Robin Hood Announces Newest Grants for Sandy Relief; $55 Million Granted So Far

NEW YORK, March 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Robin Hood's Hurricane Sandy Relief Committee has met and approved another $5.2 million in grants to more than two dozen organizations throughout the tri-state area that are helping families and individuals recover from the storm. 

Since Hurricane Sandy wrought tremendous damage on thousands of homes in the area, the majority of funds from this round of grants – $3.6 million – are going to groups that are helping people get back into their homes.  All of the funds from this latest round of grant-making come from money raised through 12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief.

"Robin Hood's Relief Committee is working with all deliberate speed to get every dollar we've raised into the affected communities," said David Saltzman, Robin Hood's executive director.  "The Relief Committee has already met 15 times since the storm struck in late October and continues to meet regularly to review and approve grants." 

Robin Hood expects to grant 95% of the money raised for Sandy Relief – more than $67.5 million – by the end of March.

A summary of the latest approved grants follows:

HOUSING
$3.6 million

United Methodist Church
New Jersey
$600,000
This grant will provide building supplies, construction supervision, and case management services for hundreds of individuals and families throughout New Jersey in coordination with the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Brick Township
Ocean County, NJ
$500,000
Funding will provide approximately 500 households with an average of $1,000 in assistance to go toward the rebuilding of homes damaged by Sandy.

Friendsofrockaway.org
New York City
Up to $665,000
This grant will help Friendsofrockaway.org hire contractors to remediate mold in 130 homes in the 11694 area code.

Seaside Heights
Ocean County, NJ
$400,000
This grant will go toward assisting needy and distressed renters and homeowners in this community by providing them with gift cards or direct bill payments to help them repair their homes and replace lost items. 

Stafford Township
Ocean County, NJ
$300,000
Encompassing the towns of Beach Haven West, Cedar Bonnet Island, and Bayside, nearly 5,000 homes in Stafford Township were devastated by Hurricane Sandy.  Funds will go toward making needed repairs on approximately 250 homes belonging to needy year-round residents and to providing rental assistance and security deposits for displaced residents.

Bergen County Long Term Recovery Committee
Bergen County, NJ
$200,000
This grant will fund the Unmet Needs Roundtable of the Bergen County Long Term Recovery Committee, helping low-income and working class residents with financial assistance to help them return to stable housing.

Coastal Habitat for Humanity
Monmouth County, NJ
$150,000
This grant will help cover the costs to repair 50 homes belonging to low-income and elderly individuals, including funds to purchase insulation, sheetrock, flooring, basic appliances/fixtures, and labor.

The Five Towns Community Center, Inc.
Long Island, NY
$150,000
The Five Towns Community Center is a multi-service, non-profit agency whose mission is to serve the needs of the poor and working poor in Cedarhurst, Lawrence, Woodmere, Hewlett, and Inwood.  Funding will go toward providing direct assistance to families with unmet needs as well as case management services.

Project Nivneh
Long Island, NY
$150,000
Project Nivneh was created in the wake of the storm to provide needy families in the South Shore and Rockaway Peninsula with physical and financial aid.  Funding will provide 85-100 households with cash assistance needed for home repairs and other pressing expenses.

Church of the Visitation
Ocean County, NJ
$120,000
Located in Brick, NJ, the Church of the Visitation has been at the heart of the community's relief efforts, providing food, clothing, and cleaning supplies to more than 400 families since the storm struck.  Funds will go toward renovating space to accommodate volunteers who are helping the community rebuild, a delivery truck to continue the flow of building and food supplies, and staff support for intake and volunteer coordination.

Disability Opportunity Fund
Long Island, NY
$120,000
DOF will use $100,000 from this grant to leverage a $500,000 program-related investment from Bank of America to be used for Sandy-related loans.  The combined $600,000 will enable DOF to finance/purchase empty properties and provide them to families who need short-term rentals while their homes are being rebuilt.  The remaining funds will go toward staffing to coordinate the project.

Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton-Manhattan Beach
New York City
$100,000
This grant will help relocate 100 families and provide cash assistance (up to $2,000 per family) to 20 families to help defray moving costs, rent, furniture, and appliances.

Blessed Trinity Parish
New York City
$75,000
Through three churches, Blessed Trinity Parish serves the communities of Roxbury, Rockaway Point, and Breezy Point.  This grant will be split amongst the three churches ($25,000 each) to provide gift cards and cash disbursements to needy residents.

Jewish Community Center of Staten Island
Staten Island, NY
$50,000
During the last three months, the JCC has provided a full complement of services to over 700 families on Staten Island.  This grant will allow them to assist more than 200 families still on the waiting list who are in need of assistance with home repairs. 

