The SNF Continues its Pandemic Relief Efforts with New Grants

Part of the Foundation’s $100 million global COVID-19 relief initiative, the new grants provide emergency relief to vulnerable populations and support for young people while also helping lay the groundwork for recovery.

More than six months into a pandemic that shows no sign of abating, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has announced a new round of grants in its $100 million global relief initiative to help alleviate the effects of the crisis and forge a path toward recovery. This fourth round brings the total allocated to $72.3 million. Thirty-eight new grants totaling over $10.8 million focus on continuing to respond to the pressing needs facing families around the world, supporting young people, and laying a new foundation for equitable economic recovery.

“The range of these grants reflects the reality of this stage of the pandemic, as the health and socioeconomic crises compound one another in every area of life,” said SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “SNF remains committed to helping address today’s pressing needs while also contributing to building a foundation for recovery. We are immensely grateful to our grantee partners for their dedicated work under these difficult conditions.”

UNITED STATES
Emergency relief for high-need populations in New York
Food, healthcare, and cash for essentials such as utility bills remain areas of serious need in many neighborhoods of New York City, and grants will help address these needs.

Grand Street Settlement, New York: Operating a shuttle outfitted for COVID-19 safety to help low-income families and seniors on the Lower East Side access social services that cannot be delivered remotely
Mosholu-Montefiore Community Center, New York: Implementing food recovery efforts to meet increased need for up to 500 people a day and providing emergency cash assistance to families for essentials like utilities, hygiene items, and burial costs for family members
Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York: Providing nutritious take-away meals and a variety of food pantry items to meet increased need in West Harlem and Morningside Heights

Continuing quality medical and mental health care
The pandemic has complicated care for all health concerns, including those unrelated to COVID-19. Grants to New York organizations will help make sure patients continue to get the care they need, even under uniquely challenging conditions for health providers.

Betances Health Center, New York: Delivering community-based, frontline healthcare to residents of Manhattan’s Lower East Side and the Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods in Brooklyn
Ronald McDonald House New York, New York: Welcoming families receiving cancer treatment for their children in New York City to free accommodation adapted for safety in the pandemic
Peconic Bay Medical Center, New York: Piloting an effort to support frontline clinical staff with “psychological PPE” to help address the trauma and loss of caring for seriously ill patients
Center for Urban Community Services, New York: Providing personal protective equipment for medical, mental health, and social services providers and the thousands of clients they serve across the city

Laying a financial foundation for equitable recovery
Grants will help marginalized populations across the U.S., at the level of both individuals and small businesses, position themselves for future economic stability and success.

New York Immigration Coalition, New York: Helping immigrant-owned small businesses respond to COVID-19 and access relief by creating resources in seven languages and holding educational workshops
Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, United States: Delivering coaching to build financial health for thousands of people, including workers in the hardest-hit sectors like retail and food service and unbanked and undocumented workers
National Community Reinvestment Coalition, United States: Supporting 150 small businesses in underserved communities around the country, including those owned by women, people of color, and veterans, in pivoting to adapt to the new socioeconomic realities of the pandemic through direct grants and low-interest loans

Public space and cultural programming
Grants will help keep the city’s public spaces open for New Yorkers as they rely on them more than ever and help arts organizations continue to offer creative outlets, particularly for young people.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York: Welcoming the public to a reactivated and reimagined version of its 16-acre campus, in partnership with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens
City Parks Foundation, New York: Maintaining and improving the parks New Yorkers are depending on more than ever through the NYC Green Relief and Recovery Fund, which provides urgent relief to the stewardship nonprofits managing the city’s outdoor public spaces
ArtsPool, New York: Helping New York City’s cultural nonprofits focus on programming by offering pooled support on administrative needs and sharing innovative solutions
Pioneer Works, New York: Ensuring the continuity of free arts and science outreach for young people in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood through community and school programs
Artists for Humanity, Boston: Offering young people in Boston opportunities for creative employment, mentorship, and self-expression through art

Education and experiential learning for young people
Grants to organizations focused on education will help keep young people engaged in learning, including through hands-on internships that lend a hand to nonprofits doing critical pandemic relief work.

Playworks, United States: Developing and distributing virtual educational resources that can be used by teachers and partner schools both in person and remotely
Pace University, New York: Providing paid six- to eight-week internship experiences to 20 or more Pace students to assist on the front lines of relief work at a local partner nonprofit
Raising a Reader Massachusetts, Massachusetts: Addressing educational disparities by helping families in low-income communities access books and virtual guided reading lessons

Youth mentorship through sports
In the hands of these grantees, figure skating, soccer, basketball, sailing, rowing, baseball, and squash all become frameworks in which to coach and support young New Yorkers for academic and personal success.

