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Home / Media / ePiñata / October 17, 2016

Letter from HF President: Our New Grantees

When you have been linked to an institution as long as I have been to the Hispanic Federation, you really value organizational history. That’s because the past helps to remind and guide us. It keeps us true to our values. This doesn’t mean that organizations don’t change or grow. As the Latino community has evolved in the last 25 years, so too has the Hispanic Federation. But there is something valuable, something deeply rewarding, about returning to first principles.

Each year, one of the moments that I most treasure is when we announce the Latino community-based organizations that have been awarded CORE Initiative grants. The CORE Initiative was created in the Hispanic Federation’s earliest years to help support Latino nonprofits with grants for core operating expenses. Whether it was underwriting the costs of a financial audit or supporting a construction project to make an agency’s building accessible and efficient, the CORE Initiative provided grants that private philanthropy and government funders typically eschewed.

The impact of these grants has been significant. Over the years CORE grants have allowed agencies to make mandated structural repairs to facilities, improve accounting operations, and plan strategically for expansion. By funneling resources into the central operations of an agency, these grants help make them more efficient and effective. And in doing so they guarantee that agencies will be able to continue serving the communities that depend on them.

So why do I enjoy awarding these grants each year? Because as much as Hispanic Federation has grown over this last quarter century in terms of geographic scope and policy activism, we remain in our hearts an institution builder. Our staff works diligently each day to make sure that everything we do makes our network of agencies stronger and better. They know, better than most, that the most significant battles being fought in our community are being waged by the Latino community-based organizations that we are lucky enough to represent. Supporting them through the CORE Initiative is not only the right thing to do, it's the reason why Hispanic Federation exists.

So congratulations to all of the award recipients listed below! Thank you for all you do to advance and empower our growing community.

ACCION East (New York City)

Accion empowers low-to-moderate-income business owners through access to capital and financial education. With economic opportunity, these entrepreneurs - often minorities and women - can build assets, better provide for their families, create employment and strengthen their communities.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $10,000 for ACCION's Biennial Member Offsite Retreat.

Adelante of Suffolk County, Inc. (Long Island)

Adelante’s mission is to inspire forward movement in the lives of the diverse people of the community by promoting a deeper understanding and respect for cultural differences and similarities, empowering young people to realize their unlimited potential, and by protecting our seniors and those with special needs, while improving their quality of life.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $20,000 for capital expenditures.

Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders (Connecticut)

Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders provides youth with diverse sports, educational and community awareness programs that foster physical, intellectual and social development, while instilling pride and helping them build character and self-esteem, so that they can reach their full potential and value their role in society.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $25,000 for fund development.

Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (New York City)

Integrating the arts, education, activism and conscious cultural tourism to foster social transformation, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute documents and presents the creative genius of African Diaspora cultures, prepares the next generation of cultural leaders, and unites Diaspora communities.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $20,000 for special events and a cultivation campaign.

Committee for Hispanic Children and Families (New York State)

The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, Inc. (CHCF) combines education and advocacy to expand opportunities for children and families, and strengthen the voice of the Latino community.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $17,500 for a data evaluation project.

Connecticut Students for a Dream

CT Students for a Dream (C4D) was founded in 2010 by a group of undocumented students and allies from across Connecticut. The organization has since grown to be a statewide group fighting for issues affecting undocumented youth including in-state tuition and DACA.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $15,000 for board development and executive coaching.

Exodus Transitional Community, Inc. (New York City)

Exodus seeks to provide supportive services to formerly incarcerated men and women in order to help them reintegrate into their communities, achieve social and economic well-being and break the cycle of recidivism.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $15,000 for financial management.

Hispanic Counseling Center, Inc. (Long Island)

Hispanic Counseling Center is a multi-service agency that provides bilingual treatment and prevention services for chemical dependency, mental illness, and youth and family programs, in an environment of hope and encouragement for people working toward a constructive, self-sustaining way of life.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $15,000 for organizational development.