Hometown Heroes
Ocean County, NJ
$4,500
This grant will help defray the administrative costs associated with case management for Robin Hood's original grant of $300,000 to provide financial assistance to residents of Ocean Gate.

BENEFITS COUNSELING
$1.6 million

Single Stop USA
New York City
$545,000
This grant will be split among four organizations that are providing needed legal/financial counseling services to individuals affected by the storm, including:  housing relocation and access to transfers and subsidies; FEMA and Small Business Administration appeals for homeowners and small businesses; rental repairs, abatement, and transfer issues.

• Legal Aid Society
  $215,000
• Legal Services of New York City
  $200,000
• Project Hospitality
  $100,000
• The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
  $30,000

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton
Trenton, NJ
$325,000
Funding will support five trained disaster case managers for one year to help individuals with a range of services, including financial counseling, housing, and mental and physical health assistance.  The grant will also fund a mental health counselor trained to work with disaster survivors to help them cope.

FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties
Monmouth & Ocean Counties, NJ
$210,000
This grant will fund staffing and support to enable the FoodBank to provide benefits assistance to at least 2,000 Sandy-affected families.  Services include tax preparation, housing assistance, mental health referrals, and financial counseling.

Project Hospitality
New York City
$300,000/$200,000
Funds from the grant will go toward purchasing supplies such as mattresses, heaters, furniture, appliances, and other critical supplies.  Money will also go toward staffing to manage donor outreach, volunteer coordination, and case management support.

Hofstra Law Clinic – Disaster Recover Clinic/Housing, FEMA, Insurance and Environmental Disputes at Maurice A. Deane School of Law
Long Island, NY
$100,000
This grant will continue to fund the Disaster Clinic through the end of the year, and will enable 15 law students to provide a minimum of 4,000 hours of legal services to approximately 100 low-income clients who are residents of Long Island and the Rockaways.  Cases will include FEMA appeals, housing cases (including foreclosures and landlord/tenant disputes), and litigation assistance on insurance and environmental issues.

Hamilton-Madison House
New York City, NY
$65,000
HMH provides youth development, senior services, job placement, and mental health services in the Alfred E. Smith Houses and Knickerbocker Villages in Lower Manhattan.  This grant will support 500 people with FEMA and SBA applications, as well as case management for legal, housing, food, mental health, and employment needs.

Long Beach Latino Civic Association
Long Island
$40,000
Long Beach LCA provides direct services to the Latino community in Long Beach.  Funding will enable Long Beach LCA to continue providing a full-time caseworker through mid-September 2013, and to provide cash assistance to help cover security deposits/first month's rent to help families moving into new units.

HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH
$55,000

Parker Family Health Center
Monmouth County, NJ
$55,000

The Parker Family Health Center is a volunteer clinic providing comprehensive primary health care to the uninsured of Monmouth County, NJ.   Funding will cover costs to expand social work services by an additional 24 hours/week.  The immediate objective will be to help patients still displaced by the storm, counseling and interventions for stress and anxiety, and other needed services.  These expanded services will be continued until the end of the year to address the longer-term needs of vulnerable patients.

EDUCATION
$25,000

Central Connecticut Coast YMCA
Connecticut
$25,000
The Fairfield, Woodruff (Milford), Soundview (Branford), and Bridgeport branches of the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA continue to serve communities in Connecticut hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.  The CCC YMCA seeks to provide scholarships to families affected by Sandy so children can attend preschool and afterschool programs as well as summer camp.  Funding will help provide scholarships to needy families for preschool/afterschool/summer programs.

EMPLOYMENT
$17,000

Fortune Society
New York City
$17,000
This grant will provide OSHA and mold remediation training to 20 job seekers, and also provide them with protective gear and MetroCards to defray the costs of transportation.  Upon completion of their training, these individuals will be placed in jobs assisting with Sandy clean-up and recovery efforts.

About the Robin Hood Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund

Founded in 1988, Robin Hood is New York's largest poverty-fighting organization, and has focused on finding, funding and creating programs and schools that generate meaningful results for families in New York's poorest neighborhoods.   The Robin Hood Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund has granted tens of millions of dollars to organizations throughout New York's tri-state region that help individuals and families recover from the devastating effects of the storm.  In addition, Robin Hood's board of directors pays all administrative, fundraising and evaluation costs, so 100% of your donation goes directly to organizations helping victims of Hurricane Sandy rebuild their lives.

For more information or to make a contribution to Robin Hood's Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund, visit www.robinhood.org/rhsandy

Media Contact
Patty Smith/Robin Hood
212-844-3562

SOURCE Robin Hood Foundation