$175,000 Has Been Granted to Seven Nonprofits Advancing Racial Equity and Working to Address the Racial Wealth Divide on Long Island - The Long Island Community Foundation
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October 13, 2020   |   By the Long Island Community Foundation
$175,000 Has Been Granted to Seven Nonprofits Advancing Racial Equity and Working to Address the Racial Wealth Divide on Long Island

Melville, NY (October 13, 2020) – The Long Island Racial Equity Donor Collaborative at the Long Island Community Foundation has approved $175,000 in planning grants to seven nonprofits advancing racial equity by increasing access to living-wage jobs and improving financial wellness.

The Long Island Racial Equity Donor Collaborative launched in 2018 with the north star of a more financially inclusive and racially equitable Long Island.  “We are focused on strengthening the capacity of community-based efforts to create economic opportunities among Black residents, enabling them to make meaningful contributions to their families and communities,” said the Long Island Racial Equity Donor Collaborative.

A 2019 landscape scan conducted by the Urban Institute revealed that among residents who experience a sudden job loss, medical emergency, or any other crisis leading to a loss of stable income, Black Long Islanders are 27 percent less likely than white Long Islanders to have access to liquid assets to cover sudden costs. Furthermore, the Long Island Credit Profile, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2017, showed that while the overall credit metrics rank Long Island among the highest performing in the nation, a closer look revealed 18 communities (communities of color) that have some of the lowest credit indicators in the nation.  Making matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a glaring disparity in death rates – where Blacks on Long Island accounted for 19 percent of the COVID-19 deaths in Nassau County, despite comprising only 12 percent of the population.

Given the racial economic inequities on Long Island, the Collaborative has worked to leverage greater public and private investments to provide opportunities for Black Long Islanders. Specifically, it is focused on working with the community to gain financial access; inspire innovative, suburban-oriented solutions through local collaborations that address inequities; and foster partnership and shared learning opportunities with national donors. The Collaborative will partner with the Racial Wealth Divide Initiative staff at Prosperity Now to bring best practices and technical expertise to support the grantees as they work to build a more equitable ecosystem.

“We are excited to amplify the extraordinary work being done by these community organizations on Long Island and provide capacity-building assistance to support them in making change happen,” said the Long Island Community Foundation.

With $25,000 in support from the Long Island Racial Equity Donor Collaborative: 

  • Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center will develop a “Teach Me How to Fish” career training program in collaboration with companies, trade unions and financial entities that will provide a high wage entry level job to participants upon completion of the program. It will form partnerships with Long Island businesses in need of trained labor and a dedication for the advancement of racial equity in hiring. This program will serve East End communities and towns from Riverhead to Montauk.
  • Choice for All will develop a plan to open a Long Island Financial Empowerment Center in Roosevelt and one in Wyandanch to improve the credit health of Black Long Islanders. The Centers will increase banking access and provide financial management, debt reduction and access to affordable credit in Black communities impacted by economic insecurity.
  • Family Community Life Center, Inc. will plan and develop a pipeline to quality jobs for underserved Black individuals in Riverhead and neighboring districts. The workforce development program will increase access to living wage, family sustaining construction and permanent jobs.
  • Leadership Training Institute will improve the Hempstead Workforce Re-Entry Task Force program in collaboration with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The program will target justice-involved and other individuals ages 17 to 28 who experience employment outcome challenges, including those reentering the community from the correctional system, as well as high school students and graduates as it relates to job readiness, placement and retention.
  • New Hour for Women and Children of Long Island will develop programming and train staff to provide a trauma-informed approach to financial counseling, coaching and credit for criminal justice-involved women to ensure they never return to jail/prison.
  • Urban League of Long Island, Inc. will prepare to launch its Employment Equity via Job Access Program, providing a vocational and certificate-based training that will help participants identify and mitigate barriers to employment, provide and/or link participants to appropriate supportive services, and viable employment opportunities.
  • WDN Resource Center aka Women’s Diversity Network will develop its WDN Career Mentorship Program to foster relationships with public and private sector employers and staff with the goal of connecting Black women to quality jobs that will grow their wealth. 

Next year, these grantees will be invited to submit grant proposals for funding to support the implementation phase of their projects.

 

The Long Island Racial Equity Donor Collaborative

 

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Media Contact Information

Need help or advice?

Marie C. Smith
Director of Donor Relations and Communications
(631) 991-8800, ext. 223
msmith@licf.org

Get our media kit

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