NYHealth’s 2025 Progress Report

Progress

NYHealth mobilized to respond to a rapidly changing federal landscape and threats to programs New Yorkers rely on most, including:

• Awarded more than $5 million in responsive grants, including deploying $1 million in emergency funds to provide immediate cash relief to families at risk of hunger while the federal government delayed SNAP benefits during the government shutdown;
• Submitted public comments on key federal policy proposals, including opposing a proposed reinterpretation of federal law that would restrict community health centers from serving many immigrants, and supporting reforms to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to modernize how primary care services are valued and reimbursed;
• Held convenings on emerging federal issues, including safeguarding food access and disappearing federal datasets.

NYHealth and our partners achieved a longstanding signature policy priority as the State budget fully funded Universal School Meals, ensuring that 2.7 million students across the State have the food they need to be healthy and ready to learn.

Other key policies advanced in the State Senate but ultimately did not pass, including bills to improve the quality of food in public institutions; to increase the share of health care dollars that goes to primary care; and to allow medical assistants to administer vaccinations.

NYHealth staff serve on nearly a dozen State and national work groups, including the multi-state Primary Care Investment Network; the New York State Council on Hunger and Food Policy; the Dwyer Coalition for Military Veterans and Families; and the National Community Health Worker Policy Workgroup.

Progress

• Awarded nearly $1 million to a cohort of grantees to advance maternal health equity through primary and preventive care for Black New Yorkers and other communities of color.
• Demonstrated improvement in our equity-focused ratings on a national survey of foundations
• An internal staff equity survey affirmed that NYHealth is committed to racial equity, works to foster an equitable and inclusive culture, and supports staff in showing up authentically.
• A staff-led equity committee facilitated multiple organization-wide learning and reflection opportunities.

Progress

Published new research that advances knowledge in key programmatic areas, including:

• Veteran suicide
• Medicaid and veterans
• Food insufficiency
• Food insecurity among older adults

Improved Care Across Communities, a public interactive dashboard that displays health access and socio-demographic data.

Provided expert testimony and public comments on a broad range of topics, including:

• Primary care investment
• Medical assistants’ role in administering vaccinations
• Universal school meals in New York State
• Hunger and food insecurity in New York City
• New York State schools’ role in SNAP outreach
• Needs of older veterans in New York City
• Veterans access to mental health services

Progress

Six regional/local food systems planning groups are implementing their action plans by:

• Incentivizing and requiring food retail establishments to stock healthy foods;
• Expanding nutrition programs in schools and recreation centers;
• Increasing use of federal nutrition benefits at farmers markets; and
• Establishing a coordinated, statewide network of food policy groups and councils.

Progress

Hunger Free America and The Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center monitored federal policy changes, provided analyses, and amplified the voices of New Yorkers most at risk of losing benefits.

The Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center successfully advocated to clear the backlog of delayed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications in New York City, contributing to an improvement in the State’s timeliness rate—from 60% to approximately 90%.

Field & Fork Network’s Double Up Food Bucks nutrition incentive program continued to scale to 46 counties, matching approximately $4.2 million in SNAP purchases—four times the amount compared to the prior year.

Progress

Following advocacy led by NYHealth and grantees Hunger Solutions New York and Community Food Advocates through the Healthy School Meals for All NY Kids Coalition, the New York State budget included a historic investment to make breakfast and lunch free for all 2.7 million students in the state

GrowNYC opened the New York State Regional Food Hub, adding 60,000 square feet of permanent infrastructure to increase the supply of affordable, high-quality produce in underserved neighborhoods.

Community Food Advocates and the Natural Resources Defense Council educated policymakers on the benefits of the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP), which would improve food quality in public institutions such as schools and senior centers. The State Senate passed the Good Food NY bill.

Progress

United Way of NYC launched a community-based Food is Medicine program model, supporting more than 600 community-based organizations.

Progress

• Hosted three regional roundtables to hear directly from veterans and veteran-serving stakeholders to surface community needs and tailored solutions.
• Continued the Foundation’s role as the leading organization publishing research on New York veterans. 2025 publications included reports on Medicaid and veterans and veteran suicide.
• Presented at multiple State and national events and engaged with multiple media outlets, including the Buffalo News, Capital Tonight, Spectrum News, and CBS News.
• Provided expert testimony before the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly on the recommendations from the City’s Veterans Advisory Board, increasing veterans’ self-identification, and mental health services.

Progress

• Leveraged $3.6 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grants Program to expand and extend best-in-class suicide prevention.
• Strengthened and grew a statewide peer mentor coalition, reaching all 62 counties.
• Expanded support for justice-involved veterans—the group with the highest suicide rates—by testing and expanding a comprehensive case management model and increasing the capacity of county veteran service officers’.

Progress

• Primary Care Development Corporation mobilized a statewide coalition of nearly 35 organizations to advocate for increased investment in primary care. The State Senate passed the Primary Care Investment Act.
• Health Care for All New York elevated patient and consumer perspectives in policy discussions about primary care, including expanded coverage, enhanced affordability, and improved accessibility of primary care services.
• Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS) provided technical assistance to approximately 30 community health centers to strengthen financial, legal, and operational resilience amid rapid federal policy changes.

