Second Round of Agency Partner Grant Awards Announced
Earlier today, Dutchess County Executive Marcus J. Molinaro met with program staff and toured the Hudson Valley House of Hope, a domestic violence shelter that provides emergency shelter, outreach and client legal services for women and children. The visit came in conjunction with the second round of funding awards for the 2015-16 Dutchess County Agency Partner Grant Program. Six programs, representing five agencies, including the Hudson Valley House of Hope, were awarded a total of $148,000 in this second round of funding.
Group photoThe awards are given to local non-profit agencies to deliver outcome-based programs in areas of identified need.
County Executive Molinaro said, “I was honored to meet with program staff this morning at the House of Hope. Their work makes an important difference in the lives of women and children living and working in Dutchess County—offering them security, comfort and support to make a new start. We are proud to partner with the House of Hope, and our other partner agencies to deliver impactful and outcome-based results to residents in our community.”
Dutchess County Legislature Majority Leader Angela Flesland, who serves on the Community Development Advisory Committee, said, “The committee received a greater number of applications this year, compared to the first two years of the grant program. The applications represent a variety of needs present within Dutchess County, and beyond. The agencies that have been awarded funding through the 2015-16 Agency Partner Grant Program will confront critical issues though their programs which impact so many in our community.”
The funding categories for the 2015-16 grant awards are: Economic & Cultural Benefit; Health & Human Service; and Environmental & Agricultural Sustainability. The second round of 2015-16 Agency Partner Grant funding includes grant awards to:
Health & Human Service
Hudson Valley House of Hope – $27,000 to hire a full-time case manager and part-time case aide to provide direct services to individuals that have experienced domestic violence, child abuse, and/or sexual assault.
Family Services – $39,000 to hire a part-time hotline advocate to answer Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) hotline calls from police officers in LAP jurisdictions. The advocate will assist in the processing of LAP paperwork, communication between the program and law enforcement jurisdictions, statistical data collection, and streamlining referrals to the High Risk Team.
Mediation Center of Dutchess County, Inc. – $37,000 to support the Coalition on Elder Abuse in Dutchess County by training community professionals to prevent and address elder abuse by identifying the signs, and refer clients to targeted resources that best fit their unique situations. This program will also be eligible for a similar amount of funding from New York State through the Dutchess County Department of Community & Family Services (DCFS) for total support of $74,000.
Child Abuse Prevention Center, Inc. (CAPC) – $10,000 to continue the Personal Safety Program, designed to educate young children on strategies to overcome and prevent bullying.
Mediation Center of Dutchess County, Inc. – $35,000 to continue the implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in Dutchess County schools.
Luader Smith, Executive Director at the Hudson Valley House of Hope said, “Last year, we received over 600 calls on our hotline and served 78 women and 113 children. We are grateful to the County for their support which will allow us to continue to serve women and children in our community that have experienced abuse in their home. This funding award will provide our staff with the ability to provide critical resources and services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.”
Environmental & Agricultural Sustainability
Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County – $95,000 to provide research-based education, outreach, and training in Dutchess County agricultural industries to enable the growth and enhancement of their operations. CCEDC will also facilitate discussions with farmers, municipal officials, and county leaders about the importance of agriculture to the local economy, environment and the related infrastructures necessary to ensure that County agricultural businesses thrive.
Leah Feldman, Director of Domestic Violence Services at Family Services said, “Our Lethality Assessment Program has been significant in identifying and intervening in high risk cases of domestic violence with the goal of preventing homicide. We are very appreciative of this partnership with the county which will increase public safety and allow us to better serve the community by expanding our program.”
County Executive Molinaro implemented the Agency Partner Grant Program in 2013 to replace the ‘routine’ funding many non-profits had historically received in the county budget through individual line items. The program provides the ability to respond to evolving community needs through a competitive process designed to produce better outcomes and allocate scarce resources more effectively. A total of $780,000 in grant funding was made available for programs designed to address needs such as poverty and homelessness, domestic violence and sexual assault, youth employment, senior transportation, and agriculture and farming sustainability, among others.
The Agency Partner Grant Program is administered on an April 1st to March 31st program year under the direction of the Department of Planning & Development. For the 2015-16 program year, the department received 39 applications from 25 agencies, requesting over $1.5 million in funding. Applications are reviewed by the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC), a committee comprised of members of the local nonprofit community and county and municipal officials. The CDAC’s funding recommendations are then submitted to the County Executive for final approval.
County Legislator Jim Miccio said, “This year’s awards recipients represent a diverse group of local programs geared towards helping to improve the lives of Dutchess County residents. Congratulations to the recipients of the 2015-16 Agency Partner Grant Program award.”
The first round of Agency Partner Grant funding awards were announced last week. To view the funding awards, visit: www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/CountyExecutive/24396.htm.
Additional funding announcements for the Agency Partner Grant Program will be made in the coming week.
To learn more about the Agency Partner Grant Program, visit: www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Planning/22115.htm.
