Community Access Named Semifinalist in the 2011 New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards

NEW YORK, Feb. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Community Access was recognized today by the New York Times Company, the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, and Philanthropy New York as a 2011 semifinalist in The New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards.  Community Access is competing against nine other organizations for a cash grant and a scholarship to be applied toward Social Enterprise Programs in Executive Education at Columbia Business School.

Steve Coe, Chief Executive Officer at Community Access, shared:  “It’s an honor to be recognized as a top-performing nonprofit in New York City.  Like every charitable group, we have a mission to serve others, but we also strive hard to ensure that the resources entrusted to us from government and private citizens is put to work in the most thoughtful, creative, and cost effective way possible.  Thanks to our active and talented board and dedicated staff, we’ve been able to do just that.”

The New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards are presented annually to nonprofits in the New York City area (the five boroughs, Long Island and Westchester) for excellence in organizational management.  The Awards include an extensive three-step judging process where each organization is evaluated on its management and strong focus on its mission.

In the initial round of applications, each organization was asked to explain how they accomplished their goals while addressing multiple challenges.  The winners will be announced on June 23 at TheTimesCenter during a Best Practices Workshop and Awards Ceremony.

About Community Access:

Since 1974, Community Access has been a place where New Yorkers overcoming mental illness and homelessness can turn for a home, education, job training, counseling and a plan for recovery.  The majority of our participants have had histories of homelessness, hospitalization, substance abuse, and incarceration.  Rather than view these experiences as barriers for the rest of their lives, we help people recognize that they can leverage what they’ve been through to tackle almost any challenge in the future.  Through careful planning, coaching, and a positive learning environment, we witness personal growth and success every day.  

Our programs encompass a range of needs, but they all have a unifying focus of promoting individual health, responsibility, and community integration:

• Community Access provides over 1,000 housing units that enable people with mental illness to live side-by-side in buildings with low-income, working families.  By successfully blending together these populations, we reinforce real world experiences, and help all our residents celebrate this simple fact:  we are all a part of the same community. 
• We run a job training center in Harlem that has prepared over 800 participants to pursue careers in health and human services. 
• With the support of the New York City Office of Mental Health, we will soon open a Recovery Center to assist 2,000 New Yorkers in connecting to housing, jobs, and volunteer activities.
• Our East Village Access program is one of the first of its kind in New York City to offer classroom-based health, wellness and recovery programs for adults with psychiatric disabilities. 
• We have a pet therapy and pet adoption program that has promoted healing opportunities and companionship for dozens of our participants. 
• And, we have one of the most unique outsider art programs in the country, which attracted the attention of playwright Ntozake Shange (For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf) to volunteer her time as mentor and artist in residence.

CONTACT:  John Williams, +1-212-780-1400, ext. 7772, [email protected]

SOURCE Community Access