Governor Announces Projects Funded through Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative in Troy, NY

May 21st, 2019

Governor Cuomo announced 15 projects that will receive nearly $600,000 through the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative in Troy. These projects are a result of a $25 million initiative to help 16 communities develop strategies to reduce poverty and increase economic opportunity.

Awards include:

• Troy Boys and Girls Club, $32,000: To create the Career Launch ($15,000) and Future Leaders ($17,000) programs, which will offer career exploration and job readiness skills, in addition to supporting a work force development facilitator to help teens travel to local business and colleges to learn about career and educational opportunities.
• Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (TRIP), $300,420: Funding for five projects: a paid property management internship to help community members get hands-on experience ($100,000); a feasibility study for a housing common application, which will help individuals search for affordable housing and offer property owners better tools for finding tenants ($6,000); two full-time positions that will help families identify goals and then connect them with resources to achieve self-sufficiency ($93,624); a community engagement process to address recycling and refuse disposal issues in the Hillside North and North Central communities ($20,796); and the Troy Drug Free Community Coalition, an evidence-based community prevention strategy and empowerment program ($80,000).
• Unity House, $122,463: Funding for two projects: an ambassador program that will offer a paid, 20-hour-per-week job skills training for the hospitality and customer service industry; and Troy LOOK, which will offer year-round youth and family movie nights designed to cultivate positive relationships between youth and adults in the community, start a neighborhood cleanup initiative, and a mentoring program aimed at deterring bullying and violence.
• TAP, Inc., $18,000: To develop Good2BHome, a marketing plan for selling or rehabbing 10 key vacant buildings in the target neighborhood to improve available housing and neighborhood stability.
• CollectivEffort, $10,000: To create a series of videos to serve as a guide to community standards that will be aimed at improving living conditions in the city. The videos will be shared with city officials and developers. The intention is to bridge the gap between the commercial, political, and residential communities and set a new standard of excellence in living conditions.
• Arts Center of Capital Region, $25,000: To establish MY STREET, a community-based public art project involving youth at the Troy City School District’s School 2 in the North Central and Hillside neighborhoods. The project will help students build a commitment to their physical surrounding, such as streets and parks, and each other.
• Capital Car Share, $12,500: To create a car sharing program that will allow individuals in need in the North Central and Hillside North communities to pay a monthly membership fee that will allow them to rent a vehicle online or by phone, increasing access to transportation to support job retention.
• Ark, Inc., $50,250: To develop afterschool academic programming designed to support and improve social, emotional, and academic competencies to engage at-risk youth, and provide career exploration and job readiness services.
• 518 Positive Reinforcement, $15,000: To establish TapN, a tap dancing instruction program that will provide low-income children with aerobic exercise and establish commitment to a positive activity while providing an enriching experience that assists the students physically, mentally, and emotionally in addition to teaching critical counting and math skills.
• Unity House and the Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program, $22,463: To develop a homelessness prevention and financial literacy program that will provide short-term emergency financial assistance and trauma-informed case management to help families avoid homelessness.

Governor Cuomo said:

“With this funding, New York State is continuing its commitment to helping communities across the state connect low-income residents with opportunities that provide them a path toward economic independence. Troy will now join several other regions with initiatives already underway to bring positive change and an economic boost to areas of the state hardest hit by poverty.”