What's Happening?
The Schenectady Foundation announces $2 million grant program while introducing two new funds.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2025
Contact: Robert Carreau
(518) 393-9500; rcarreau@schenectadyfoundation.org
The Schenectady Foundation will invest $2 million in charitable projects in 2025, continuing its ongoing commitment to making Schenectady County food secure, investing in neighborhood revitalization and addressing urgent community needs.
The Foundation will award $1 million in Equitable Access to Healthy Food grants. These grants fund initiatives to ensure every Schenectady County household can meet its dietary needs and access healthy and affordable food. This new round of funding continues The Schenectady Foundation’s multi-year effort to build a more equitable and sustainable local food system, a project that dates back to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Foundation will also give $350,000 to projects to transform Schenectady’s neighborhoods into healthier, safer and more dynamic places.
Another $300,000 will address emergent needs - supporting community responses to new and arising challenges. In 2024, this fund supported the opening of Ellis Medicine’s youth mental health center, Planned Parenthood’s advocacy survivor support program and RISSE (Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus) to support the county’s growing newcomer population.
The Foundation will also award $60,000 in college scholarships to high school seniors.
In addition to the current program offerings, the Foundation has created two new funds that further their mission and will award grants from these programs later this year.
“We are excited to expand our reach through these new funds and build upon the work we’ve already been doing,” said Robert Carreau, executive director of The Schenectady Foundation. “We look forward to increasing our support for the arts in 2025 and helping grassroots, resident-led organizations flourish and thrive.”
Fund for the Arts
The Foundation’s new Fund for the Arts was established with a bequest from the estate of Paul Hooker, a Scotia native and longtime Proctors volunteer who died in 2019. This year, the Foundation will award grants to projects that expand and enhance Schenectady County’s art programming. While the Foundation has supported the arts in the past, it looks forward to doing more in this area.
Grassroots Fund
In 2024, The Foundation awarded a grant to Strong Owls, led by Schenectady resident Angela Williams. Through weekly gatherings, workshops and inspiring community events, she empowers women to become passionate, positive forces for lasting change in their homes and communities.
Looking to expand support for similar organizations led to the development of The Foundation’s Grassroots Fund. A fund designed to aid community-led organizations doing vital work to strengthen Schenectady’s neighborhoods, fill gaps in programming and services and empower residents to lead systemic change in 2025.
All of these programs support The Schenectady Foundation’s 60th-anniversary commitment to being a catalyst for working as “One Schenectady”. By coming together with diverse residents and organizations of Schenectady County to unleash our collective strengths, we create thriving communities for one and all.
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The Schenectady Foundation (TSF) was created in 1963 by community leaders as a charitable trust to benefit the health and well-being of people who live and work in Schenectady County, NY. Since then, the Foundation has distributed $32 million for grants and scholarships that have helped strengthen families, improve health, and reduce barriers to sustainability for under-resourced families. Today, the principal role of the Foundation is as a strategic investor of charitable resources -- a catalyst for bringing about sustainable change on important community issues.
