Glimmers of hope
Glimmers of Hope is Project People Foundation's (PPF's) emergency grant initiative created in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic fallout. Through this initiative, we’ve provided relief to community based organizations in New York City and Port Elizabeth, South Africa -- with a focus on addressing the immense challenge of food insecurity, including:
Ubuntu Pathways out of Poverty in a Pandemic: A long-time PPF grantee, Ubuntu provided monthly food parcel deliveries and counseling for 225 learners in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Meals for Good: A PPF grant was awarded to provide food coupons to elders and families for use at local farmers markets and food distribution sites in Central and East Harlem.
Harlem Hebrew Language Academy: PPF funding has provided sliding scale scholarships for working families that need childcare on days off from school. Students receive daily lunch, outdoor exercise, and access to the school nurse.
Neighborhood Women's Collective’s (NWC): With PPF support, NWC recruited five new facilitators, including mental health counselors, social workers, teachers, and nutrition specialists for its Women’s Circle’s “Speaking Life” series for Harlem residents, and distributed 1,000 masks donated by Silver Lining Mission to community members.
Custom Collaborative: With PPF support, custom collaborative has provided work and training opportunities for low-income and immigrant communities to design, sew, and sell personal protective equipment (PPE), allowing them to develop skills and earn income during the pandemic.
RDG Refugee Shelter: A PPF grant provided a weekly stipend over the course of twelve weeks for food and other basic necessities to current residents.
Ubuntu Pathways out of Poverty in a Pandemic: A long-time PPF grantee, Ubuntu provided monthly food parcel deliveries and counseling for 225 learners in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Meals for Good: A PPF grant was awarded to provide food coupons to elders and families for use at local farmers markets and food distribution sites in Central and East Harlem.
Harlem Hebrew Language Academy: PPF funding has provided sliding scale scholarships for working families that need childcare on days off from school. Students receive daily lunch, outdoor exercise, and access to the school nurse.
Neighborhood Women's Collective’s (NWC): With PPF support, NWC recruited five new facilitators, including mental health counselors, social workers, teachers, and nutrition specialists for its Women’s Circle’s “Speaking Life” series for Harlem residents, and distributed 1,000 masks donated by Silver Lining Mission to community members.
Custom Collaborative: With PPF support, custom collaborative has provided work and training opportunities for low-income and immigrant communities to design, sew, and sell personal protective equipment (PPE), allowing them to develop skills and earn income during the pandemic.
RDG Refugee Shelter: A PPF grant provided a weekly stipend over the course of twelve weeks for food and other basic necessities to current residents.
The giving circle
The Giving Circle is PPF's current grant making program to support education and economic development for women and youth. While continuing our 25 year legacy of giving in Southern Africa through this initiative, the PPF board is also investing in grassroots organizations in New York City that are aligned with our funding priorities and that pass a rigorous evaluation process.
Custom Collaborative
Custom Collaborative provides women from low-income and immigrant communities the opportunity to launch fashion careers and businesses through a rigorous training program, business incubator and a worker owned collaborative. Participants professionalize their sewing and design skills, overcome barriers to employment, and ultimately, change the economics of the industry. Project People Foundation funding supports Custom Collaborative’s Business Incubator and its worker-owned cooperative Fashion That Works.
In the Business Incubator, emerging designers master the production of made-to-measure clothing and acquire skills in marketing, finance, sourcing, and ethical manufacturing to create sustainable businesses. With support from PPF, the Incubator served 49 participants last year, providing training, one-on-one coaching, access to business financing and income generating opportunities at pop-up shops citywide. Fashion That Works produces eco-friendly women’s clothing and accessories, and offers design and manufacturing services for designers and smaller businesses. Project People Foundation’s support has contributed to training in “hard” skills such as finance, compliance, and routine administration, but also “soft” skills essential to effective participatory management and the viability of a cooperative, including group decision making, representative organizational leadership, strengths-based community building, and ecosystem integration.
Custom Collaborative provides women from low-income and immigrant communities the opportunity to launch fashion careers and businesses through a rigorous training program, business incubator and a worker owned collaborative. Participants professionalize their sewing and design skills, overcome barriers to employment, and ultimately, change the economics of the industry. Project People Foundation funding supports Custom Collaborative’s Business Incubator and its worker-owned cooperative Fashion That Works.
In the Business Incubator, emerging designers master the production of made-to-measure clothing and acquire skills in marketing, finance, sourcing, and ethical manufacturing to create sustainable businesses. With support from PPF, the Incubator served 49 participants last year, providing training, one-on-one coaching, access to business financing and income generating opportunities at pop-up shops citywide. Fashion That Works produces eco-friendly women’s clothing and accessories, and offers design and manufacturing services for designers and smaller businesses. Project People Foundation’s support has contributed to training in “hard” skills such as finance, compliance, and routine administration, but also “soft” skills essential to effective participatory management and the viability of a cooperative, including group decision making, representative organizational leadership, strengths-based community building, and ecosystem integration.
