35 New York Nonprofits Receive $6.6 million from The New York Community Trust

The New York Community Trust, a public charity and New York City’s largest community foundation, has donated $6.6 million towards 35 New York-based organizations that focus on a wide range of causes and industries. Nonprofits, such as the Veteran Advocacy Project and the American LGBTQ+ Museum, were awarded gifts ranging from $80,000 to $745,000. 

The Veteran Advocacy Project plans to use its funds, which amount to $100,000, to “help dishonorably discharged veterans, who are often discharged as a result of service-related post-traumatic stress disorder, access benefits they have been denied,” while the latter group, which will open in 2024 as the nation’s “first major institution dedicated to LGBTQ+ history and culture,” is using its $150,000 gift to develop a system to collect donated artifacts, documents, and other collectables.

On the higher end of the spectrum, $745,000 was given to CancerCare, the nation’s leader in providing professional support services at no cost to help people endure the emotional, practical and financial difficulties of cancer. On the lower end, $80,000 was awarded to the Marine Park Alliance, a volunteer-led organization that tends to Brooklyn’s largest park. 

Importantly, however, each gift will help alleviate the era-defining effects of the pandemic on the organizations themselves, as well as the broader jobs market in New York. 

According to the Department of Labor, New York City’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December 2021 was 8.8%, twice as high as the national average of 3.9%. Though the city has come a long way from 18.7% in June 2020, the effects of the pandemic continue to affect the city’s economic situation. 

While the money provided by the New York Community Trust will help ease concerns related to potential staffing shortages and support job creation, the funds are also being used for a variety of different causes and initiatives that The Trust believes are major challenges for New Yorkers and their city. 

“We, along with the city’s nonprofits, continue to grapple with the lingering repercussions of the pandemic, but we also are making sure to address long-standing challenges, such as caring for New Yorkers with cancer, improving the city’s housing stock, and removing barriers for people with disabilities,” said Shawn Morehead, vice president of grants at NYCT. 

“As we head into a year with new government leaders, The Trust will continue to look for ways to help the city thrive,” he added. 

The NYCT has been providing grants to nonprofit organizations since 1924 and has numerous priority areas to ensure the well being of New Yorkers. Some notable grants in the past have been to Planned Parenthood of Greater New York to open its first Queens health center and the conversion of P.S. 109 in East Harlem into an art space.