In 2009 the Elias Foundation was proud to support the Westchester-serving community organizations below. This year we continued to fund core community-led organizations in Westchester County that are committed to the long-term pursuit of systemic change for social justice.
55 Plus Yonkers Connections
Yonkers, NY $8,000
55plusyonkers.org
This is the second phase of a grant supporting a Community Leadership training program in underserved Yonkers neighborhoods and in other parts of Westchester.
Anti-Racist Alliance of Westchester County
White Plains, NY $15,000
www.antiracistalliance.com
This grant supports community organizing workshops on undoing structural racism.
CLUSTER, Inc. / Westchester Mediation Center and the Police/Youth Dialogue Project
Yonkers, NY $20,000
www.clusterinc.org
Support for the Police/Youth Dialogue Project promoted better understanding between two critical communities in the 4th Precinct of Yonkers.
Community Design
$1,000 each to WESPAC, Groundwork Hudson Valley and GrandPower to cover the cost of printed materials that were developed by community design students at SUNY Purchase College.
Community Voices Heard
Yonkers, NY $30,000
www.cvhaction.org
This program grant continued support for an outreach worker to organize residents of Yonkers' low-income housing projects to advocate for their unmet needs.
Family Services of Westchester, Inc. / Westchester Junior and Senior Youth Councils
Port Chester, NY $5,000
This new grant supports youth councils engaging in advocacy related initiatives, social activism, peer mediation training and community services.
Grandpower Advocates / Family Service Society of Yonkers
Yonkers, NY $20,000
www.fssy.org
This project trains and supports older Yonkers residents who are caring for their dependent grandchildren, to advocate for entitlement parity with non-relative caregivers.
Groundwork Hudson Valley
Yonkers, NY $30,000
www.groundworkyonkers.org
This grant supports ongoing community development work in Southwest Yonkers as well as a new Neighborhood Builders program to expand community outreach and advocacy training in the Nodine Hill neighborhood.
Hispanic Resource Center
Mamaroneck, NY $35,000
www.hrclm.org
This grant helps to fund a worker center for day laborers in Mamaroneck.
Hudson Valley Community Coalition
Hudson Valley, NY $20,000
This grant supports a new organizing, outreach and advocacy organization dedicated to re-creating communities where immigrants’ contributions to the community are recognized and where they are fully represented in government.
Hunger Action Network New York State
Mount Vernon, NY $20,000
This is the second year of a grant to support the mobilization of Mount Vernon residents to improve the quality of services provided by the Mount Vernon Department of Social Services.
Neighbors Link / Building Blocks Program
Mount Kisco, NY $15,000
www.neighborslink.org
This grant supports a program promoting dialogue, respect and cooperation between immigrants and local police personnel in Mount Kisco.
Neighbors Link
Mount Kisco, NY $15,000
www.neighborslink.org
This general operations grant supports building critical paths to economic and social development for immigrant workers by teaching basic organizational skills, community building and empowerment.
Parent leadership Institute / Ossining Union Free School District
Ossining, NY $30,314
www.ossiningufsd.org
This is a third year grant for the Parent Leadership Institute, an innovative program developed by the public school system, involving minority parents in the life of their children’s schools through service leadership and social justice organizing.
Thomas H. Slater Center, Inc. / Step Up! Girls Only!
White Plains, NY $5,000
This new grant supports a community organizing project focusing on disparities among races at school and empowering female youth to advocate for themselves and their community.
WESPAC Foundation
White Plains, NY $30,000
www.wespac.org
This general operating grant supports WESPAC’s continuing growth and efforts to promote peace and justice activism locally.
WESPAC Foundation / White Plains Organizing Center
White Plains, NY $5,000
www.wespac.org
A matching grant that supports a community resource center for activists and organizers in White Plains.
WESPAC Foundation
White Plains, NY $5,000
www.wespac.org
This grant funds the hiring of a community leader organizing youth in a White Plains Public Housing Project around issues of exclusion of family members with minor criminal records from residing with their families.
Westchester Children's Association, Inc.
Mount Vernon and White Plains, NY $4,000
This grant supports a County-wide organization that informs and trains parents advocate for needed changes in their communities.
Westchester MLK Jr. Institute for Nonviolence
Mamaroneck, NY $35,000
This second year grant supports the hiring of an executive director to run the organization that exposes young people to Martin Luther King Jr.’s work and philosophy, inspiring them to build leadership and promote values of non-violence through the medium of hip hop music.