Our Support Making a Difference
Unprecedented
National Grid Foundation supports the unprecedented resilience of its supported organizations during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
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Persevering During a Crisis “During challenging times and when impassioned to act, human beings can be capable of miracles.” — Fabien Cousteau, ocean conservationist/documentary filmmaker
COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, a severe infectious disease has gripped the world making almost everyone and everything slow down and stop for a few months. Employees were sent home to work and students left school to continue classwork online. It was and still is a very challenging time for all.
Destiny newsletter is a quarterly publication created to give you a glimpse into the stories of some of the organizations and programs National Grid Foundation supports.
DESTINY XI Q2 2020
www.nationalgridfoundation.com Editor Creative Director
Christine Berardi Pamela Focá
Executive Director Edward H. White Jr. Cover photo courtesy of Mercyworks
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The Campaign Against Hunger
Feeds a Neighborhood with More than Food By Christine Berardi
“If you can’t feed 100 people, then just feed one.” – Mother Theresa The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) believes its mission to deliver nutritious food to New York’s most vulnerable residents is more of a calling than a job. TCAH is working in overdrive throughout the COVID-19 health crisis to help supply food to those in need in the Rockaway, NY community. The organization has gone far beyond feeding one person or even 100 people. Since March, TCAH has served more than 528,000 individuals providing food for a staggering 4.7 million meals. The organization is continuing its purpose and will stand by its neighbors until the issues of hunger and food insecurity are eradicated. COVID-19 and the stay safe at home orders have amplified an already difficult situation for many Americans including residents in Far Rockaway. Superstorm Sandy which devastated
the area in October 2012 and brought the conditions of the area into the forefront. TCAH was there lending a hand up. According to Tamara Dawson, Director of Programs, TCAH mobilized as a “first responder” to meet the needs of the community. Since recovering from Sandy, TCAH has been a partner and advocate for “We were not surprised by the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. If anything, it has brought to light the disproportionate economic, social and health disparities faced by our communities, especially minority communities of color that have long struggled with food insecurity.” Tamara Dawson,
Director of Programs, TCAH
equitable access to healthy food for the Far Rockaway community which
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Since March, TCAH has served more than 528,000 individuals providing food for a staggering 4.7 million meals. is federally labeled as a food desert. A food desert is an area where residents do not have consistent access to healthy food choices such as fresh fruit and vegetables. “We are building and prioritizing a food ecosystem in the area to infuse heart-healthy food to address the
health disparities as the community continues to struggle with poor health outcomes,” Dawson said. She continued, “We were not surprised by the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. If anything, it has brought to light the disproportionate economic, social and health disparities faced by our communities, especially minority communities of color that have long struggled with food insecurity.” In May, National Grid Foundation provided $500,000 in grants to 45 community organizations in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to help support hunger relief and human services for people in
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need and struggling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including those providing meals to families, and those assisting first responders. National Grid Foundation, which is a proud supporter of TCAH, recognizes that the good work and assistance the organization provides year-round would desperately be needed during the crisis. With the coronavirus, quarantine and monumental unemployment among other issues, “The National Grid Foundation has bridged the gap for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers that otherwise may go hungry during the pandemic.” Tamara Dawson,
Director of Programs, TCAH
more people than ever are turning to food pantries. The $30,000 COVIDRelief grant and 500 tote bags from the Foundation were put to immediate and good use. “The National Grid Foundation has bridged the gap for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers that otherwise may go hungry during the pandemic,” said Dawson. “The demand for food has increased significantly across the city. As such, TCAH is being called upon to provide food to individuals outside the scope of our normal operations. The grant has bolstered our food distribution efforts, so that vulnerable children, seniors, and newly
unemployed adults have food on their tables.” To keep up with the increased demand, a generous donor gifted a temporary warehouse space in Canarsie, Brooklyn to TCAH assisting with the food distribution efforts. It has become a hub where staff and volunteers pack and distribute 2,800 bags of food each day. A healthful bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, grains, milk and other staples for a balanced diet fill the tote bags. National Grid partnered with the Foundation to offer even more help to TCAH. The Site Investigation and Remediation (SIR) Department had the opportunity to donate approximately 90 yards of topsoil (PFAS tested) to the TCAH National Grid Foundation Healing Garden. The department has been conducting remediation of a former Manufactured Gas Plant site on Long Island. The clean up involves
excavation of impacted soils. After disposal of the impacted soils, clean soil is used as backfill. Due to a design change at the job site, the company had leftover soil and generously donated it to TCAH. This is another example of the Foundation working side by side with company employees to help our neighbors. Thank you to SIR team members William Ryan, Sarah Aldridge, April Dubison and Pat Van Rossem for pivoting and thinking of a creative solution. For more than seven years, National Grid Foundation has supported the Green Teens Internship Program. Staffed by local young people from the Green Teens Internship Program,
