The Strengthening Communities Fund program is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Federal stimulus package, a competitive $1M grant was awarded to the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON), in order to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations through free trainings, scholarships, consulting services and financial assistance.


NYCON’s SCF program will work to build the capacity of eligible community and faith-based organizations that provide job training, job readiness, and benefits assistance in NYC, specifically to organizations located in and/or serving the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.  These three boroughs have been hard hit by the recession and the poverty and unemployment rates demonstrate the need for strong and effective nonprofits to assist residents with obtaining jobs, job skills, increased wages, and access to state and federal benefits and tax credits.

Please contact Jennifer Lockwood, SCF Program Manager @ 1-800-515-5012 x. 152

NYCON’s Strengthening Communities Fund (SCF) Program is comprised of two components:

Ü  Component #1: Training and Education. NYCON will provide access to and scholarships for free training, access to an online learning community, and consulting support to 80 community and faith-based organizations.  These organizations will be known as “Program Participants.”  The SCF program will offer an extraordinarily comprehensive range of free training opportunities to meet the needs, interests, and goals of eligible secular and faith-based organizations who participate in this program.

Ü  Component #2: Funding and Technical Assistance. Program Participants will be able to compete to receive a grant ranging from $10,000 to $24,000 and receive 50 hours of free technical assistance.  Both the funding awards and technical assistance are designed to build organizational capacity.  Approximately 30 SCF Program Participants will be awarded financial and technical assistance and these sub-awardees will be known as “Project Partners.”