FY2023 Community Project Funding Awards
FISCAL YEAR 2023 COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING AWARDS
Action for a Better Community, Inc. (LHHS pg. 27)
Account: Children and Families Services Programs
Project Description: The Benefits Project is designed to support individuals and families seeking to work and move towards financial sustainability through employment advancement, by mapping public benefit eligibility and the intersection of benefits with earned income to understand the effects of real employment opportunities on net family resources (particularly the occurrence of benefit cliffs)? Funds will be used to develop a Generation 2 viable product to automate regular and episodic updates to current benefit eligibility tables, expand the number of public benefits included in the calculator, and enhance the user interface to complete public benefit applications directly. System refinement will result in a planned integration with the Systems Integration Project data ecosystem and continued expansion of the tool to Monroe County agencies and individuals seeking public benefit eligibility information. Generation 1 proof of concept will be finished and tested by June 2022 and this additional funding will ensure the long-term accuracy of benefit calculations into the Generation 2 model that can be scaled at the state and national level.
Award Amount: $517,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
Bivona Child Advocacy Center (LHHS pg. 28)
Account: Children and Families Services Programs
Project Description: The following is a request to fund child abuse prevention training in New York, including the 25th district. The Community Funding Project aims to train facilitators and teach comprehensive, evidence-based sexual abuse (and other forms of child victimization) prevention programs. Overseen by Bivona Child Advocacy Center, the project's mission is to empower children to recognize red flags around different types of maltreatment, including sexual abuse and bullying, and to identify safe adults
Award Amount: $306,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
Cameron Community Ministries, Inc. (LHHS pg. 157)
Account: Innovation and Improvement (II)
Project Description: Cameron Community Ministries is seeking $200,000 in support of “Cameron’s Afterschool & Summer Enrichment Program,” designed to increase academic enrichment, social, emotional, and cognitive health, reduce risky behaviors, build youth leadership, and civic engagement, as well as provide a safe and supportive environment for a total of 75 children and youth residing in the Lyell-Otis neighborhood and City of Rochester, Monday-Friday 2:00 – 6:30 pm; Saturday, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm; and summer hours, 8:30 am -4:30 pm. Cameron Community Ministries is an Urban Outreach Community Center located in the Lyell-Otis Neighborhood of Rochester, NY. Cameron’s mission is to provide hope to our community through emergency services, education, empowerment, and engagement. Since 1984, Cameron has been offering many programs including, Youth After-School and Summer programs, a Teen Center, a free hot meal program that serves lunch daily, an emergency food pantry, Kids Cafe nightly dinner, and a clothing house that serves community members in need of clothing and housewares. Thirty children in grades K-6 and twenty-five youth in grades 7-12 from the Lyell-Otis neighborhood, one of the most violent, distressed neighborhoods in Rochester, attend the program.
Award Amount: $200,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
Charles Settlement House, Inc. (THUD pg. 166)
Account: Community Development Fund
Project Description: This is a joint application for Charles Settlement House (CSH) & Community Place of Greater Rochester (CPGR). The 2 organizations provide a wide range of human services spanning young children through senior citizens in the northwest and northeast quadrants of Rochester. The organizations are formally affiliated and CSH will be the lead agency. Our request is to make capital improvements/enhancements to our neighborhood-based facilities and to replace aging vans to transport program participants. As place-based organizations, our facilities are not only vital for our programs but are also widely used for community events. Major components of the projects include: Roofing repairs or replacements at CSH at 71 Parkway & 431 Jay and CPGR at 145 Parsells; Masonry repairs & paint at CSH at 71 Parkway & 431 & 445 Jay; HVAC (replace boiler & cooling tower) at CPGR at 145 Parsells; Flooring repairs/replacement at multiple CSH & CPGR buildings; Van Replacements: 1 for CSH and 2 for CPGR. These facilities are all aging buildings that have been maintained but certain systems/components have reached the end of practical life. 10-passenger van replacements represent vehicles over 15 years old.
