Center to Expand Financial Counseling
The Syracuse Family Empowerment Center, an initiative of the City of Syracuse, offers free, one-on-one professional financial counseling to city residents. We awarded a $25,000 grant to help increase the number of counseling hours the Center offers in partnership with Cooperative Federal Credit Union and Home HeadQuarters. Topics covered during the sessions include improving one’s credit, reducing debt, increasing savings and accessing safe and affordable banking services.
Census 2020: Preventing an Undercount
While Census 2020 surveys are just now being collected in New York State, efforts have been underway for more than a year to encourage residents to participate. We awarded a total of $90,000 leading up to the census to help educate residents on the importance of being counted and provide them with the digital access needed to complete the survey. In addition, we contributed $10,000 to the New York State Census Equity Fund, a pooled fund that awarded grants across the state to provide education, advocacy and technical assistance.
LeadSafeCNY Community Forum
On February 5, we hosted the LeadSafeCNY Community Forum at the Northside Learning Center. The audience of 80 community members, public officials and local residents heard from a panel featuring Dr. Sandy Lane, Dr. Travis Hobart, Dr. Frank Ridzi, and Peter Dunn. Together the panelists highlighted the ways in which lead poisoning can easily go undetected, undermining community efforts to educate our children and mentor them into successful careers. The message was clear that knowledge is power and that as a community we must work together to end childhood lead poisoning. Learn more and view the PowerPoint presentation at leadsafecny.org.
