Year: 2010

On January 12, 2010, hundreds of thousands of people were killed, injured, and displaced from their homes as a result of the earthquake that devastated Port au Prince, Haiti.

The impact of this catastrophe extended beyond the shores of Haiti, affecting one of New York City’s growing, yet under-resourced, communities. New York City is home to one of the largest Haitian communities outside of Haiti—more than 140,000 individuals—the vast majority of whom live in Brooklyn and Queens. In response to this catastrophe and the needs of New York Haitian communities, NYHealth developed a three-part response strategy. The Foundation participated in two separate funding collaboratives led by Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF) and Long Island Community Foundation (LICF). NYHealth also provided a grant to Haitian American Cultural and Social Organization (HACSO). NYHealth provided grants totaling $150,000 to support these organizations’ efforts to address the needs of Haitian communities in three areas of the State.

With NYHealth support, the Brooklyn Community Foundation and United Way of New York City established the NYC Haitian Community Hope & Healing Fund to address the short- and long-term needs of individuals, families, and communities in the New York City area affected by the earthquake in Haiti. The Fund provided financial support and critical resources to local nonprofit organizations in both Queens and Brooklyn. The fund focused on strengthening these local organizations to serve the increasing number of people who needed assistance with health and mental health issues; immigration; grief and trauma; job training; housing; English language acquisition; and more in the immediate aftermath and coming years.

In response to the economic downturn, the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) worked with the Nonprofit Finance Fund to create a one-time technical assistance (TA) program to help NYHealth grantees build capacity in their financial management capabilities.

Grantees, especially those from smaller organizations, may lack experience developing and implementing long-term strategic fiscal plans that are critical to effectively sustaining their organizations and the projects that represent their mission. In 2010, NYHealth awarded the Nonprofit Finance Fund a grant to develop and lead a TA workshop for selected NYHealth grantees.

This project provided NYHealth grantees with technical assistance around fiscal planning methods to weather the economic storm. The Nonprofit Finance Fund’s Recession Fundamentals Workshop was a half-day seminar that gave the leadership of grantee organizations the necessary guidance and tools to withstand challenging economic times.

Topics of the workshop included:

• Assessing organizational preparedness;
• Evaluating fiscal risk exposure and tolerance;
• Identifying and quantifying budget options; and
• Communicating organizational financial stories to current and potential funders.

New York State has the third largest population of older adults in the U.S. Older patients account for 38% of all US hospital admissions; this is even higher in rural areas.

Older patients experience more complications during hospitalization compared to any other age group, which results in a lower survival rate, loss of independence, hospital readmissions, increased usage of rehabilitation services, and new placements in nursing homes.

As of October 2008, hospitals no longer receive payment from Medicare for eight complications, three of which—falls/fall injuries, pressure ulcers, and urinary tract infections—are known to occur more frequently in older patients and are found to be reduced when geriatric care models are used. Thus, avoidance of the costs for these complications is a priority for hospitals.

The NICHE program has emerged as a national leader in improving geriatric care. It has been adopted by nearly 300 hospitals nationally, including 18 in New York State. It provides evidence-based clinical protocols and operational tools that they have developed to improve elder care. It builds geriatric staff knowledge and competence within participating hospitals. With this grant, NICHE developed and adapted its approach for rural hospitals. It facilitated an online rural hospital learning community and a rural-urban collaborative via Web-based and other long-distance communication strategies. It recruited and implemented the program in 20 small, rural hospitals.

Founded as a settlement house in the neighborhood of Greenwich Village, Greenwich House has been responding to the vital needs of New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds by providing critical social and health services, and cultural and educational programs since 1902.

The Caring Community (TCC) is an almost 40-year-old organization that was founded to meet the needs of older New Yorkers residing in Greenwich Village and later extended its services to lower Manhattan. Together, Greenwich House and TCC share common missions, operate similar programs, and serve overlapping populations. In 2010, the nationwide economic crisis and projected municipal budget cuts placed the services delivered at TCC in serious jeopardy. To address these concerns, NYHealth awarded Greenwich House a grant later that year to evaluate and create a strategic alliance between Greenwich House and TCC. The intent of the alliance was to preserve vital services that might otherwise be lost as a result of the economic downturn and consolidate administrative overhead between both organizations.

Two multi-service organizations, Greenwich House and the Caring Community (TCC), will more efficiently and effectively meet the needs of Greenwich Village seniors by consolidating their management and operations. Specifically, TCC will be established as an affiliate corporation of Greenwich House, and its four senior centers will be solely managed by Greenwich House. The consolidation of administrative functions will increase operating efficiencies, reduce costs through bulk purchasing arrangements, and consolidate many “back-office” functions such as accounting, human resources, information technology, and fundraising.

Greenwich House and TCC share common missions, operate similar programs, and serve overlapping populations. Greenwich House provides vital services and programs in mental health for seniors, chemical dependency, arts, and nursery school services. TCC serves its clients through the provision of daily meals, classes, and social service programs, including case assistance and money management.