Award Amount: $619,784
Notice of Financial Disclosure
City of Rochester, NY (LHHS pg. 5)
Account: Children and Families Services Programs
Project Description: The City of Rochester would like to expand services and provide additional youth jobs to community members. The City would support both youth employment and young adult workforce development by gradually doubling the number of youth in the youth employment services programs, enhancing the effectiveness of the operations of the youth services unit, providing more activities for youth leadership and travel, and implementing short and long-term activities to help adults find employment.
Award Amount: $1,000,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
City of Rochester, NY (CJS pg. 18)
Account: Community Oriented Policing Services
Project Description: The City of Rochester requests $300,000 to upgrade its existing video camera surveillance system. The system is in immediate need of replacement or upgrades to 35 of the 150-camera system. The cameras have proved invaluable to improving safety and security in the community and instrumental in solving crimes. This submission is under the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee through the COPS Office. The Rochester Police Department is committed to principles of community policing, and this is a collaborative project. Please see the attached full proposal and other attachments. Letters of support will follow next week as soon as available.
Award Amount: $300,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
Connected Communities, Inc. (THUD pg. 166)
Account: Community Development Fund
Project Request: Connected Communities intends to acquire and renovate two essential community spaces at risk of foreclosure, the Northeast Area Development (NEAD) office building and the Freedom School, to restore them to thriving spaces that our community can be proud of and benefit greatly from. Out of these two spaces, the Neighborhood Hub, a central area that will offer services for school-age children to older adults, and The Connect Lab, a co-working space for neighborhood nonprofits, organized groups, and community residents to enhance collaboration and foster community revitalization will be developed.
Award Amount: $500,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
County of Monroe, New York (THUD pg. 166)
Account: Community Development Fund
Project Description: Funding will be used to build an addition to the Monroe Community College (MCC) Applied Technology center to increase Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S.T.E.M) offerings to address workforce demands in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate NY. The new center would offer programming such as: automotive technologies, heating, ventilation and air conditioning and precision machining to MCC students many of whom come from low to moderate income families. These services are currently offered at a location separate from the main campus that no longer adequately serves the program.
Award Amount: $3,500,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
EnCompass: Resources for Learning, Inc. (LHHS pg. 161)
Account: Innovation and Improvement (II)
Project Description: “EnCompass Education Innovation Pathway" is EnCompass: Resources for Learning's proven whole-child model, including full-service educational campus, providing a pre-K through graduation pathway of personalized, layered services which address life inside and outside of school for students, expands support to all members of students' households, and results in efficient use of resources and strong outcomes. The 2,400 Rochester students EnCompass serves every year attend 50 high-poverty urban schools and reside in the city’s most underserved neighborhoods; students and staff reflect the diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences of our city. EnCompass powers collaboration with 40 district/school, university, business, public, community-organization, and funding partners to dismantle silos, innovate, measure, and deliver quality educational and economic opportunities that are equitable and accessible for all. Situated within a public school district where graduation rates hover near 50% (37% for students with disabilities) the graduation rate by EnCompass seniors is 100%.
Award Amount: $700,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
His Branches, Inc. (LHHS pg. 84)
Account: Program Management
Project Description: His Branches, Inc. proposes a renovation of one of its sites in the 19th Ward in Rochester, NY. Renovation work will include the enlargement of 3 of 5 exam rooms along with the addition of a 6th exam room, a recalibration of mechanical systems, the construction of a small pharmacy and many improvements that would provide our patients and staff with space that incorporates accessibility and trauma-informed design. As an FQHC that has been serving our city for 40 years, it has been difficult for our organization to operate on the razor thin margins that community health centers achieve and invest in growth or resources that would benefit our patients and the communities we serve. This is a unique opportunity for our organization to apply for capital funding which would be significant in leveraging programmatic support from our partners, optimizing operations, and allowing His Branches to refocus our efforts on expanding services to the underserved in our community.
