BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Dozens of worthy initiatives dedicated to the betterment of those in Chelsea, Hudson Yards, and Hell’s Kitchen have seen their own fortunes improve through the bi-annual grant program of the West Side Community Fund (WSCF).

Applications for the Spring 2025 Grant Cycle are being accepted through Wednesday, March 19. Click Here to apply.

Past grantees have included community health centers, block and tenants’ associations, nonprofits, schools, NYCHA projects, youth leadership programs, arts programs, and more.

Launched seven years ago, the consortium of leading businesses and firms based on Manhattan’s West Side has given meaningful, much-needed money to support (and sometimes fully fund) projects from time-tested groups as well as first-timers with great ideas and grand ambitions. In 2024, WSCF’s spring and fall grant cycles distributed some $200,000 among 33 grantees (with seven recognized by both cycles).

Funding for the grants came from a donor pool that included Amazon, Brookfield Properties, Clear, Cooley, Google, Hudson Yards, Jamestown, James Beard Foundation, KKR, Pfizer, Promethean Builders, RXR, S9 Architecture, Tapestry Foundation, Turner Construction, Wells Fargo, and Wynn.

“Since 2018, The West Side Community Fund has embodied a collective commitment to strengthening our neighborhoods and fostering resilience, and this year we are proud to have surpassed the milestone of over $1 million invested in our community, specifically in small organizations that are typically overlooked by traditional philanthropy,” said Michael Phillips, President of Jamestown and the WSCF Board, in an October 31, 2024 press release (click here to access it). “The Spring and Fall grant recipients this year are doing crucial work to improve the lives of under-served residents on the West Side, and our programs will enable them to further their missions.”

That “crucial work” Phillips speaks of is well-represented by several 2024 grantees addressing the presence of food insecurity throughout the West Side Community Fund’s coverage area.

Based on West 51st Street, for example, is the non-denominational Christian St. Paul’s House, whose Creighton’s Café provides 40 to 60 meals daily, while connecting clients to much-needed resources. Their WSCF grant is utilized for, they say, “groceries and building maintenance.” Hell’s Kitchen Community Cupboard redirects the excess food of local businesses to residents in need. Their grant, they note, is earmarked “to rescue food daily from local businesses and provide fresh produce to the community through enhanced partnerships and supplemental food purchases.”

Midtown South Community Council is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building better neighborhoods and stronger relationships in Midtown South Manhattan. “The WSCF grant supplemented our Upstate and City urban farm, and our farm collection, and it’s distribution to the elderly and sheltered neighbors of Midtown,” noted the Council’s John Mudd and Sharon Jasprizza in a combined statement emailed to Chelsea Community News. “The support helps grow our initiatives. Our biggest haul was last season, and we hope to see a continued increase in volume of fresh organic vegetables grown.”

Other grantees feeding the need of locals include the nonprofit Hearty Start, whose daily meal service supplies on average 500 breakfast sandwiches and 750 lunch sandwiches to unhoused individuals in and surrounding Chelsea. Focused on serving hundreds of Fulton Houses residents is Vision Urbana, a nonprofit whose NYCHA Tenant Association Emergency Food Security Network brings fresh produce to residents each week, directed their grant toward that specific program.

Xavier Mission is a 41-year-old nonprofit dedicated to offering “culturally appropriate produce to families experiencing food insecurity.” Their grant helps fund the continued operation of a “customer choice” food pantry where visitors are able to hand-pick the culturally appropriate goods they’ll return home with. Xavier operates its pantry one Saturday a month, with the number of households it serves numbering around 400 on average in late 2024. The cost of produce alone is between four and five thousand. Chelsea Community News spoke with Marin Correa, Director of Development and Cassandra L. Agredo, LMSW, Executive Director. What follows in quotes is sourced from the collective content of their interviews.

“Our bread and butter is grants and donations. That’s how we operate.” Last year was a particularly challenging one for Xavier Mission, which was “unfortunately and unpleasantly surprised by several foundations who said they are cutting back.” In 2024, the WSCF “stepped up to support us not once, but twice.” What’s more, “Their process and staff [the grants are managed by Hudson Guild] are so great; so responsive and forthcoming—and friendly, which is not necessary, but makes life so much more pleasant. We’re in the middle of a [non-WSCF] grant application right now, and they won’t talk to you. They have no sense of the investment [of time it takes]. But the West Side Community Fund has a simple application. It doesn’t take a long time.”

On October 28, 2024, WSCF held a Grantee Celebration at Hudson Guild’s Fulton Community Center to honor the Spring and Fall 2024 grant recipients, bringing together elected officials (Congressman Jerry Nadler, NYS Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and NYS Assemblymember Tony Simone attended), local community leaders (including Fulton Houses Tenants Association President Miguel Acevedo), the Fund’s board members, grantees, donors, and community partners (among them, several Friends of the High Line members). Below, see information about 2024 grantees not mentioned in this article thus far. Among those names, you’ll notice Chelsea Community News, whose ongoing mission has been enhanced—and outright saved on more than one occasion—by multiple WSCF grants (including pandemic-era funding that allowed us to publish new content, uninterrupted.)