Harlem Hebrew Language Academy School - Splash Fit Swimming Partnership
In 2019, Project People Foundation launched an initiative with Harlem-based Splash Fit Swimming to provide swim safety skills and instruction to students attending Harlem Hebrew Language Academy School. Splash Fit Swimming (SFS) is dedicated to filling a void in the New York swim education community by teaching communities of color basic swim skills and water safety awareness. Harlem Hebrew Language Academy is a charter school that provides students in the diverse community of southern Harlem an academically rigorous curriculum with a focus on global citizenship.
In 2019, Project People Foundation launched an initiative with Harlem-based Splash Fit Swimming to provide swim safety skills and instruction to students attending Harlem Hebrew Language Academy School. Splash Fit Swimming (SFS) is dedicated to filling a void in the New York swim education community by teaching communities of color basic swim skills and water safety awareness. Harlem Hebrew Language Academy is a charter school that provides students in the diverse community of southern Harlem an academically rigorous curriculum with a focus on global citizenship.
Neighborhood Women's Collective
Neighborhood Women's Collective (NWC) is a Harlem based non-profit that empowers women and girls who are vulnerable to social and economic challenges through work preparedness and entrepreneurial skills development. NWC’s unique model centers its own thrift store/business incubator, as a training ground for skills development. By volunteering at NWC Thrift and Vintage, women and girls learn how to manage and operate a small business. The thrift store is also an incubator from which women can market their products. Through its Referral Bank initiative, NWC participants are able to access a network of support and additional business resources.
With Project People Foundation support, NWC offers monthly onsite workshops, designed to develop self confidence, self motivation, creativity, and the intellectual capacity necessary to engage in entrepreneurial efforts. Its most popular workshops include: how to start a micro business, business basics and office etiquette, resume writing, interviewing skills, methods of obtaining a GED (TASC), college preparation, motivation and empowerment, basic computing, and budgeting.
Neighborhood Women's Collective (NWC) is a Harlem based non-profit that empowers women and girls who are vulnerable to social and economic challenges through work preparedness and entrepreneurial skills development. NWC’s unique model centers its own thrift store/business incubator, as a training ground for skills development. By volunteering at NWC Thrift and Vintage, women and girls learn how to manage and operate a small business. The thrift store is also an incubator from which women can market their products. Through its Referral Bank initiative, NWC participants are able to access a network of support and additional business resources.
With Project People Foundation support, NWC offers monthly onsite workshops, designed to develop self confidence, self motivation, creativity, and the intellectual capacity necessary to engage in entrepreneurial efforts. Its most popular workshops include: how to start a micro business, business basics and office etiquette, resume writing, interviewing skills, methods of obtaining a GED (TASC), college preparation, motivation and empowerment, basic computing, and budgeting.
UBUNTU PATHWAYS
While immersing ourselves in stateside efforts, we continue to empower local townships in South Africa - where we began over 20 years ago with our Black Dolls Project. For the past five years, Project People Foundation has provided targeted support to Ubuntu Pathways, a dynamic community institution using a cradle-to-career approach to break the cycle of poverty amongst South Africa’s most vulnerable children.
In 2015, PPF began a three year effort to support Ubuntu’s Early Childhood Development Program (ECD), providing hundreds of children with school uniforms, daily transportation, lunches, home visits to ensure household stability, and quarterly medical checkups. PPF also granted Ubuntu funding for its ECD Grandparent Outings Programs across 2 grant cycles (2017 and 2018). The curriculum based trips allow the children to contextualize their classroom lessons while spending quality time with their families, and solidifying ties between the larger community.
For the last two years, PPF has extended its support to Ubuntu’s Job Skills Training (JST) program, and its small business simulator, Ubuntu Cafe, to provide non-university-tracked youth with comprehensive work-readiness and job placement support. Over the most recent reporting period, Ubuntu provided 214 non-university students with training and placement support -- with 139 graduates beginning corporate entry-level positions, specialized learnerships, and internships, attaining a 65% placement rate at some of the most prominent local companies in the region. Retention specialists deepened connections with JST graduates, ensuring that they maintained their new positions and advanced their professional goals.
In 2015, PPF began a three year effort to support Ubuntu’s Early Childhood Development Program (ECD), providing hundreds of children with school uniforms, daily transportation, lunches, home visits to ensure household stability, and quarterly medical checkups. PPF also granted Ubuntu funding for its ECD Grandparent Outings Programs across 2 grant cycles (2017 and 2018). The curriculum based trips allow the children to contextualize their classroom lessons while spending quality time with their families, and solidifying ties between the larger community.
For the last two years, PPF has extended its support to Ubuntu’s Job Skills Training (JST) program, and its small business simulator, Ubuntu Cafe, to provide non-university-tracked youth with comprehensive work-readiness and job placement support. Over the most recent reporting period, Ubuntu provided 214 non-university students with training and placement support -- with 139 graduates beginning corporate entry-level positions, specialized learnerships, and internships, attaining a 65% placement rate at some of the most prominent local companies in the region. Retention specialists deepened connections with JST graduates, ensuring that they maintained their new positions and advanced their professional goals.