Public Housing Community Fund

The Fund supports programs in four areas - leadership development, workforce skills & economic mobility, Community health, and financial empowerment - to empower nycha residents to maximize their capabilities and fulfill their aspirations.the Fund's programmatic investments include the following initiatives: youth leadership programs scholarships for nycha residents enrolled in cuny institutions nycha resident small business development connected communities / green space connections family self-sufficiency expansion outcomes of the above initiatives include the following: 1. Youth leadershipthe Public Housing Community Fund hosted its fifth cohort of arcscholars, a program in partnership with new york city college of technology (city tech) that introduces nycha youth and young adults ages 16 to 24 to the field of architecture with instruction by licensed architects and completion of a design project at a nycha development. The Fund inaugurated nycha real estate scholars in partnership with new york university school of professional studies/schack institute of real estate. The program introduces nycha 11th and 12th grade students to all aspects of the field of real estate, including development, zoning, financing, brokerage, Community engagement, and more, through classroom instruction and field trips to key commercial and residential developments in new york city. 2. Cuny scholarshipsthe Fund annually grants $1000 scholarships to 10-15 nycha residents enrolled in cuny institutions to support their studies. Recipients must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average and have at least 60 academic credits. While Public Housing residents are typically eligible for full tuition assistance at cuny schools, many do not have the resources to pay for other educational needs, such as course materials, prep courses, tutoring, childcare, transportation expenses, and graduate/professional school applications. The nycha cuny scholarship, supported by the Public Housing Community supports these needs and the completion of post-secondary education. In 2022, an additional 35 nycha residents received a $1,000 scholarship through a grant to the Public Housing Community Fund from amazon. The amazon cuny scholarship also provides one-on-one mentorship to nycha cuny scholars and a paid fellowship for five students with nycha or the Fund. 3. Connected communities / Community healthin 2022, the Fund launched green space connections, scaling the connected communities initiative through engaging residents at four high-need nycha developments in brooklyn and the bronx to increase access to healthy, safe, and sustainable green spaces in collaboration with expert partners in greenspace, human-centered design, Community programming, and communication. 5. Small business development/workforce skills & economic mobilitythe Fund entered the second year of the construction business pathways program, which includes mentorship, a key component that prepares nycha resident participants to formalize their construction businesses through licensing and apprenticeships, leading to contracts. 6. Family self-sufficiency program expansion/financial empowermentthe Fund initiated an expansion of the family self-sufficiency (fss) program, which provides a rent incentive enabling qualified nycha section 8 residents to pursue financial goals while depositing rent increase funds into an interest-bearing escrow account. Participants set contractual financial goals for education, vocational training, career advancement, or entrepreneurship, which must be met within five years. Program expansion began through targeted outreach in western queens, and initial steps were taken to evaluate the feasibility of extending the program to nycha section 9 residents.