POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro has announced more than $1.3 million in funding has been awarded to 21 non-profits through the Agency Partner Grant program.
More than $1 million of the funding will support the traditional grant program, which awards funding to agencies to implement programs that address community needs; and more than $150,000 is awarded to the program’s infrastructure initiative, a new component implemented in 2019.
The Agency Partner Grant program awards funding to nonprofit organizations on a biennial basis, through a competitive grant process based on an organization’s ability to demonstrate it can fulfill unmet community needs. The agencies selected through the traditional grant program will implement 26 programs that address critical needs throughout Dutchess County including workforce development opportunities to promote employability outcomes to the unemployed; literacy assistance support to strengthen educational and employment opportunities; homeless prevention to ensure housing stability; and senior medical transportation to promote health outcomes to the county’s aging population.
Four grants awarded through the infrastructure initiative will fund technology and software enhancements, as well as facility enhancements to emergency and transitional shelters.
“Our collaborators throughout our county play a vital role in serving some of our most vulnerable populations, and Dutchess County is proud to again partner with these agencies to provide essential programs and services that address these residents’ needs,” Molinaro said.
The 2020 Agency Partner Grant program awards for both the traditional program and the infrastructure initiative, are as follows:
Boys & Girls Club – $100,000 to continue implementation of a comprehensive afterschool program in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Catholic Charities Community Services of Dutchess County – $35,000 to provide an Eviction Prevention Program that will offer emergency rental assistance, financial literacy education, crisis intervention and comprehensive case management services to promote long-term housing stability for low-income families in Dutchess County.
Child Abuse Prevention Center – $15,450 to continue the implementation of the Personal Safety Program, which offers preventative sexual abuse education, including internet safety education, to children throughout the county.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County – $68,958 to continue supporting 4-H Youth Development: Literacy, Life Skills and Leadership through Hands-On Experience.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County – $106,090 to continue supporting Green Teen and No Child Left Inside: Developing Potential through Work-Based Learning, which broaden youth exposure to environmental science, providing outdoor workforce development opportunities and promoting health outcomes.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County – $50,000 to implement an evidence-based Parenting and Support Education program to enhance parenting skills by utilizes a hands-on learning approach suitable for all literacy levels.
Dutchess Outreach – $20,000 to provide affordable, healthy and locally produced fresh food options to the general public for sale through the Dutchess Outreach Fresh Market and provide free produce offerings to pantry patrons.
Exodus Transitional Community – $40,221 to support an evidence-based Poughkeepsie Reentry Work Readiness program.
Family Services – $20,600 for an afterschool Teen Resource Activity Center that provides mentoring, academic support, healthy living workshops and recreational activities to City of Poughkeepsie youth in a safe environment.
Friends of Seniors of Dutchess County – $30,900 to maintain its Senior Medical Transportation program, which promotes access to non-emergency medical care for seniors, who lack other means of transportation.
Hudson River Housing – $43,496 for Financial Fitness programming to improve financial stability among Dutchess County residents, by offering educational workshops on the importance of eliminating debt, building a credit history and increasing savings.
Hudson River Housing – $50,895 to continue providing a Housing Navigator Program to County residents with housing navigation and transition services, referrals, and emergency rental assistance to prevent homelessness.
Hudson River Housing – $50,507 to support the Youth Learning through Experience, Assistance, and Partnerships Program, which is designed to provide work readiness skills and training, financial literacy, and leadership skills to low income youth and young adults.
Literacy Connections – $53,189 to continue the Adult & Family Literacy program that promotes basic literacy skills for adults and children. Adult learners will receive student-centered, one-on-one or small group tutoring lessons, while children are assigned a one-on-one book buddy, to promote basic reading and comprehension skills.
Mediation Center of Dutchess County – $106,475 to fund an evidence-based Restorative Justice Initiative that will work with non-profit partners, schools and individuals throughout Dutchess County, to address conflict and behavioral matters, while promoting pro-social outcomes in a diplomatic and non-punitive way.
North East Community Center – $43,785 to continue the Community Partnership with Schools and Business program, a paid job skills training program for youths and young adults in which they gain transferable work readiness skills and training to promote their successful transition to adulthood.
North East Community Center – $33,990 to provide a variety of nutritional Food Access Programs, including two community gardens, a Summer Food Service Program and youth food-access internship opportunities.
North East Community Center – $39,552 to implement a 5 -week Summer Connections Program to provide summer enrichment activities that will preserve socio-emotional and academic gains and mitigate summer learning loss for Webutuck School District students.
Poughkeepsie Farm Project – $35,000 to support Farm Fresh Home Chefs, a food access and healthy eating program for low income Poughkeepsie families, in which families are taught how to prepare balanced healthy meals.
Poughkeepsie Public Library District – $29,345 to implement the Families Read Together program, a series a book clubs to take place during the Poughkeepsie City School District’s Friday Night Lights program, which will promote literacy and educate parents on the need to model positive reading.
Poughkeepsie United Methodist Church – $29,000 to support the Harriet Tubman Academic Skills Center, which will provide academic and social support, to promote educational and behavioral outcomes of at-risk children in the City of Poughkeepsie.
R.E.A.L. Skills Network – $41,200 to support the Students Target Academic Retention Techniques (S.T.A.R.T.) Program, an afterschool program in the City of Poughkeepsie.
R.E.A.L. Skills Network – $16,295 to support the Summer Learning Academy, a 6-week summer program in the City of Poughkeepsie with a focus on stabilizing academic achievement levels and eliminating summer learning loss.
Taconic Resources for Independence – $40,000 to expand Special Education Advocacy services to parents of children with special needs.
The Art Effect – $76,920 to support an afterschool and summer Youth Workforce Development in Arts & Media program that prepares students for higher education and employment opportunities.
NAMI Mid-Hudson – $58,802 to provide mental wellness and mental health literacy to individuals affected by mental illness.
Grace Smith House – $17,492 to Enhance the Crisis Hotline Experience for Domestic Violence Victims by replacing the antiquated phone system to provide seamless linkages to non-residential support services.
Hudson River Housing – $99,000 to provide Emergency and Transitional Housing Enhancements by improving facilities and replacing antiquated equipment at the shelters used to house homeless individuals and families.
Taconic Resources for Independence – $19,999 for Computer Technology Upgrade to support the agency’s technology needs by investing in new administrative computers and the agency’s antiquated server to ensure the delivery of critical programs.
The Art Effect – $19,734 to Improve Agency Impact and Capacity by investing in software to better engage and track program participants and long-term alumni impact with the goal of being able to attract additional funding to expand the program.
The Agency Partner Grant program is entering its eighth year, with funding to the grant program increasing by nearly 50 percent, since the program’s inception.
