Local non-profits get thousands

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For local non-profits engaged in a perpetual struggle for funding, this time of year can make or break their programming.

Happily for them, the City Council budget released at the end of last month includes tens of thousands of dollars for northwest Bronx organizations.

The lion’s share of $710,000 in discretionary funding from this neighborhood’s councilman, Andrew Cohen, went to non-profits like the Riverdale Community Center (RCC) and Riverdale Senior Services (RSS).

“I don’t know if it helps us grow as much as it helps us maintain,” RCC’s Executive Director Kathy Gilson said of a $40,000 allocation from Mr. Cohen. “We only have so much money for so many spots in our after-school programs, and this allows us to not have to cut that.” 

RSS appeared to receive the most council funding out of any organization here — $40,000 from Mr. Cohen for longer hours and a new van to transport seniors plus $23,000 for recreational programming. The council also gave RSS $95,000 for a program for seniors with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

RSS Executive Director Julia Schwartz-Leeper explained that last year, the city’s Department of Aging footed more than half of the $95,000 bill, but did not make any allocations for the program this year.

“Thank god the City Council picked it up,” she said. “The most vulnerable people... always seem to be the ones on the chopping block. I don’t know why that is.”

Mr. Cohen noted he funded the same organizations that many of his predecessors did.

“I think that we are fortunate in the 11th council district, and particularly in the Riverdale area, to have many non-profits with long and distinguished track records with helping New York’s most needy,” he said. “These are all organizations that rely on council discretionary spending and deliver phenomenal services.”

The Riverdale Mental Health Association (RMHA) — which has had to cope with fluctuations in federal dollars since states took over Medicaid allocations from the U.S. government — received $40,000 in discretionary funds from Mr. Cohen.

funding, organizations, Andrew Cohen, Kathy Gilson, Julia Schwartz-Leeper, Riverdale Mental Health Association, Robert Brewster, Councilman Fernando Cabrera, Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Shant Shahrigian, Daniel Ynfante
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