Local Non-Profits Eyeing Poverty Reduction Funds; Task Force To Make Decision Soon

JAMESTOWN-More than a dozen local non-profit agencies are competing for a poverty reduction grant. 

The funding is made possible by the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative which is being overseen by the city and supervised by the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County.

The agencies that have applied for the funding submitted an application documenting how they would reduce the impact and prevelance of poverty, according to the initiative’s website.

Below is the list of agencies competing for funding, along with the project name, target audience, and how much money they are requesting:

 

Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES Education Foundation 
Project Name: STEP FORWARD
Amount Requested: $200,000.00

Target Audience : 19-60 year-olds

Chautauqua Adult Day Care

Project Name: Enhanced Latino Job Training and Employment Project

Amount Requested: $45,168.00

Target Audience: Specifically for Latinos on public assistance with limited English proficiency

Community Helping Hands

Project Name: Cultivating “Grit:” Mobilizing Resources and Relationships for Employment Success

Amount Requested: $92,415.00

Target Audience: Working-age adults (18-64) doing work experience at the Gateway Center, with
a new focus on Hispanic working age adults.

CODE Inc

Project Name: The Training Academy
Amount Requested: $100,734.00

Target Audience: Unqualified people, make sure they meet minimum qualifications (drug testing, criminal
background, physical fitness, etc.), have an employer train them for entry level jobs with a career path, and
then have the employer hire the trainee.

* CODE Inc. is partnering with local auto dealer for this project

Program provides PAID training and prerequisite that if applicants are receiving public assistance  they would remove them from those programs in favor of full-time job.

Housing Options Made Easy, Inc. 

Project Name: Housing Options Made Easy, Inc.
Amount Requested: $132,130.00

Target Audience: 16-25 year-olds

Infinity Visual and Performing Arts, Inc. 

Project Name: Infinity Intern Crew

Amount Requested: $91,246.00

Target Audience: 15-18 year old school kids

Jamestown Community College:

Project Name: Educating Single Parents to Sustainable Employment

Amount Requested: $140,250.00

Target Audience: Single parents, especially single mothers of children under the age of 5,

Jamestown Public Schools: 

Project Name: Success

Amount Requested: $120,174.57

Target Audience:  JHS students who are living at or below the poverty line and/or those who are
at-risk of dropping out.

NOTE* Program will pair Jamestown Renaissance Corporation (JRC) with JHS to develop partnerships with local businesses to increase donations of gift cards to JHS, which are awarded to students as an incentive for those who
demonstrate good attendance and behavior each month.

Mental Health Association: 

Project Name: Employer or Employee Resource Network (ERN)

Amount Requested $252,272.64

Target Audience: Any identified person that fits the criteria of an ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed)  family that resides in Jamestown.

The Resource Center: 

Project Name: Employment Facilitation
Amount Requested $387,865.00
Target Audience: Includes Jamestown area employers along with the individuals who are workers (
in ALICE households)

Winifred Crawford Dibert Boys & Girls Club of Jamestown, Inc.

Project Name: Youth Work-Tech
Amount Requested: $75,180.00

Target Audience : Reach out to ages 6-16 to build workforce readiness skills at age-appropriate levels.

YMCA:

Project Name: Pathways to Paydays
Amount Requested: $74,581.00

Target Audience:  12-19 year olds

YWCA:

Project Name: PAT PLUS (Parents As Teachers + Linkages Until Success)
Amount Requested $150,000.00

Target Audience: Teen mothers who may have graduated, dropped out, or never been in the TEAM Program provides a parallel family system for their students until graduation, when these services cease.