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Newark’s 40th Mayor Ras J. Baraka (pictured, second from right) invited the Newark Funders Group to hear his vision for the city at special August meeting. Just 30 days into his term, the Mayor called on the Newark Philanthropic Liaison Jeremy Johnson (far left) to organize a convening with the Newark group, co-chaired by Etta Denk of Bank America (second from left) and Barbara Reisman of the Schumann Fund for New Jersey (third from left). Irene Cooper-Basch (far right), Chair of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and Executive Officer at the Victoria Foundation, introduced the Mayor to more than 50 grantmakers who attended the session at the PSEG headquarters in downtown Newark. Rick Thigpen (not pictured), Vice President, State Government Affairs at PSEG, welcomed the Mayor and Grantmakers to the company’s conference center.
Mayor Baraka talked about new interventions for youth at risk and targeting crime in hot spots in the city. He said increased “literacy” would help get to the core of many of Newark’s problems. During the questions and answer period, the Mayor elaborated on his proposed response to the budget, the arts, downtown development, prisoner reentry, early childhood education and the city’s relation to Newark Public Schools. He thanked grantmakers for their contributions to “The Blueprint for a New Newark,” a document of transition recommendations.
The Newark Funders Group is an affinity group of CNJG and meets quarterly. The group’s activities include an active Education Subcommittee, Early Learners Funders Group, and College Access and Success committee.
On April 24, 2008 a $19 million landmark award was announced that will strengthen Newark public charter schools. The award comprises grants from seven funders including four national family foundations -- the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Doris & Donald Fisher Fund, Robertson Foundation, and The Walton Foundation -- and three New Jersey funders -- the MCJ and Amelior Foundations, Prudential Foundation, and Victoria Foundation.
The national funders have pledged $4 million each and the New Jersey foundations have earmarked $1 million each toward the initiative. “We welcome these generous national foundations to Newark, and we are grateful for the new investment from three of the city’s longstanding philanthropic partners,” Mayor Cory Booker said.
The $19 million is part of a larger $25 million campaign to help expand and strengthen the capacity of Newark’s charter schools. For further information, visit the website of the newly established Newark Charter School Fund.
Grantmakers Convene Around Prisoner Reentry
A group of 30 grantmakers and Newark officials gathered on April 28 at the offices of the Charles Edison Fund to get a close-up look at the City’s strategies to address the growing issue of prisoner reentry, one of Mayor Booker’s key priorities. Newark faces an influx of 1,500-2,000 men and women every year returning from incarceration. At the same time, 15,000–20,000 individuals are currently on probation or parole in Essex County, the majority in Newark.
Funders seeking to positively impact the city and its residents have a vested interest in helping to improve prospects for the rising number of incarcerated persons returning home. The challenges are complex and intertwined with issues of public safety, job creation and job-readiness, family reunification and fatherhood, access to housing and addiction services, and vigilant case management.
Cornell Brooks, executive director of the New Jersey Institute of Social Justice, gave an overview of the barriers which prevent ex-prisoners from successfully reentering society. Among the most burdensome hurdles are prohibitions on conditional driver’s licenses and inflexible fine payment plans. Such measures effectively close the doors to viable employment options upon release. Another barrier is the effect of exorbitant surcharges on collect telephone calls from prison. The high charges contribute to the erosion of family ties during incarceration, thereby reducing successful family reunification post-release.
Richard Greenwald, an executive on loan to the City from the Manhattan Institute, cited the importance of creating transitional jobs immediately upon release as a proven means of reducing recidivism. Wanda Moore, Director of the Prisoner Reentry, explained the need to mobilize and organize multiple nonprofit and government partners to better serve ex-prisoners. She described “Opportunity Reconnect,” a one-stop center operated by the City, which is helping link ex-prisoners to case managers, job services, and myriad agencies. Performance measures and data-communications systems are in the development stage to help the City assess and evaluate its effectiveness at helping individuals successfully return to the community and their families.
The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (HFNJ) is pleased to announce that it has awarded $3,230,217 to seventeen New Jersey non-profit organizations in the fourth quarter of 2022. The foundation experienced a record quarter for requests for funding. Many of the largest grant awards this cycle support projects that will enhance the health, well-being, and independent living prospects of seniors in Essex County, NJ, and several others address the health needs of children.