South Bronx United, New York: Using soccer as a matrix to build personal and academic skills to support nearly 200 students as they prepare to go to high school or college
New Heights, New York: Combining competitive basketball with academic support and nutrition counseling for 250 students in elementary through high school
Rocking the Boat, New York: Helping almost 300 young people from the South Bronx set goals and develop self-confidence by learning to row and sail, collaboratively building wooden boats, and helping restore urban waterways
Row New York, New York: Cultivating confidence and a strong work ethic for hundreds of young New Yorkers by combining competitive rowing with rigorous academic support
Hudson River Community Sailing, New York: Encouraging nearly 250 students from public schools in Manhattan’s Chelsea and Inwood neighborhoods to cultivate leadership and academic skills through sailing
Figure Skating in Harlem, New York and Detroit: Guiding around 150 young women in elementary through high school to grow in health, emotional wellbeing, and leadership by combining figure skating with academic support
StreetSquash, New York: Helping young people in Harlem realize their full academic, athletic, and personal potential through squash and wrap-around academic and social support services
DREAM, New York and Newark: Using baseball and softball as entry points to help more than 2,500 students from kindergarten through college build academic and socioemotional skills in Harlem, the South Bronx, and Newark
New York Road Runners, New York: Facilitating fitness activities for young people ages 8 to 21, including those who use wheelchairs, through resources that reach thousands of people each month

COUNTRIES IN ASIA
A grant to a UK-based organization will help students in three countries overcome the barriers of the pandemic to keep learning.

United World Schools: Facilitating remote education in Nepal, Myanmar, and Cambodia while schools remain closed due to the pandemic, as part of a project that will reach 28,000 students

COUNTRIES ACROSS AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Grants to organizations based in the U.S. and Europe will help meet essential needs in food and health in several countries across Africa and in the Middle East by tapping into local systems.

Project Healthy Children: Combatting micronutrient malnutrition for some two million people in Tanzania by supporting small-scale maize millers in continuing to produce fortified flour
Trócaire: Making emergency cash transfers to families encompassing nearly 5,000 people to ensure they can buy food at market and implementing a radio campaign to disseminate information about COVID-19 and health precautions in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe
Médecins Sans Frontières (half of a two-part grant to MSF): Implementing emergency COVID-19 medical interventions in Africa and the Middle East to stem the spread of the disease, provide treatment and care to patients including the critically ill, counter health misinformation, deliver palliative care, and minimize impact on communities, local health systems, and care for other life-threatening needs

COUNTRIES ACROSS SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA
Grants to two organizations based in Spain will help people in eight countries access essential food, health, and hygiene resources.

Acción contra el Hambre: Providing food assistance, hygiene kits, and consultation around nutrition, reproductive health, and mental health through a program reaching tens of thousands of people in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru
Save the Children Spain: Supporting people in Bolivia, Columbia, Peru, and Nicaragua in accessing essential resources from remote education, to food and other basics, to child protective services, to hygiene supplies

EUROPE
Two grants active in the UK and across Europe aim to help provide long-term stability to one of the most vulnerable populations, people on the street and without homes.

The Spires Centre, London: Hiring a Tenancy Support Worker to assist with housing needs in South London
The International Network of Street Papers Foundation, Europe: Assisting 40 street papers in places like Greece, Italy, Serbia, and Hungary in adapting to the realities of the pandemic by making changes like transitioning to cashless payment

GREECE
Grants to organizations working in Greece provide emergency relief to refugees facing dire conditions on two islands, offer resources to people suffering from serious and long-term illnesses as COVID-19 adds to their risk, and support children who face harrowing situations at home.

Greek Patients Association, Greece: Offering a helpline to support and empower people living with serious and chronic conditions like cancer, diabetes, and compromised immune systems who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, holistically assisting and guiding people through nearly a thousand calls a month
Pnoi Agapis, Athens: Offering dignified accommodation and psychosocial support to low-income cancer patients from across Greece who need to travel to Athens to receive hospital treatment
Médecins Sans Frontières (half of a two-part grant to MSF): Providing emergency medical and COVID-19 support and essential supplies to refugees on the islands of Samos and Lesvos, including those impacted by the devastating fires in the Moria refugee camp that followed on the heels of a COVID-19 outbreak in the camp
Initiative for the Child, Veria: Maintaining uninterrupted support for the operation of a day center serving hundreds of minors at risk from domestic violence, negligence, and extreme poverty as cases and needs increase under the pandemic

Other grantees announced during the previous three rounds include the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the San Antonio Food Bank, Bangor Region YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, GrowNYC, the Street Vendor Project, Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital, The Rockefeller University, the Robin Hood Foundation, the French Red Cross, Boroume, Fondazione Progetto Arca, and many others.