Latino Community Services (Connecticut)

Latino Community Services has been working with Hartford-area Latinos with HIV/AIDS since 1986 to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community and other at-risk populations, and improve the quality of life and health of people with HIV/AIDS.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $20,000 for fund development.

Latino Justice PRLDEF (National)

LatinoJustice PRLDEF (LJP) is a Latino legal, civic rights and educational organization. It works to ensure that Hispanics have more opportunities for political, economic, social and educational equality and for Latinos to fully participate in civil society, while teaching young people to be leaders in their community, especially in the legal field, via a multitude of leadership and training opportunities.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $25,000 for their Southeast expansion and capital campaign.

Loisaida (New York City)

Loisaida’s mission is to address the serious economic and social disenfranchisement of poor and low income Latino residents through employment and training opportunities, comprehensive youth development initiatives, and neighborhood revitalization activities that positively highlight the rich culture, heritage, and contribution of the Puerto Rican and Latin American community in New York City, while offering programming that meets the demands of the times and the neighborhood’s changing demographic.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $15,000 for the creation of an Art, Media and Technology Center.

New York Council on Adoptable Children

To help children in the New York City foster care system who are legally freed, the New York Council on Adoptable Children helps find permanent homes for children including those with developmental or physical disabilities, and children who have been affected by AIDS.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $20,000 for succession planning.

Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (New York City)

The Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA) is a non-profit arts service organization whose mission is to cultivate, support and promote the works of artists and arts organizations in northern Manhattan.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $15,000 for audit and fund development.

Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (New York City)

NMCIR was founded in 1982 to educate, defend and protect the rights of immigrants. Based in upper Manhattan, NMCIR focuses on serving low-income, non-citizen immigrants from the Caribbean, Latin America and increasingly, Africa and the Middle East.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $15,000 for data management.

Puerto Rican Action Board (New Jersey)

PRAB is a comprehensive human services organization in Middlesex County, New Jersey that provides a comprehensive range of essential services for children, youth, families and senior citizens. It delivers need-based assistance to low and moderate-income residents of Central New Jersey and serves as an advocate for those seeking to live productive, self-sufficient lives.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $20,000 for communications strategy.

Repertorio Español (New York City)

Repertorio Español was founded in 1968 to introduce the best of Latin American, Spanish and Hispanic-American theatre in distinctive, quality productions, and to bring theatre to a broad audience in New York City and across the country, including seniors, students and Hispanics of all national backgrounds.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $15,000 for board development.

San Juan Center (Connecticut)

The San Juan Center, Inc. was founded in 1971 as a bilingual, multi-service agency designed to develop and provide programs in social services, employment training, housing, access to healthcare, arts and culture, and to engage in business development on behalf of the Puerto Rican/Latino population in Hartford.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $20,000 for fund development.

Spanish Speaking Elderly Council – RAICES (New York City)

RAICES’ mission is to respond to the unmet needs of the Latino, African American and low income community and seeks to improve their quality of life through advocacy and the direct provision of targeted services, by working across the generations and a with particular emphasis on the needs of older adults.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $25,000 for audit and financial management.

Thalia Spanish Theatre, Inc. (New York City)

As the first and only bilingual Hispanic theatre in Queens, Thalia’s mission is to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of Spanish and Latin American culture with unique productions of plays, musicals and dance.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $25,000 for a site and scope development plan.

Voces Latinas (New York City)

Voces Latinas aims to reduce the rate of HIV transmission and violence among immigrant Latinas by empowering, educating, and providing leadership and advocacy training to enable them to make healthier decisions for themselves and their families. Through collaborative relationships, Voces connects immigrant Latinas with culturally and linguistically sensitive services to address their immediate needs, which allows them to identify with their risk for HIV/AIDS.

Awarded: A grant in the amount of $20,000 for outcomes/evaluation database implementation.