The largest grant of the cycle is a $1,001,767 award to Clara Maass Medical Center to purchase a 128-slice CT scanner, which will be used on an estimated 13,500 patients per year and which can provide sharper and clearer imaging than the hospital’s current equipment.
Jespy House received $281,040 to make senior-friendly accessibility enhancements to the organization’s Aging in Place home in South Orange. Jespy House advances independent living for developmentally disabled adults, who typically face greater health challenges than the rest of the population as they age. The Aging in Place home will allow Jespy clients to maintain their independence into their senior years.
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center received $250,000 to support the launch of a Geriatric Center for Excellence at the hospital. The Center will employ a best-practice, one-stop shop model which provides seniors coordinated care, including coordination of transportation and pharmacy needs.
In addition to the projects primarily supporting the health needs of older adults, several of the grants approved this cycle help area organizations that attend to the physical and mental health needs of children.
The Valerie Fund received $115,000 to support a Nurse Navigator for pediatric cancer patients. The navigator will help families navigate the complexities of oncology treatment at Goryeb Children's Hospital at Morristown Medical Center.
Bridge, Inc. received $242,500 for a program at Irvington High School which is designed to reduce substance use among students while increasing school attendance and academic performance.
Addressing the needs of young children, a $100,000 grant to YCS Foundation will support YCS’s work training and assessing several Early Head Start and Head Start Programs in Newark. And, targeting healthcare at the very beginning of life, a $70,000 grant to the Perinatal Health Equity Initiative will support a rigorous needs assessment of maternal and infant health needs in the East Orange community.
“Caring for the most vulnerable among us – including seniors, children, and the developmentally disabled – remains at the core of the mission of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey,” said Michael Schmidt, Executive Director and CEO of HFNJ. “Looking ahead to 2023, we are proud that many of these projects will be providing high quality care to those most in need throughout the coming year.”
The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey operates on a quarterly grant-making cycle. With the inclusion of the fourth quarter grants, HFNJ has pledged a total of $8,554,063 throughout 2022 to support nonprofit organizations that improve the health and well-being of vulnerable populations in the greater Newark and the Jewish Greater MetroWest communities. 2022 has been marked by an increase in demand for funding and The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey has received a record number of requests.
ValuesAdvisor, a nonprofit online platform, helps you find the financial expertise needed to implement a mission-aligned investment strategy. Access to ValuesAdvisor is provided at no cost as a benefit of your membership in CNJG.
ValuesAdvisor offers a searchable database of values-oriented investment advisors, who have been suggested by other trusted affinity groups and philanthropy-supporting organizations. The platform offers a simple and dynamic interface that allows you to filter advisor information on data points such as minimum account size, amount of values-aligned AUM, impact themes, service offerings, asset classes, diversity, and other key information. Note: the platform does not collect user data and is committed to preserving the anonymity of the asset owners who use the platform.
To join, visit the ValuesAdvisor website and enter 'CNJG' at checkout to claim your free access.
To Get Started/Questions:
Kate Simpson, Head of Outreach, ValuesAdvisor
Email: [email protected]
If you have an advisor you’ve worked with who has helped your foundation align your investments with your mission, and believe your peers would benefit from working with, you can suggest them for the ValuesAdvisor platform in their short, “Suggest an Advisor Form.”
For more information, please watch this video or download the infographic below.
Americares has announced a $2 million grant from Johnson & Johnson to launch a three-year program aimed at strengthening the resilience of more than 100 safety-net health clinics in areas where climate change disproportionately affects the health of vulnerable communities.
The Climate Health Equity for Community Clinics Program is a collaborative effort between Americares, the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Johnson & Johnson, and healthcare providers at participating free clinics and community health centers, which will design tailored interventions that meet the needs of under-resourced and overworked staff. By improving clinic operations and health resilience, the program aims to protect patients’ health during heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and other climate-related emergencies.
According to Americares, more than 90 percent of free clinic and community health center patients qualify as low income, and more than half identify as racial and ethnic minorities. The World Health Organization has declared climate change the single biggest threat to humanity—putting clean air, safe drinking water, secure housing, and food supplies at risk—and projects climate change will cause an additional 250,000 global deaths annually from 2030 to 2050, largely due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress.