Investing in Change

2024-2025 COMMUNITY IMPACT INITIATIVES

Community Action Partnership for Dutchess County

Dress for Success (DFS) empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. All our programs furnish her with skills and a confidence that she carries forever and the knowledge that she can actively define her life, the direction she takes and what success means to her.

The Art Effect

Spark Studios provides 60 underserved teens (ages 14-19) with film and media arts instruction as well as paid work experiences and a safe space outside of school where they can learn valuable technical and workforce skills, gain access to technology, explore careers in the creative sector, build positive relationships, engage in creative activities, and establish community connections.

Boys & Girls Club of Newburgh

The Early Elementary Education Program is intended to improve academic outcomes for youth through literacy instruction. The program operates during the school year, Monday-Friday from 3:00pm-6:00pm and consists of three structured hours of activities including homework help and tutoring, academic enrichment and electives including classes in the arts, science and technology and sports.

Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County

Green Teen Youth Vocational Training Through Workforce Training helps at risk youth, 14-19, earn wages as they learn vocational and employment skills. They attend programs 3 times/week after school in spring and fall, and during the day in summer. Staff focus on their strengths to give them the confidence and social-emotional skills to exert control over their own behaviors, and social environment. Activities center on life and vocational skills development.

Culture Connect

Community Connect is an after-school and summer academic enrichment program for K- 5 ENL students in the Rhinebeck and Red Hook schools. The program offers academic support that may not be available at home due to language barriers. Improved language, reading and writing skills increase their literacy and academic performance, builds their confidence and improves their social development.

Family Services Inc

The Teen Resource Activity Center’s (TRAC) provides a safe trauma-informed space for youth to feel a sense of belonging and receive mentorship and support. TRAC helps youth develop their athletic, academic, creative, workforce, & social skills in supportive and challenging ways. Staff work with youth to challenge acceptance of violence to prevent involvement in and exposure to gun and gang violence.

Hudson River Housing

River Haven provides emergency shelter for runaway and homeless youth as they work with a Care Manager toward family reunification or securing another safe residence. The Program provides a variety of evidenced-based Positive Youth Development opportunities and learning experiences to help youth overcome past trauma, develop skills, and build protective factors linked to healthy development.

Land to Learn

SproutEd in Newburgh & Beacon is a garden-based educational program for K-2 students. We maintain school food gardens and deliver lessons during the school day, year-round, that educate children in nutrition, cooking, plant science, ecology, and food systems. Our curriculum is experiential and hands-on, offering students a fun, engaging way to apply and develop their academic and social emotional skills.

Literacy Connections of the Hudson Valley, Inc.

Book Buddies recruits volunteers to read one-on-one with 3-4th-grade children whose teachers identify as reading below grade level. Volunteers are trained to use differentiated material to help students improve their reading skills and confidence. Classroom Book Buddies volunteers read aloud, using a dialogic reading method to give children a positive experience with books.

NAMI Mid Hudson 

Ending the Silence (ETS) is a presentation to middle and high school students given by a certified NAMI lead presenter & young adult with a mental health condition who shares their journey of recovery. ETS addresses substance/alcohol abuse, suicide prevention, bullying, and overcoming stigma. It raises awareness & changes perceptions about mental health & instills good citizenship skills to help their peers.

North East Community Center

Teen Team is a resilience-building, community-engagement group for low-income, at-risk youth ages 14- 18. The group coordinates its own community service activities and cultural/recreation events. It also benefits from education in social and cultural diversity, healthy relationships, and other life skills that deter harmful behaviors, chosen by our Program Director.

 

The Osborne Association

YES Newburgh offers wrap-around services to disadvantaged youth in Newburgh, New York that create opportunities and teach lifelong skills that will carry them into adulthood. The program provides positive youth development and educational support (including literacy services), cognitive-behavioral therapy, substance use disorder prevention education, and various workshops.

Vassar College – Vassar College Urban Education Initiative

Vassar College-English Language Learners Outreach Program (VELLOP) strives to improve academic achievement of ELLs in the Poughkeepsie City School District, which is challenged to educate these students due to lack of Spanish-speaking teachers. VELLOP tutors are Vassar students (often Spanish speakers) who work alongside teachers to support performance of ELLs. Thirty college students devote up to 8 hours per week to tutoring schoolchildren.

Warwick Community Bandwagon Inc

Life Skills for Teens helps develop teens' internal assets. It provides protective factors through prevention, educational and cultural diversity activities, and helps transition from elementary to middle and high school. Members participate in community service and leadership skill-building activities. Evidence-based environmental strategies and evidence-based/informed programs are implemented.

Catholic Charities Community Services of Dutchess County

Financial Stability program offers a hotline. Every day the hotline has many calls from neighbors in crisis, seeking to meet basic needs. All calls, if not picked up, are returned the same business day. Being able to speak to a person directly, as opposed to leaving voice mail, is huge for those looking for help. All requests for assistance are triaged by the Coordinator & ED & if appropriate are assigned a case manager by the latter.

Catholic Charities Community Services of Orange, Sullivan, Ulster County

Financial Stability program provides basic care coordination services that include rental assistance, utility assistance, and financial crisis intervention due to medical expenses, eviction, or homelessness. In order to assist vulnerable population in achieving financial stability. As a result, helping children thrive and families become more engaged, contributing members of their community.

Dutchess County Community Action Agency, Inc.

Crisis Intervention and Case Management program provides emergency financial assistance for families faced with an economic crisis and case management support to help them navigate out of crisis and into stability. Families are struggling to keep their housing and stay current on their utilities. The post pandemic recovery continues to be difficult and lengthy.

Dutchess Outreach

Emergency Assistance Program works with families and individuals who are facing various emergencies in their lives and help them become self-sufficient through case management and advocacy to overcome a financial crisis.

Fearless! Hudson Valley

The Financial Assistance Program (FAP) supports access to emergency financial assistance for the crisis intervention needs of victims and survivors engaged with Fearless! services. The program is intended to increase access to safety and sustainability by minimizing the harmful and ongoing impacts of intimate partner victimization and abuse, including financial/economic injury.

Grace Smith House, Inc.

Meets Basic Needs is designed to help victims of domestic violence victims stabilize their lives by providing direct financial assistance to alleviate an impending financial crisis while providing support and services needed to empower them and their children to move towards building a solid foundation of financial stability and independence from their abuser.

Hudson River Housing Inc

Housing Navigator provides emergency housing assistance to low-income households. The Housing Navigator works closely with households to help them develop housing stability plans tailored to their needs. The Navigator may assist them in applying for public benefits, connect them with employment opportunities, and/or refer them to childcare, health care, legal services, and other community resources.

Jewish Family Services

The Financial Empowerment Program offers one-time financial assistance to families and individuals experiencing a temporary financial setback. Applications are reviewed by a committee based on documentation of the temporary circumstance and the applicant's ability to move forward after assistance has been provided. Funds are paid directly to the landlord, utility, or auto-related expense.

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley

Income Stabilization and Homelessness Prevention provides legal assistance to individuals who have been incorrectly denied, or terminated from, public assistance programs, incl. TANF, SNAP/Food Stamps, WIC, Unemployment Insurance, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, and Veterans Benefits; provides Emergency Cash Assistance - rental and utility arrears; handles Consumer Law cases. This stabilizes household incomes at a subsistence level.

Hudson Valley CA$H Coalition, DCCAP

CA$H Coalition Program provides free tax preparation service for low and moderate income residents helping them to claim all available refunds applicable to their personal situation.

Common Ground Farm (CGF)

Beacon Schools Food Access program ensures that vulnerable students have access to fresh, nutritious food. We distribute groceries to students each Friday so that they have food over the weekends. We also encourage families to participate in our market-based food access programs by providing double up coupons and market cards to use at the Beacon Farmers’ Market.

 

Food for Kids

Food For Kids currently serves, on average, 250 students on a weekly basis from all 5 buildings of the WCSD. We provide enough food to cover two breakfasts, two lunches, drinks, and snacks for the weekend. We provide additional food when there are longer holiday weekends or extended school breaks. In summer 2023 we provided breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks to cover 6 weeks.

 

Food Bank of the Hudson Valley

Food for Dutchess & Orange County Feeding Program will provide low-income Dutchess and Orange County residents with nutritious food when they visit local food pantries and soup kitchens. The grant will fund lines of credit at the Food Bank which agencies will use to secure food. Funds will cover handling fees for donated food and costs for purchased food and will expand agencies’ capacity and enable them to feed more people.

 

Newburgh Armory Unity Center

Nourish Newburgh project will leverage the educational resources of NAUC to develop comprehensive programming that surmounts longstanding, systemic barriers to nutrition and healthy eating. This will be incorporated into an established food distribution program that feeds 500 local families monthly at NAUC, providing mutual benefit to clients of both programs.

North East Community Center

Food Access Program distributes fresh food throughout NE Dutchess. Our food pantry offers weekly walk- in service and home delivery. We work with farms to source fresh foods that meet cultural needs. Food is provided in settings that promote dignity, self efficacy and wraparound services. The hub also supports coalition work to improve resilience and equity in our food system.

Pawling Resource Center

The Food Insecurity Program provides a food pantry that is open to individuals/families that either live, work, and attend school or church in Pawling/Holmes, NY. Clients access the food pantry twice a month on Mon - Fri. 10am -4pm & until 5 pm on Wed. & every second Saturday from 10am - 12noon. Homebound clients also get food delivered twice a month as requested.

Poughkeepsie Farm Project (PFP)

City FRESH removes barriers to healthy food choices and encourages healthy eating habits and lifestyle choices among youth and families by providing access to healthy foods, especially fresh vegetables, and positive, engaging learning experiences at PFP, PCSD schools, and in the community.

Second Chance Foods

Increase nourishing food options in Dutchess and Orange serves individuals and families struggling with food insecurity by increasing the amount of nutrient-dense food available. Our innovative model reduces food waste and connects more food to the community that needs it by rescuing and redistributing fresh produce and groceries and also cooking healthy meals.

Hudson River Housing, Inc.

VetZero Program provides housing assistance for low-income veterans who are homeless or are at imminent risk of homelessness. Through provision of outreach, housing counseling, assistance with initial housing costs, transportation, benefit assistance and service linkages, we quickly place veterans into housing and/or offer the support they need to achieve housing stability.

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley

Legal Services for Veterans & Military Families will offer free comprehensive civil legal services to veterans & military family members living in Dutchess & Orange County, across a range of its practice areas: Public Benefits/Income Stabilization; Housing/Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention & Intensive STEHP* Casework Services; Domestic Violence/Family Law; Disability Law; Elder Law; LGBTQ; Veterans & Military Families Law. * Orange only

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