula for schools: 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, Fund for Public Schools, Roundabout Theatre Company, and Studio in a School.

Reopening businesses and nonprofits: A grant to the Van Alen Institute so businesses and nonprofits servicing low-income communities can make necessary adjustments to continue their reopening in light of post-pandemic requirements.

Monitoring COVID-19 relief efforts: A grant to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities so they can monitor and influence fiscal relief for low-income New Yorkers struggling during the pandemic.

The following is a complete list of Emergency Fund grantees as of 3/31/2021

Community Infrastructure Grants: Clean Energy Group, New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation, Van Alen Institute: Projects in Public Architecture, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, Community Tech NY, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, THE POINT Community Development Corporation

Economic Assistance and Public Benefits Grants: Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, New York Mortgage Coalition, The Financial Clinic, Behavioral Ideas Lab, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Human Services Council of New York City, The Field, The New School: Center for New York City Affairs, Cancer Care, Catholic Charities Community Services, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York Legal Assistance Group

Hunger Grants: City Harvest, The Mayors Fund to Advance New York City, Food Bank for New York City, God’s Love We Deliver, Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, West Side Campaign Against Hunger

Mental Health Response Grants: Center for Court Innovation, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Vibrant Emotional Health, Brooklyn Hospital, Long Island University, Greenwich House, Inc., Brooklyn Public Library, Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City

 Open Space Grants: NYC Green COVID-19 Recovery Fund, City Parks Foundation, Regional Plan Association

Remote Education Grants: BronxWorks, CAMBA, HELP Social Service Corporation, Women in Need, Brotherhood/Sister Sol, INCLUDEnyc, Red Hook Initiative, Jewish Childcare Association, Eskolta School Research and Design, Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio in a School Association, BRIC Arts/Media/Bklyn, ArtsConnection, Lifetime Arts, National Dance Institute, The New 42nd Street

Vaccine Grants: Community Health Care Association of New York State, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Fund for Public Health in New York, New York Academy of Medicine, Public Good Projects, VOCAL-NY

Thank you

We are grateful to the more than 450 individuals, foundations, and corporations that stepped forward to help. Donors include: AllianceBernstein, CHANEL, Inc., Energy Impact Partners, The Kaplen Brothers Fund, Jane Mead Timken, Leo Model Fund, RME Fund, Marietta & Andrew Romay Foundation, The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, The New Yorker Festival, The van Hengel Family Fund, and White Cube, Inc.