Newsmakers
Fall 2006
Grantees Making News
Mayor Bloomberg’s antipoverty initiative, the Commission on Economic Development, has sparked responses from several NYF grantees.
Community Voices Heard
New York Times, Aug. 26, 2006
To Cut Poverty, Panel Advises a Narrow Focus
New York Times, Sept. 19, 2006
Tax Credits and Rewards Sought for Poor
Human Rights Project
Metro, Sept. 21, 2006
Bloomberg Needs New Approach to Poverty
Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) highlight their childcare worker campaign.
Daily News, Sept. 17, 2006
Toughen Home Day Care Enforcement? No
Disabilities Network of New York speaks out about the new voting machines.
New York Times, June 21, 2006
A Chance to Mark the Ballot by Puffing Through a Straw
Community Homeowners And Neighbors Gaining Economic Rights (CHANGER) is working against predatory lenders.
Queens Courier, Aug. 17, 2006
Predatory Lenders - These scammers help themselves to your homes
Africans In America is helping victims of human trafficking.
Daily Sun- Nigeria, Sept. 27, 2006
Slavery in Disguise
Afghan Communicator is featured in the Washington Post for their work with the Afghan community in New York City.
Washington Post, Aug. 30, 2006
Afghans Who Fled Conflict Face Cultural Divide in U.S.
Former grantees, Latin American Workers Project and El Centro de Hospitalidad sit on New York City’s Temporary Commission on Day Laborer Job Centers, which is considering developing day labor centers. New York Foundation staff was invited to testify at a hearing of the commission this summer.
New York Times, June 16, 2006
City to Consider Job Centers for Day Labor
New York Foundation Testimony to the Commission on Day Laborer Job Centers, June 20, 2006
NYF testimony
Make the Road by Walking won four civil rights complaints filed in coalition on behalf of limited English proficient patients at four New York City hospitals.
The New York State Home Equity Theft Prevention Act addresses the growing problem of foreclosure rescue scams, also known as "deed theft." The law:
- Requires written disclosure to homeowners regarding the terms of a title transfer that occurs when a home is in foreclosure;
- Provides the right to cancel the deal for five days after signing the contract;
- Prohibits making false statements with intent to defraud the homeowner;
- Provides for a consumer education notice to be sent to all homeowners in foreclosure warning them about such scams; and
- Establishes civil and criminal penalties for violating the law.
Read more about the new law and grantees involved with the New Yorkers for Responsible Lending
click here.
Former grantee
FoodChange helped low income New Yorkers prepare 44,300 tax returns, resulting in more than $80 million in tax refunds. The New York Foundation provided FoodChange with their first planning grant in 2001 for their Earned Income Tax Credit programs. Today they are the top free tax preparer in the United States.
For statistics on FoodChange’s 2006 Earned Income Tax Credit program click here.
Trustees Making News
Keith Hefner
Since November 2002, the Stone Foundation has been funding Youth Communication, a journalism and publishing program for inner city teens in New York City to build their writing and life skills. The Stone Foundation recently talked with him about his work and his thoughts on the youth development field.
For the text of the interview click here.
Dàna-Ain Davis
“Battered Black Women and Welfare Reform, Between a Rock and a Hard Place” an ethnography, examines the impact of welfare reform on women seeking to escape domestic violence. Dana-Ain Davis profiles twenty-two women, thirteen of whom are Black, living in a battered women’s shelter in a small city in upstate New York.
To learn more about and order a copy of the book click here.
Grantee Reports
Domestic Workers United and New York Jobs for Justice released a new report, entitled "Home Is Where the Work Is: Inside NY's Domestic Work Industry", the report details exploitative conditions and demographics of the nation's most hidden low-wage industry. To read the report click here.
MYF Legal Services completed a report on workers’ experiences filing claims for unpaid wages in New York City’s small claims court. To read the report click here.
Former NYF grantee, the Street Vendor Project at Urban Justice Center released "Peddling Uphill: A report on the conditions of street vendors in New York City." The report shows that, unlike their predecessors at the turn of the century, few vendors today have any chance for upward mobility because they are so excessively regulated by the city. To read the report click here.
DRUM's (Desis Rising Up & Moving) youth organizing program YouthPower! has recently completed a report called "Education not Deportation: Impacts of New York City School Safety policies on South Asian Immigrant Youth". Released in June 2006, it provides a comprehensive account of how South Asian immigrant youth are being impacted by aggressive policing and enforcement policies in schools in the post-9/11 climate and identifies concrete barriers to education and services. To get a copy of this report contact DRUM at (718) 205-3036 or email at info@drumnation.org. In order for DRUM to continue to organize around these very important issues they ask that you provide a donation of $10 - $20 for the report.
On the Horizon
For funding sources, see our Resource Alert.
To submit articles or reports for the newsletter please e-mail arocha@nyf.org.