the Healing Garden is located at TCAH’s Far Rock Urban AgroEcological Center. The Green Teens benefit from training in community outreach, sales, and farmer’s market business operations. This strengthens
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workforce development to help create pathways for youths with barriers to employment and champion youth success by demonstrating how to make change through hard work and skills training. This valuable model catapults youths into longer-term career training while gaining sustainable agriculture knowledge and skill-sets. The Green Teens are hard at work at the Far Rock farm helping their community get through this crisis. The teens are planting and harvesting
nutritious kale, bok choy, peppers, collards, tomatoes, cabbage, eggplant, lettuce, yellow summer squash, beets, parsley, mint and so much more for their neighbors. Mother Theresa once wrote, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” She would be proud of The Campaign Against Hunger which is doing just that – creating many ripples to help change the world. ❧
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FirstWorks EarthFirst: Not Your Average Distance Learning By Deborah Drew
Months ago, as national leaders announced news of the COVID-19 pandemic threatening our country, many educationalfocused organizations found themselves faced with extraordinary challenges and quickly learned that they would have to rapidly pivot to continue to provide educational programs to the children and students they serve. The impact ran the gamut from schools and universities to daycares, after school programs, college preparatory mentoring programs, and much, much more.
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Enter stage right: FirstWorks, the Providence, RI based arts and education organization that engages diverse audiences with world-class performing arts experiences. Founded in 2004, last year FirstWorks attracted 140,000 participants across festivals, performance and education. FirstWorks has collaborated with more than 100 community organizations on projects that highlight extraordinary artists and reach diverse audiences. Central to its mission is a powerful, accessible, and equitable arts-integrated learning program benefiting low-income students in Rhode Island’s under-resourced schools. Three years ago, support from the National Grid Foundation was instrumental in establishing and growing Earth First, a unique, thoughtprovoking program that utilizes the arts as a catalyst for environmental education, stewardship, and climate change awareness. The program covers professional development workshops for teachers to embed the arts as a learning strategy in both Providence and Central Falls schools, and a roster of artists, thought leaders, and films to engage youth and the larger community in learning about sustainability, climate change,
and environmental stewardship in conjunction with the arts. Under Earth First, study-guides, developed in partnership with scientists and science teachers, have been created and used in schools to reinforce the educational component of environmental stewardship and sustainability. More than 40 schools and 5,500 underserved students have benefited from Earth First. Early this spring, with the backdrop of the pandemic that has forced social distancing and the closing of schools and programs, the FirstWorks team set about a solution: How to deliver performance-based, arts
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education for students, teachers and parents alike? Backstage, the creative forces behind FirstWorks rose to the occasion, and currently are presenting and providing for both teachers and students an amazing assortment of enviro-education solutions. Taking center stage in March 2020, FirstWorks inventively piloted its virtual learning series that brings the arts and academics into the homes of students during this challenging period of distance learning. It now is offering a full “cast” of virtual programs covering students in Grades K-12, along with lesson plans, resources and activities for teachers to share. FirstWorks is partnering with Steer, a mission-driven multimedia studio that works globally, to deliver the exciting, visceral content on the FirstWorks website and through social media platforms. World-class artists, who are part of the FirstWorks “family” continue to be at the epicenter of this virtual learning opportunity. Several Earth First programs and artists are spotlighted http://firstworks.org/education/firstworksvirtual-learning-series/ with special live-stream performance events and conversations so that students can explore climate change, sustainability, and environmental stewardship in conjunction with the arts. Animator Miwa Matreyek weaves surreal and poetic narratives around
the conflict between man and nature and communicates compelling ideas around environmental stewardship through the arts. The take away for students Grades 5-12, and teachers, are lessons called “Global Temperature Changes: Plastic Waste” and “Greenhouse Effects: Gasses” that combine science, mathematics, language arts, art activities and bonus activities such as deep-dive research. Click on the image below to explore animator Miwa Matreyek’s Lesson:
Puppet artist Heather Henson also is featured in the series. She focuses storytelling around endangered species and the symbiotic relationship between indigenous people and the land. FirstWorks’ website features video excerpts of the performance, showcasing beautiful and imaginative animal puppetry. The lesson plan for this environmental message for students K-6 covers bird migration, turtle conservation, a weather journal, and for older students, a research
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assignment around Rhode Island’s turtle population. Not to be outdone, there’s even a template for younger students to draw and create “crane puppets.” Click the image below to view the lesson with puppet artist Heather Henson: With the COIVID-19 pandemic still in full swing, and no fail-safe solutions in site for the re-opening of schools and educational programs, it’s hard to envision FirstWorks’ Earth First environmental education program taking a curtain call. That said, the imagination, tenacity and dedication to the Rhode Island teachers and students in over 40 schools across 13 districts using this on-line learning certainly deserves a standing ovation. ❧
