Grant Category: Human Services
Urban Growers Collective
Chicago, IL
Amount granted: $25,000
Grant year: 2025
Grant category: Human Services
$25,000 to fund its Market Pathway Program and winter Pop Up Market.
Urban Growers Collective (UGC) is a Black-women led nonprofit in Chicago that addresses systemic racism and inequities in the food system by using urban agriculture to promote health, economic opportunity, and community healing. UGC operates 8 farms on 11 acres that produce over 23,000 pounds of fresh food annually. Its core programs focus on increasing food access through initiatives like the Fresh Moves Mobile Market, cultivating growers by supporting BIPOC farmers with training and distribution models, and nurturing community through partnerships, events, and resource sharing.
Ulster County SPCA
Kingston, NY
Amount granted: $35,000
Grant year: 2025
Grant category: Human Services
$35,000 to support critical shelter repairs and renovations.
The Ulster County SPCA (UCSPCA) is an animal welfare organization in Kingston, NY, serving over 161,000 residents for more than130 years as the county’s only no-kill shelter and Humane Law Enforcement agency. UCSPCA operates the county’s only low-cost spay/neuter and vaccination clinic, offers community programs to help pets remain in their homes, and partners with a local domestic violence shelter to protect both people and their pets.
Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center
Cambridge, MA
Amount granted: $20,000
Grant year: 2025
Grant category: Human Services
$20,000 to partially fund the salary of a full-time youth and family engagement case worker.
Hildebrand’s mission is to help families transition from homelessness into safe, affordable, permanent housing while addressing systemic causes of poverty and homelessness. Founded in 1986 Hildebrand has grown from two small shelters into an organization that now supports over 380 families annually with shelter, permanent housing, stabilization services, and culturally responsive case management.
Ulster Immigrant Defense Network
Kingston, NY
Amount granted: $10,000
Grant year: 2025
Grant category: Human Services
$10,000 to support funding 2-3 legal interpreters.
Ulster Immigrant Defense Network (UIDN) provides support, safety, and advocacy to immigrants in Ulster County, primarily serving undocumented individuals and asylum seekers from Mexico and Central America.
Co-Counsel, NYC
New York, NY
Amount granted: $50,000
Grant year: 2025
Grant category: Human Services
$50,000 to support the pilot program to provide pro se assistance for young people eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)
Co-Counsel partners with community members, nonprofits, law firms, and companies to meet the urgent and evolving legal needs of immigrant communities. Their major project, the Community Pro Se SIJS (CPSS) Pilot, addresses the lack of legal help for young people eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and their guardians. The pilot breaks down the complex SIJS process into phases, offering community education, pro se workshops, and volunteer training to help participants file necessary family court and USCIS documents.
Ulster Immigrant Defense Network
Kingston, NY
Amount granted: $15,000
Grant year: 2024
Grant category: Human Services
$15,000 to support the addition of a part time case worker from the community.
Ulster Immigrant Defense Network’s (UIDN) mission is to provide a network of welcome, safety and support to immigrants, regardless of immigration status. Most of the people served from the immigrant community in Ulster County are either undocumented or seeking asylum and are from Mexico and Central America.
Anseye Pou Ayiti (APA)
Haiti
Amount granted: $35,000
Grant year: 2024
Grant categories: Education, Human Services
$35,000 grant to support the Coaching Institute’s inaugural cohort.
Anseye Pou Ayiti (APA) was launched in 2014 to build a movement of local civic leaders to create a Haitian education system fueled by collective leadership and community development. Through its fellowship programming, APA is equipping civic leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary for transformational teaching and local leadership. Program activities include immersion training, professional development workshops, individualized coaching, and community activities. Teacher leaders learn student-centered, context-specific teaching techniques and ways to amplify student success beyond classroom instruction.
Rise Above Foundation
Northbridge, MA
Amount granted: $40,000
Grant year: 2024
Grant category: Human Services
$40,000 to support the increased distribution of its Launch Boxes Program.
Rise Above Foundation was established in 2009 to provide youth in foster care with enriching activities, opportunities, and experiences. Rise Above gives youth in foster care access to opportunities that boost their physical, mental, social, and academic wellbeing. Since it began, the organization has provided over 13,000 Massachusetts youth with additional funding that allowed them to participate in extra curricula activities like summer camp, being a part of the football team, joining the school band, taking driver’s education classes or studying abroad in college. Rise Above also support young adults who grew up in foster care and are aging out of the system, as they transition to the next phase of their lives without DCF support. Its Launch Boxes support youth at a critical moment of transition, providing them with the basic household items and resources they need to live independently, “launching” them into adulthood set up for success.
Community Boat Building
Boston, MA
Amount granted: $20,000
Grant year: 2024
Grant categories: Education, Human Services
$20,000 to cover the videographer’s services, video production, and the creation of educational resources for teacher training.
Community Boat Building’s (CBB) mission is to bring real world experience and academic skills together to stimulate excitement for learning among low-income students in public schools in Boston and the surrounding areas through boat building and coastal experiences. CBB introduces approximately 160 5th graders each year to the accessibility and wonders of Boston Harbor, its islands, rivers, and history, while developing spatial thinking skills and reinforcing core academic subjects–math, geometry, science, social studies, and literacy. For most of its students, The core concept of the program revolves around wooden rowboats, which are built with teams of 5-6 students each. The process uses high-quality materials, limited student group size, and a cadre of volunteers to ensure each boat, and student, reaches its potential.
National Police Accountability Project
New Orleans, LA
Amount granted: $20,000
Grant year: 2024
Grant category: Human Services
$20,000 to pilot a program which will offer appellate support to its member attorneys bringing police misconduct cases.
The National Police Accountability Project is a national organization dedicated to holding police and correctional officers accountable to professional and constitutional standards. Its 550+ members litigate the thousands of cases of police and correctional officer misconduct that do not make national headlines.