Award Amount: $819,312
Notice of Financial Disclosure
Rochester Energy Efficiency and Weatherization (THUD pg. 166)
Community Development Fund
Project Description: Rochester Energy Efficiency and Weatherization (RENEW) is a collective impact, multi-million dollar community investment engine that powers sustained home ownership and economic stabilization in underinvested neighborhoods, dramatically conserves energy and reduces the community’s carbon footprint (preventing 5,600 tons of greenhouse gas emissions entering the atmosphere to date), improves health status and reduces rates of illness for children and families, combats racial housing inequity, and cuts residential fuel costs by 20 to 50 percent, resulting in improved financial status for low-income homeowners. RENEW’s efficient program model leverages three dollars for every dollar RENEW invests and improves families’ health, wealth, and wellbeing, while stabilizing neighborhoods and moving our community towards a sustainable, low-carbon future. The requested grant will assist up to 70 low-to-moderate income homeowners make their homes more energy-efficient, healthier, and safer.
Award Amount: $300,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
Rochester Institute of Technology (CJS pg. 4)
Account: Scientific and Technical Research and Services
Project Description: Funding is requested for equipment and instrumentation as part of a major updating and expansion of RITs semiconductor fabrication laboratory. The facility supports the workforce and training needs of the emerging microelectronics industry in Western New York. Since the lab’s founding in the 1980s, RIT has produced over a thousand graduates at all levels (i.e., technician, engineer, Ph.D.) with specialized training in microelectronics manufacturing. These graduates have been placed at every major semiconductor company in the U.S. This request, coupled with State and corporate support, is essential for the expansion and modernization of the lab to allow it to meet the unprecedented workforce needs of our country as the US addresses serious competitiveness, national security and supply chain issues. It is critically important to the Greater Rochester Community as it will continue supporting R&D by local companies and developing a workforce that will attract new companies, economic development and jobs.
Award Amount: $2,000,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
Susan B. Anthony House dba National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House (THUD pg. 166)
Community Development Fund
Project Description: The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House has purchased 1.3 acres of blighted, urban property on which to build a new interpretive center. We are requesting funds to support Phase 2: Construction of the new building. The new 20,000 sq. ft. building will allow the museum to expand its programs and experiences for the local community and meet the growing demand for its national and international audience. It will be a unique venue for business receptions and conferences. The content will engage the heart as well as the head, and visitors will be able to explore on their own, or with a guide. It will accommodate local school groups and host international visitors who arrive via motor coach. There will be sufficient content in the new building to encourage a visitor to return for more. All will leave inspired by Susan B. Anthony and her commitment to voting rights, women’s rights, and human rights.
Award Amount: $750,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
University of Rochester (LHHS pg. 123)
Account: Program Management
Project Description: To strengthen our region’s core healthcare infrastructure and make it more resilient and accessible to address current and future needs of the community and improve health equity, the University of Rochester’s Medical Center is seeking $10 million in federal support for the engineering, design, construction, renovation, and capital equipment needed for the $641 million modernization and expansion of Strong Memorial Hospital – Upstate NY’s largest safety-net, teaching, and acute care psychiatric hospital and trauma center. The new ED and Patient Tower project will greatly expand, modernize and improve the services and care we provide this community, while creating an estimated over 6,700 construction jobs alone and 1,800 permanent jobs – making this the largest project in the University’s and the Rochester region’s history.
Award Amount: $1,000,000
Notice of Financial Disclosure
Willow Domestic Violence Center of Greater Rochester, Inc. (LHHS pg. 47)
Account: Children and Families Services Programs
Project Description: Willow is requesting $325,000 to support the ability of domestic violence survivors and their families to be self-sufficient. Willow provides a continuum of trauma-informed services to move survivors from crisis to stability and self-sufficiency so they can lead safe and empowered lives. By promoting financial self-sufficiency through enhanced services and client support, Willow will help prevent and reduce poverty in our community, as well as promote healthy development and greater well-being of children and families impacted by domestic violence. This project, ultimately, will help break both cycles of poverty and abuse.
Award Amount: $325,000