Trinity Awards $14.3 Million in Grants, Bringing Total to $36.3 Million So Far This Year

New Awardees Include Organizations Serving Asylum Seekers,  Homeless New Yorkers, and Youth

NEW YORK, November 29, 2023 - Trinity Church Wall Street today announced its latest grant awards, providing $14.3 million to 70 nonprofit organizations in New York City, the United States, and across the globe. As with $22 million in grants disbursed earlier this year, Trinity continues to fund organizations that are addressing ongoing crises in housing affordability, mental health care, youth development and refugee support and resettlement—in line with Trinity’s mission to share God’s love by working for justice and human dignity for all people.

“Trinity continues to address the needs of our parish and neighborhood as our community faces urgent issues on multiple fronts,” said the Rev. Phillip A. Jackson, Rector of Trinity Church Wall Street. “We are answering the call to support asylum seekers and homeless New Yorkers. We are pursuing new ways to help people live healthy, fulfilling lives in safe communities. And, we are committed to the truth that investing in the education of our young people and faith leaders will help us build strong and healthy communities.”

Trinity is contributing $50,000 to the Public Housing Community Fund, a collaboration of three iconic New York institutions: Trinity Church, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. By funding a 10-week leadership development program, 25 high school-aged youth living in public housing will be introduced to careers in the arts, at cultural institutions, and in museum administration.

“Trinity looks for the opportunities to fund new ideas and build upon programs that are already working well to create the change we want to see in our world,” said Bea de la Torre, Trinity’s Chief Philanthropy Officer. “We supplement our grantmaking with other levers like thought-leadership, congregation engagement, and walking alongside our grantees. Thanks to our unique position at the intersection of faith and philanthropy, we convene faith leaders, nonprofits, policy makers, and experts in the field and academia. Together we find solutions to help alleviate challenges we are all facing, and then we fund those solutions.”

One major issue facing New Yorkers today is the right to shelter. While Mayor Eric Adams has sought to suspend the rule, Trinity has been providing services and funding support to help those in our community currently facing housing insecurity. Grants are being disbursed to groups like New Alternatives for Children, Alliance for Downtown New York, and Montefiore Medical Center, as well as a new $200,000 grant to the Legal Aid Society to combat discrimination against people who are using rental vouchers.

"We are incredibly grateful to Trinity Church Wall Street for their support of our housing work here at The Legal Aid Society,” said Twyla Carter, Attorney-in-Chief and CEO of The Legal Aid Society. “Their generous contribution will empower us to continue advocating for and defending the rights of those in our community facing eviction, homelessness, displacement, and more. It will undoubtedly make a meaningful impact on the lives of low-income individuals and families across New York City, and we thank Trinity for their continued support of our mission to deliver justice in every borough.”

To help with the affordable housing crisis, Trinity is also supporting housing production at the regional level through a grant to Regional Plan Association and at the local level through $100,000 to Queens Power, a group that recently helped secure approval for the redevelopment of the former Creedmoor psychiatric hospital into a 100% affordable housing site.

As young people raise their voices to advocate for a better future, Trinity is supporting organizations that provide critical platforms to our youth leaders. Trinity renewed grants to Make the Road New York, which supports youth and immigrant organizing; Pure Legacee, which provides a haven of healing girls who have experienced trauma; and Girls for Gender Equity, which centers the leadership of young people of color in reshaping culture and policy. A $300,000 grant to Girl Vow will also provide mentorship to disadvantaged girls, femmes, and gender-expansive youth across the city.

 “Trinity has been an anchor to ensuring we allow girls with limited options, freedom of expression, and the agency to believe they are worthy of being honored,” said Dawn Rowe, Founder and CEO of Girl Vow. “Not only can we create leadership pipelines for girls and gender-expansive youth, but we can change their perception, and their purpose in the world they live in. With the support of Trinity, we will continue to plant seeds of purpose.”

Similarly, investments outside of New York are helping churches and dioceses support youth and underserved communities. A $350,000 grant to the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego will help create affordable housing, and a $500,000 grant to the Resurrected Life Community Church in Allentown, PA will create early education programs in an underserved community. A $100,000 grant to the Episcopal Service Corps will allow The Episcopal Church to research trends in Gen-Z service and faith to help attract new young people to service roles.

Trinity also serves in an advisory capacity and funder to faith-based groups around the globe that are embarking on mission-based development projects. Trinity provided a $185,000 grant to the Diocese of Lweru, Tanzania to help the organization in completing a multi-purpose community facility with commercial retail space. Advisory services provided through forums like Trinity’s Gift of Place conference, now in its fourth year, also continue to provide learning opportunities through cohorts and mentoring.

Trinity’s national and global reach is a critical part of its mission. The church’s strategic investments in this grant cycle and those disbursed earlier in 2023 make a direct impact on people’s lives by addressing urgent issues—housing affordability, mental health, community safety, and dignity for asylum seekers—with the goal of developing lasting solutions to our most challenging problems.

The full list of grantees in this cycle includes:

Housing and Homelessness:
Brooklyn Community Housing and Services
Citizens Committee for Children of New York
Community Service Society of New York
Covenant House
Funders for Housing and Opportunity
Legal Aid Society
Montefiore Medical Center
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Neighbors Together Corp.
New Alternatives for Children, Inc.
New Destiny Housing Corporation
New York Housing Conference
Open Hearts Initiative
Queens Power
Rising Ground
Sakhi for South Asian Women
Supportive Housing Network of New York
The Door - A Center of Alternatives
Trinity Community Connection
Unlock NYC
Urban Pathways, Inc.

Leadership Development:
Ashoka
Beloved Builders
Bexley Seabury Seminary
Clal - National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
The Episcopal Church
Episcopal Preaching Foundation
Episcopal Theological School at Claremont Bloy House
Hartford International University for Religion and Peace
Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América (IARCA)
Luther Seminary
Oikos Institute for Social Impact
Pride in the Pews
St. Martin in the Fields PCC
United Society Partners in the Gospel
Wesley Theological Seminary of The United Methodist Church
Yale University

Mission Real Estate Development:
Amistad Redevelopment Corp., Allentown, PA (PRI)
Diocese Anglicana de Brasilia, Brazil
Diocese of Katanga, DRC
Episcopal Diocese of NY - Church of the Mediator, Bronx, NY
Diocese of Lweru, Tanzania
Diocese of New Bussa, Nigeria
St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, WA
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Bronx, NY
Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, CA
Diocese of Sekondi, Ghana
Diocese of Wiawso, Ghana
Anglican Church of Tanzania

Racial Justice:
Black Women’s Blueprint
Bronx Community College
Children's Defense Fund - New York
Common Justice
Community Access
Community Service Society Of New York
FreeCap Financial
Girl Vow
Good Call NYC
Justice Committee
Legal Action Center
Life Comes From It
Lineage Project
Make the Road New York
Marshall Project
New York Peace Institute
Pure Legacee
Rikers Public Memory Project
Women's Community Justice Association
Worth Rises

Special Opportunity Fund:
Public Housing Community Fund

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About Trinity Church Wall Street:
Trinity Church Wall Street is a vibrant and growing Episcopal parish of more than 1,600 members. Over the past 325 years, Trinity has been guided by its mission to share God’s love for all people. Trinity’s programs seek to offer shared encounters with the holy, to cultivate compassion, to deepen knowledge and spiritual practices, to work for justice rooted in essential human dignity, to provide places of solace and healing, and to inspire a desire in all people to be conscientious contributors to the life of New York City and the world. More than 20 worship services are offered every week online and at historic Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel, the cornerstones of the parish’s community life, worship, and mission.