Progress

Awarded nearly $1 million to five organizations to advance maternal health equity for Black New Yorkers and other communities of color. The grants support projects that identify racial disparities in maternal care, use primary care to address them, and track progress of outcomes across a range of health care settings.

Progress

Strengthened community health workers’ (CHWs) integration and sustainability:

• The NYU CHW Research & Resource Center published statewide focus group findings on challenges and opportunities for CHW integration into primary care teams.
• The Center for Health Care Strategies documented barriers providers face in securing Medicaid reimbursement for CHW services.
• The Envision CHW Training and TA Center led efforts to support the formation of a new CHW policy coalition.

Advanced medical assistants’ (MAs) roles in team-based care:

• The Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity conducted statewide research  on how primary care practices engage, train, and retain MAs; NYHealth translated these findings into accessible
• CHCANYS graduated the first MA cohort from New York’s only State-recognized MA apprenticeship program.

Progress

In 2025, NYHealth received 463 letters of intent through the Special Projects Fund’s (SPF) open call for applications, a 17% increase over the previous year. New York City-based projects accounted for 34% of requests, while 24% were statewide proposals. Outside of NYC, the highest volume of requests were from the Hudson Valley and Western New York.

Protected New Yorkers’ access to essential care, including: statewide efforts to ensure immigrants’ access to care led by Make the Road NY, Asian American Federation, and the Neighborhood Funders Group;  New York Legal Assistance Group’s project to help immigrant parents develop guardianship and medical care plans for their children in the event of family separation; and University of Buffalo’s project to pilot a mobile vaccination program to reach school-aged children in rural communities across Erie County.

Protected New York’s historic health insurance coverage rates. the impact of federal policy changes and convened a diverse advocacy coalition to support State efforts to keep New Yorkers covered.

Expanding “beyond the check” technical assistance offerings focused on financial scenario planning, cybersecurity, and compliance; regional networks that support non-profit sustainability and skills in Western and Central New York and New York City.

Progress

• Advanced age-friendly health initiatives: Healthcare Association of New York State’s Age-Friendly Designation Initiatives has supported more than 300 care settings to become designated age-friendly sites. This work and advocacy helped inform passage of New York’s Age-Friendly Health System Enhancement Act, which was vetoed by the Governor, and a new Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services Age-Friendly Hospital Measure. The Corporation for Supportive Housing, in partnership with the Association for Community Living, trained more than 400 supportive housing staff statewide on age-friendly standards of care and developed evergreen training resources to support older adults’ independence and wellbeing.
• The  Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) mobilized New York’s 26 syringe service programs to strengthen service delivery, secure sustainable funding, and advance harm-reduction advocacy. DPA released recommendations, for the 2026 Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board.
• The New York State Association of County Health Officials provided technical assistance to strengthen rural public health messaging and advocacy ahead of the State budget and legislative session.
• The Integrated Rural Strategies Group supported rural grassroots organizations and connected geographically isolated communities, including dairy farmers and farmworkers, to essential health services.

Progress

• SUNY Upstate’s Center for Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease, in partnership with New York State Office for the Aging community sites, implemented an early cognitive screening and referral program across eight Central New York counties, reaching 27,000 older adults. The program is now being considered for expansion to all 59 sites statewide.
• Project Renewal piloted a behavioral health workforce development program to address staffing shortages in NYC Health + Hospitals. Strong outcomes, including job placement, helped secure a five-year renewable contract with the New York State Department of Health to expand the model.

Progress

Publishing

• Published 7 reports and 17 commentaries (blog posts, op-eds, letters to the editor)
• Produced 13 grant outcome reports highlighting the lessons and outcomes of NYHealth-supported projects.

Traditional Media

• Received 90 media hits

Convening

• Held 26 convenings, including an in-person Healthy Food, Health Lives conference for 200+ attendees. Hosted webinars on topics including primary care, telehealth, mental health, and the public health workforce.

E-mail/Social Media

• Maintained more than 18,000 contacts on our e-mail lists.
• Averaged a click rate of 22% (industry standard is 5%) for e-mail blasts.
• 6,600+ Twitter/X followers and 3,300+ LinkedIn followers.

Website

• Website traffic in 2025 decreased by 5.62% compared to 2024.

Progress

Performance in 2025 was strong. Investment return for the year was 14.33%.

As of December 31, 2025, the 5-year compound annual return on endowment investments was 8.61%, net of fees.

Investment performance remains at the top quartile relative to comparative performance for the 5-year period ending September 30, 2025 (latest comparison available).1 Our returns since inception are above the median.

NYHealth was certified with another clean audit

The average rating by grantees of NYHealth staff responsiveness was 6.73 (on a 7-point scale), placing NYHealth highly relative to peer foundations.2
In 2025, all grantees received their initial payment within an average of 11 days of receiving an award notice.

Progress

• NYHealth was certified with another clean audit.
• The average rating by grantees of NYHealth staff responsiveness was 6.73 (on a 7-point scale), placing NYHealth highly relative to peer foundations.²
• In 2025, all grantees received their initial payment within an average of 11 days of receiving an award notice.

1 Clearview Fiduciary Alliance peer universe analysis of foundations, endowments, and nonprofits for Q3 2025

^{² Based on the 2022 Center for Effective Philanthropy Grantee Perception Survey.}