g in
Giving Voice
celebra t
Fall 2017
a publication of the central new york community foundation
Breaking the Cycle: Grants Addressing Poverty in this issue
Our Building Turns 100 page 3
Houses built by A Tiny Home for Good provide affordable shelter for Syracuse’s homeless.
Riester Leaves a Legacy of Creative Inspiration page 5
Connecting Families to Read Together page 9
In the City of Syracuse, nearly 50,000 residents – and one out of two children – live below the poverty line. These statistics point to a startling narrative: the realization of the American dream for many is simply that – a dream. That is why the Community Foundation is committed to supporting vital programs that are working to turn this trend around. We recently awarded numerous grants to organizations that are assisting local residents in pursuing selfsufficiency. Some organizations are addressing inadequate and unsafe housing and neighborhood violence, both of which can lead to poor physical and mental health, as well as children struggling in school. Others seek to make job opportunities and career pathways available to increase employment. Grants were also awarded to programs that help increase educational attainment and open doors for residents who crave the opportunity to learn and grow. A Tiny Home for Good received $20,000 to build and manage affordable housing for individuals facing homelessness. The Street Addiction Institute will use a $50,000 grant to conduct interventions that decrease distress, grief and loss as a result of street and gang violence. The residual impact of unaddressed trauma includes greater risk of substance abuse, criminality and mental health problems, all of which can perpetuate poverty. The Good Life Youth Foundation received more than $56,000 to launch a social-entrepreneurship program that will help at-risk youth develop financial literacy skills while also connecting real life experience with the value of education. Additionally, grants were awarded to the Women’s Opportunity Center, Image Initiative, Hopeprint and Boys & Girls Clubs of Syracuse to help women, refugees and youth develop reading, writing and job skills that will assist them in pulling themselves out of poverty.
Grants Help Charities Measure Progress page 10
In addition to these grants, our Performance Management Learning Community recently welcomed several organizations seeking to measure the impact of their work on poverty-related outcomes. You can read more about them on page 10. Going forward, we will continue our support of community-led programs to reduce the prevalence and ramifications of poverty in our neighborhoods.