Posted on February 6, 2009

New York Community Trust Awards $7.2 Million to Help Struggling New Yorkers

The New York Community Trust has announced grants totaling more than $10.4 million, including nearly $7.2 million to eight New York City nonprofits that provide assistance to residents of the city who are hungry, homeless, or facing eviction or foreclosure.

The grants include $1.5 million to the Food Bank for New York City to provide food for emergency feeding programs; $1.3 million to United Neighborhood Houses of New York to help maintain critical services for poor New Yorkers at its thirty-six settlement houses; $1.2 million to Legal Services NYC to expand a partnership with the Legal Aid Society that targets low-income residents newly threatened with destitution; and $1 million to the Bridge Fund of New York to provide cash assistance and counseling to families struggling to keep their homes. The trust received an unsolicited gift of $250,000 from Goldman Sachs Gives to help fund the grants.

New York City lost 50,000 jobs during 2008 and could lose 181,000 more in 2009, according to a recent U.S. Conference of Mayors report. Meanwhile, city nonprofits are experiencing a significant increase in the number of families seeking first-time help to pay for food and rent, protect themselves from predatory debt collectors, apply for benefits, and deal with family violence and other problems endemic to tough economic times.

"As we did after September 11, the trust is working to balance immediate needs with our long-term goal of improving life in the city," said NYCT president Lorie Slutsky. "We are fortunate to have a nonprofit community that is smart, efficient, and compassionate. And we are confident that New Yorkers who can will dig deep to help their neighbors."