After Five Months, $70.5 Million and 494 Grants, Robin Hood Relief Fund is 100% Allocated

NEW YORK, April 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Robin Hood has announced that 100% of the funds it has raised for Hurricane Sandy Relief – $70.5 million – has been allocated; this amounts to more than $450,000 in grants made every day since Hurricane Sandy struck.  All told, The Robin Hood Relief Committee has made 494 Sandy-related grants to 391 organizations in the tri-state area that are helping our neighbors rebuild and recover.

In total, 44% of the Relief Fund went to organizations helping individuals and families in New Jersey, 38% to New York City, 16% to Long Island/NY state, and 2% to Connecticut.  The vast majority of funds – 67% – went to housing-related programs designed to return families to safe and stable housing.

More than 260,000 compassionate individuals from 90 different countries came together to contribute over $50 million to Robin Hood's Relief Fund during 12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief.  This concert – held at Madison Square Garden – was the most successful relief concert in history.

"Thanks to our generous donors, tens of thousands of families are receiving the life-saving services they need to get their lives back on track," said David Saltzman, executive director of Robin Hood.  "On behalf of all of us at Robin Hood, I'd like to thank the hundreds of thousands of individuals who gave so generously to help their neighbors in need, and in the process, made our community a better place."

A complete list of all grants made, the geographic distributions, and other information can be found at www.robinhood.org/rhsandy

Grants approved by Robin Hood Relief Committee on April 2, 2013 are as follows:

Housing
$3.94 Million

Long Island Long Term Recovery Group
Long Island, NY
$1,500,000
This grant will be earmarked for residents in the towns of Lindenhurst, Islip, Amityville, Babylon, Bayville and Long Beach, as well as other communities on Long Island, to help meet the unmet needs of residents. 

Ocean County Long Term Recovery Group on behalf of Ocean County Faith Based Consortium
Ocean County, NJ
$350,000
This grant will help the Ocean County Long Term Recovery Group properly equip faith-based organizations to set up 500 volunteer sleeping quarters to accommodate the volunteers that the community desperately needs.  The money will go towards the purchase of two-station shower/ laundry/ bathroom/ utility trailers to be made available via loan to any volunteer host organization that lacks the space to install permanent shower and laundry facilities as well as renovating and equipping the churches to accommodate the volunteer crews.

Bergen County Long Term Recovery Committee
Bergen County, NJ
$300,000
This grant will provide residents with unmet needs with the financial assistance needed to help return them to stable housing.

Bergen County Community Action Partnership
Bergen County, NJ
$225,000
This grant will enable B.C.C.A.P. to support low-income members of the community, helping them return to safe and stable housing through rental assistance and security deposits as well as appliance and furniture replacement.

Health and Welfare Council of Long Island
Long Island, NY
$220,000
This grant will help fund a disaster case management coordinator to work with all disaster case management agencies, a construction management coordinator to work with the voluntary agencies active in rebuilding on Long Island and a volunteer coordinator to work with the Long Island Volunteer Center to train and place volunteers in positions that would maximize all resources available for the recovery including donations.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
Long Island, NY and New York City
$150,000
This grant will go toward the completion of work on heavily damaged homes in Staten Island and Long Island and to help 30 families get back into their homes. Funds will be used to hire specialized plumbing, electrical and HVAC contractors to rebuild these residences as well as clean out and apply mold remediation to storm damaged homes. 

Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation
New York City
$150,000
This grant will go toward helping families on Staten Island and Gerritsen Beach recover from Sandy, specifically by using volunteers and veterans to install sheetrock and insulation to help homeowners. The grant will also fund case management support for other relief organizations on Staten Island.

Townships of Ocean and Barnegat
Ocean County, NJ
$150,000
This grant will help approximately 75 low-income and working class families who need assistance getting back into their homes.  Funds will go toward contractor's bills, appliances and utilities.

Community Environmental Center
New York City
$100,000
Community Environmental Center (CEC) is a longstanding provider of weatherization and energy efficiency services to low-income homeowners and multifamily buildings in New York City. CEC will combine funding under these programs with this grant to rebuild 20 homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

Family Residences & Essential Enterprises, Inc.
Long Island, NY
$100,000
Founded in 1977, Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE) is one of Long Island's largest and longest-established not-for-profit providers of services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, behavioral health needs or traumatic brain injury.  Distributed in modest grants, this allocation will allow approximately 300 families to cover pressing expenses, including those for housing and home repairs, furniture, appliances, basic supplies and deposits for temporary rental apartments. 

Moonachie/Little Ferry Relief Fund
Bergen County, NJ
$100,000
This supplemental grant will enable the Moonachie/Little Ferry Relief Fund to complete insulation replacement in 300 trailer homes. Funds will also go toward home repairs for 17 low income residents who have a financial gap preventing them from completing work on their homes, with the work to be done by local volunteers. 