52nd Street Project—This nonprofit arts organization in Hell’s Kitchen is using its grant on a monologue-writing program wherein material generated by  P.S. 111’s fourth graders will be performed by teaching artists who’ll assess the student’s literacy skills.

Adaptive Design Association—Their collaboration with the P138M@33 staff will complete a list of 50+ adaptations of varying complexities that would benefit 50 students across 7 classrooms.

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Memory Screenings—This nonprofit supporting individuals, families, and caregivers affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias will host the Healthy Aging & Community Screenings program to address the existing gap in understanding healthy aging and cognition issues.

Building for the Arts–Their robust music education program that incorporates literacy, math, history, and geography is to be implemented in schools within the coverage area of Manhattan Community Board 4.

Cambio Labs—Startup NYCHA is an initiative to bring social entrepreneurship programs and business development resources to NYCHA complexes. The WSCF grant supports a pilot program at Fulton Houses.

Chelsea Community News—This news, arts, and information website serving Manhattan’s Chelsea, Flatiron District, Meatpacking District, Hudson Yards, and Hell’s Kitchen neighborhoods will utilize the funding to ensure that the online newspaper remains a prolific source for community information.

Emergent Works—This community initiative provides a safe space for formerly incarcerated individuals to learn tech literacy and coding skills. Their grant brought funding for their TRAP (Technology, Rhythm, And Passion) program, created to reduce recidivism among young Black men by offering tech education, mental health support, mentorship, and job placement, along with opportunities for artistry cultivation and professional growth.

Food Education Fund—The student-led culinary magazine and podcast program, Pass The Spatula (PTS), at Food and Finance High School in Hell’s Kitchen, will use the funds to enhance its quality and reach by providing essential resources for guest industry leaders, design fees, photography, podcast equipment, and production costs.

Friends of Argentine Tango—The grant goes toward an immersive Latin social dance class tailored to seniors, offered twice a week for 12 weeks.

Fundavenyc—Their quarterly resource fairs connect the newest New Yorkers and all families in temporary housing to food assistance programs, immigration services, health insurance registration, and more.

Housing Conservation Coordinators—The Protect and Preserve Affordable Housing (PAPAH) Project educates vulnerable Manhattan Community Board 4 residents on their rights, tackling subjects like maintaining an affordable unit, advocating for repairs, and other crucial services.

Hudson River Community Sailing —Funds help make possible staffing youth counselors for City Sail, a public summer sailing camp that aims to narrow the achievement gap between students from under-resourced schools and their more affluent counterparts by providing social-emotional learning, workforce preparation, diverse mentors, and a sports-based activity that provides access to NYC’s unique marine environment.

Infirmity—”Project Purpose”  identifies Elliott-Chelsea-and Fulton Houses NYCHA residents with a vision for community improvement and brings their projects to life.

Manhattan Community Boathouse—This nonprofit offering free kayaking at Pier 96 in Hudson River Park dedicated their grant to upgrading equipment and ensuring the program’s future.

Mouse Design League—An organization that develops computer science and STEM curriculum for K-12 educators, Mouse focused their funds on Design League, a program supporting in-school and after-school enrichment, where teachers guide students in creating apps and tech projects to address community social needs.

NYC Salt—The organization that creates opportunities in visual arts and pathways to college for underserved NYC youth will have Annie Leibovitz facilitate a two-day workshop as part of the program.

Open Hands Legal Services—The legal services nonprofit providing free legal aid in low-income NYC communities will establish a Legal Aid Desk at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen to offer urgently needed civil legal assistance, advocacy, and, in exceptional cases, representation.

Parity Productions—Funding will go to professional development of women, trans, and gender expansive playwrights and production of their plays.

PENCIL—Their grant will connect high school students from Bayard Rustin Educational Campus with six-week paid internships along with pre-employment training in skills such as resume building, interviewing, professional communication, and networking.

PS 33 Chelsea Prep—The Manhattan District 2 elementary school will utilize the funding to provide critical supplies to students living in the Elliott-Chelsea NYCHA Houses and to those living in shelters.

PS/IS 111 Parent Teacher Association—Their WSCF grant will help ensure the continued operation of youth literacy programming through the renovation and reopening of a decommissioned school library, as well as the development and deployment of a student- and parent-volunteer-run PS 111 community newspaper.

RUSA LGBTQ CORP  –The community-based support network for Eurasian LGBTQ+ immigrants and asylum seekers will use their grant for a mental health program that includes weekly support groups with bilingual therapists (at Pier 57), community outreach, and peer support groups.

Seeds of Fortune—Their WSCF grant will help further the mission to connect young female high school students of color with Fortune 500 companies in the beauty, tech, and finance industries to gain career experience and access to networking opportunities.

Three and a Half Acres Yoga—Funding is utilized for a trauma-informed yoga program in partnership with New Alternatives, an organization dedicated to assisting LGBTQIA+ youth experiencing homelessness.

Urban Arts—The New York City-based national nonprofit will use the funds to bring arts and tech programming to Facing History School in Hell’s Kitchen, including computer science education, an after-school game design club, workshops with industry professionals, and field trips.

Translatinx Network—The Restored Translatinx Network Nutritional Support Program provides a food pantry in Chelsea with gender-affirming hygiene products three days a week.

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