Recovery Re very
Relief is how we have delivered money and emergency aid, quickly, to communities in crisis, after September 11, Superstorm Sandy, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before COVID-19 devastated New York City, scores of New Yorkers were already living precariously on the edge of poverty. 12% of the entire city’s population were food insecure before the pandemic hit. Nearly half of New York City renters were paying more than 30% of their income on housing, and 1 in 4 households were facing the prospect of eviction in some zip codes. More than 40% of New Yorkers didn’t have the cash to cover an emergency expense of $400 or more. 50% of adults in New York City experienced poverty at some point over a four-year period. Relief to Relief
Recovery is how we help people to regain their footing in a sustainable and lasting way. What jobs are coming back? How do we get food to people who need it? How do kids get back to school? Our efforts don’t stop until questions like these are answered.
Here’s what we are doing to facilitate recovery:
We’re getting New Yorkers the benefits they’re entitled to: There has been a 12.5% INCREASE in applications for SNAP, otherwise known as food stamps. So, we’re making grants to expand the number of households enrolled in public benefits, including a new grant to Hunger Free NYC to expand SNAP enrollment. We’re prioritizing survival needs: By investing in free clinics, school-based mental health, and housing programs for New Yorkers. We’ve made a grant to the Right to Counsel Coalition to help make sure people have the legal services they need to prevent eviction. We’re helping to keep students learning: Low-income students are the most likely to drop out of college or not enroll at all, so their education is in jeopardy. We’re giving a new grant that expands the CUNY ACE program for transfer students at John Jay College to ensure that students — especially those for whom college is a financial hardship — remain enrolled. We’re stabilizing nonprofits: SEVEN PERCENT of NYC’s nonprofits have closed their doors because of the pandemic, and another 30% cannot sustain another six to 12 months of operations. Trusted community centers will suffer the most. So, a new mission investment , combined with a management assistance grant to Primary Care Development Corporation, will help community health clinics reopen. Get people back into jobs: A new policy grant with the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School will help us monitor economic conditions and opportunities, and to provide workforce policy recommendations for economic recovery.
COVID has laid bare the inequities of our society. Black and Latinx New Yorkers are dying at twice the rate of other groups. 735,000 New York City households are estimated to have lost employment income because of COVID-19, 31% of New York City renters work in occupations vulnerable to income disruptions, and the number of food- insecure households doubled. With your help, together, our relief efforts and our core grant-making program of $120 million annually are feeding the hungry, keeping people in their homes, helping children access instruction through technology, ensuring that the basic needs of health care works are met, helping those without work bridge difficult times and making sure families secure the government assistance they need to survive.
As the pandemic continues to rage across the country, recovery may be a very long process, but we are in it for the long haul. We are focused on improving the infrastructure and systems New York’s most vulnerable depend upon. We are helping New Yorkers regain their footing in a sustainable and lasting way. We are preparing for the resurgence of New York City as a vital metropolis, stronger, with a brighter, and more equitible future. For 32 years, people like you have kept Robin Hood at the forefront of the fight against poverty. Because of your generosity, we are the city’s largest poverty fighting organization and with your continued support we remain the best social investment in New York City. To every one of our incredible donors, we are so grateful.
“During the pandemic, we were present and hands-on because that is how we are built. Acting quickly and nimbly in crisis is in our DNA. When change happens, we lean into it, learn from it, and change with it, to help the people who need it the most.” — John Griffin, Robin Hood Board Chair
7
6
Made with FlippingBook HTML5