Northfield Local Development Corporation
New York City
$100,000
Northfield Local Development Corporation is a longstanding provider of weatherization and energy efficiency services to low-income homeowners and multi-family buildings in New York City.  Northfield will combine funding under these programs with this grant to rebuild 20 homes on Staten Island damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

Ocean Community Economic Action Now, Inc.
Monmouth County, NJ
$75,000
This grant will allow Ocean Community Economic Action Now, Inc. (O.C.E.A.N.) to begin to quickly renovate barracks at Camp Evans to accommodate 150 volunteers.  Specifically, funds will go to purchase bunk beds and mattresses, a five-stall shower trailer, cleanup and renovations, kitchen facilities and a laundry trailer. 

Habitat for Humanity Atlantic County
Atlantic County, NJ
$50,000
Habitat for Humanity Atlantic County is planning a large-scale rebuilding event in May.  Their goal is to repair 20 to 25 homes in Ventnor Heights.  Volunteers, supervised by Atlantic's on-staff construction managers, will provide the labor for the rebuilding work and licensed contractors will be hired to repair damaged electrical systems. 

Habitat for Humanity of Northeast Monmouth County
Monmouth County, NJ
$50,000
As a result of Superstorm Sandy, the scope of repairs for Habitat for Humanity of Northeast Monmouth County is becoming more complex. The organization currently has 50 applications for assistance. With this grant, Habitat for Humanity will be able to repair up to 10 homes over the next six months.

Habitat for Humanity Suffolk County
Long Island, NY
$50,000
Habitat for Humanity Suffolk County (Suffolk) will focus its rebuilding efforts in the Town of Mastic Beach where approximately 450 homes were substantially or significantly damaged by Sandy. Suffolk aims to repair at least seven homes in Mastic Beach that need critical repairs, including the mucking and gutting of basements, tearing out affected sheetrock and insulation, and removing and treating mold.

HomeFront Program
Connecticut and Westchester, NY
$50,000
The HomeFront Program uses volunteer labor to provide free home repair services to low-income homeowners in Connecticut and Westchester. With this grant, the HomeFront Program will be able to buy materials to repair 10 roofs where much-needed insurance funds are insufficient or delayed. 

The Puerto Rican Association for Human Development, Inc. 
Middlesex and Union Counties, NJ
$50,000
Funds will go toward outreach in Middlesex and Union counties, connecting residents to benefits counseling and other support services, and providing food vouchers and gift cards to residents in need.

Shore 2 Recover, Inc.
Ocean County, NJ
$50,000
The agency focuses its work on helping the coastal communities from Point Pleasant to Seaside Park recover from the storm. While initial efforts focused on providing immediate needs for affected families, Shore 2 Recover will use these funds to help home owners and local businesses complete repairs to their property.

You Can NOT Be Replaced
Monmouth County, NJ
$40,000
In January, the Relief Fund made a grant to YCNBR to continue its distribution center and provide gift cards to help families replace key contents of their flooded homes. This latest grant will enable YCNBR to extend their assistance to another 50 families by replacing the critical items needed to move back into their homes. 

Jersey Shore Workcamp
Monmouth County, NJ
$30,000
Jersey Shore Workcamp has been organizing hundreds of volunteers to make repairs to more than 100 houses damaged by Sandy in Keyport, Union Beach, Keansburg, Middletown and Port Monmouth. This renewal grant will help Jersey Shore Workcamp continue their work rebuilding homes for residents in need through the summer. 

Habitat for Humanity Hudson County
Hudson County, NJ
$25,000
This grant will provide building materials necessary for the repair of 10-12 homes in Hoboken and Kearny.

Our Lady Help of Christians
New York City
$25,000
Our Lady Help of Christians is located in the Tottenville section of Staten Island, which experienced severe flooding during Sandy.  With this grant, the parish will be able to help almost 100 families still in desperate need of funds, providing gift cards or paying bills on their behalf.

Counseling
$35,000

Red Hook Volunteers
New York City
$25,000
Immediately after Sandy, a group of volunteers in Red Hook came together to help residents whose homes were flooded. They organized more than 4,000 volunteers, canvassed 210 homebound residents and visited them twice daily with hot food and supplies, serving 1,000 meals daily. This grant will support ongoing case management, allowing them to continue work within the community.

Urban Justice Center, New York Legal Assistance Group, Legal Aid Society
New York City
$10,000
These three groups have been providing badly needed legal services to residents in Far Rockaway and Red Hook, especially with regard to housing issues arising from the storm. This renewal grant will allow these legal providers to continue their critical work for six more months with mobility, easy access to benefits information and direct input to online applications.

Food
$20,000

Rockaway Rescue Alliance Shore Soup Project
New York City
$20,000
The Shore Soup Project is currently serving more than 1,000 healthy/freshly prepared meals per week, and this grant will support their continued work in the Rockaways.

Media contact:
Patty Smith
Robin Hood
212-844-3562

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.

SOURCE Robin Hood