“The National Grid Foundation demonstrated their commitment to Rhode Island students and innovation, by providing crucial seed support of FirstWorks’ Earth First programming. The Foundation’s support enables us to launch a unique program using the arts as a catalyst for environmental education, tethering academics to world-class arts. We are grateful for National Grid’s continuing investment which allowed FirstWorks to quickly pivot to produce online learning modules for Environmental Education and Climate Change Awareness as part of our Virtual Learning Series. Since the beginning of this crisis, FirstWorks has shared new lessons each week for students K-12, distributed to over 40 schools in 13 school districts across the state.” – Kathleen Pletcher, Artistic Director and Founder, FirstWorks
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The HOPE Program Empowers New Yorkers Through Challenging Times By Christine Berardi
Like most businesses and schools, The HOPE Program closed its doors in March due to the coronavirus and the subsequent quarantine. Employees
where The HOPE Program has lived up to its name. The organization did not want any effects of the coronavirus to become another
“National Grid Foundation’s partnership allows us to offer New York City jobseekers with digital skills which are critical to preparing for, building, and thriving in new careers. — Irene Branche, Chief Development and Evaluation Officer, The HOPE Program.
worked from home and students took classes online. Not out of the ordinary as others stayed safe at home, right? Well, HOPE’s students are for the first time learning how to use a laptop, the associated applications and how to apply for jobs online. They are at HOPE to gain those skills and to set themselves up for success. The digital skills that HOPE teaches are essential for applying to jobs. What do they do now at home? How do they endure the quarantine learning online? That’s
obstacle on the path to success. HOPE serves New Yorkers facing significant barriers to employment such as substance abuse, homelessness and/ or a lack of high school diploma or equivalency. Low-income New
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Yorkers disproportionately experience coronavirus-related layoffs. Many of HOPE’s students don’t have a computer or internet access in their homes. HOPE’s dedicated staff picked up where they left off in the classroom and continued the Digital Literacy Program online. The twice-weekly classes continued with Word and Excel applications, email competencies, calendar invites and how to apply online for jobs – all brand-new skills for the students. “National Grid Foundation’s partnership allows us to offer New York City jobseekers with digital skills which are critical to preparing
for, building, and thriving in new careers. Particularly in the wake of the pandemic, we are immensely grateful to National Grid Foundation’s long-standing support which contributed to building our digital learning capacity and made our pivot to remote learning possible, giving HOPE to New Yorkers when they need it most,” said Irene Branche, Chief Development and Evaluation Officer, The HOPE Program. In addition to providing online classes, HOPE has offered a lifeline to its students. During the pandemic from March 13 and April 30, HOPE placed 37 graduates into jobs, distributed
Sophia Demunn. She received the computer on behalf of her sister who is a HOPE student.
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110 laptops and WiFi hotspots to students/graduates to bridge the digital divide and ensure access to HOPE and other crucial resources, conducted 398 wellness check-ins with clients, and established partnerships with 8 new employers willing to hire HOPE graduates. The HOPE Program proves that the education, hope and support it provides to students isn’t bound by four walls; it comes from the heart of the organization. ❧ The HOPE Program also reached its students/graduates with: ● Daily emails and text messages with latest resources ● Outreach to measure need for food, wellness services, childcare, housing that HOPE can provide directly or through a peer nonprofit ● Online resume and job search support ● Coaching for graduates who may have been laid off or lost work hours ● Continued wages to participants in HOPE’s transitional employment program.
YMCA @ Home Staying Fit with YMCA of Greater NY and HEAF The YMCA of Greater New York is keeping everyone healthy and fit during the pandemic. Like the “freshmen 15,” the YMCA is doing its best to ensure that people don’t experience the “quarantine 15.” Each week through the YMCA @ Home program, YMCA fitness instructors host a variety of virtual workouts. These at-home resources keep everyone from kids to seniors healthy and part of a community while staying at home. So, if you want to take a circuit class before your 10 am staff call, end your day with yoga or join your child in a dance party, the YMCA has it all. The Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF) got into the action as well. As part of the HEAF Together We Make a Difference Event Series, The Throw It Down for HEAF class held in May benefited graduating seniors. Rumble instructor Morgan Rosenblum hosted the hour-long sweat session where people came together and learned a few new moves. View HEAF’s website for future Together We Make a Difference events. ❧
Brooklyn Historical Society Presents
Important Conversations via Virtual Programs For more than 157 years, the Brooklyn Historical Society continues to serve as a cultural center for civic dialogue and community outreach. Its founders envisioned it as a facility for discussion about history. Prominent speakers of the day conversed about such important topics as women’s rights and abolitionism. These topics among others are still being discussed today.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Historical Society moved its current in-person programming to the virtual world. The panels and programs offer substantive material which continue the discussion of racial injustice, social inequality, culture and history. The successful programs have received overwhelming rave reviews.
“We have always believed that understanding our history makes understanding what’s going on now so important. Our history connects us to the present and our future.” — Deborah Schwartz, President and CEO A recent program: “Bearing Witness While Black: Technology, Race and the Documenting of Black Lives Matter” explored how technology in the age of the smartphone, social media and journalism document the Black Lives Matter movement. Allissa V. Richardson, Professor of Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern California’s Anneberg School, and Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University, discussed how activists have documented racial injustices throughout American history. “The Brooklyn Historical Society has a bent toward social equality, racial justice and history going back to the Revolutionary War,” said Deborah Schwartz, President and CEO. “We have always believed that understanding our history makes understanding what’s going on now so important. Our history connects us to the present and our future.” Upcoming programs include:
● D emocracy, If We Can Keep It: The American Civil Liberties Union at 100, July 8 ● U se the Power You Have: Pramila Jayapal and V (Eve Ensler) in Conversation, July 13
● B urning Down the House: Julian Zelizer Discusses Modern Republicanism and Newt Gingrich with Alexis Coe, July 16 ● L iquid Vacation: A History of Tiki Cocktails, July 22
Further details and registration for the free
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Year Up stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and we’re committed to taking action against racial injustice. Read our full statement here.
Year Up provides one year of hands-on training, real-world corporate access, a six-month internship, educational stipends, and unparalleled support to talented young people who need assistance to launch. The National Grid Foundation has supported Year Up Greater Boston for three years and applauds the work they do to help young adults, largely from underserved communities, reach their full potential through careers and higher education.
Following is an interview with
Tyra Anderson-Montina,
Site Director, Year Up Greater Boston. What is Year Ups mission and primary goal this year? Tyra: Y ear Up’s mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education. The Opportunity Divide is the vast gap that exists between underserved young adults who have the motivation to succeed but lack access to the resources that will enable them to do so, and Fortune 1000 companies who have sizable human capital needs and lack access to a viable pool of motivated and diverse talent. Our primary goal is to place graduates on paths towards upward economic and social mobility, disrupting the Opportunity Divide.
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How are the recent events around racism and social injustice impacting Year Up and its students? Tyra: S ystemic and institutional racism plays a key role in determining which young adults get opportunities to experience economic mobility, and which young adults face countless obstacles to reaching their full potential. Those obstacles are everywhere—in our workplaces, in our legal systems, in our social lives—and removing them takes work, investment, and care. At Year Up, we have worked for 20 years to remove these obstacles knowing the systems were flawed, and we will always have more work to do. Social injustice and racism aren’t new concepts or realities for our students. This particular climate exacerbates the feelings of marginalization some interns and graduates feel in their corporate environments, where it is still preferred to avoid these conversations than acknowledge the pain that currently exists. Although this isolation takes a toll, our students, interns, and alumni community are ever more resilient and motivated right now to be change agents in diversifying & occupying these types of environments so that this doesn’t pass on to the next generation of talent. What is Year Up doing to help? Tyra: Y ear Up is taking steps to further the causes of justice and equity within our organization, and improve how we support our young adults to cross the Opportunity Divide. We are also calling on business leaders to join the Coalition for Racial and Economic Justice. Participation in this coalition will require not only a “pledge for progress” but clear commitments to action. Now is the time to take action so that we can rebuild an equitable and just society with economic mobility for all Black Americans and other underrepresented groups. Given the current economic challenges created by the covid-19 pandemic, how will yearup help its talented students gain meaningful employment and launch careers? Tyra: O pportunity Youth (the nearly five million young people disconnected from education and the workforce) exemplify the group of workers most likely to be adversely affected by Coronavirus. Faced with the current economic challenges, our Employment Placement team quickly adapted, creating innovative solutions like ensuring students had the necessary technology to job search remotely; using virtual platforms to continue connection with graduates; and, searching for new roles that may have emerged in response to the public health crisis, such as Contact Tracer roles. Year Up remains committed to adapting to these new circumstances, proactively addressing emergent challenges, and supporting our graduates to ensure they can capitalize upon their year of hard work and training.❧
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King Jr. —”Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963