During the First Half of 2025, Robin Hood Increases Overall Grantmaking by 40%

NEW YORK, NY — May 29, 2025 — Robin Hood, New York City’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy, announced a 40% increase in grantmaking during the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The organization awarded $49 million in grants to 114 local nonprofits across all five boroughs – up from $35 million during the first two quarters of the last year. These investments aim to stabilize households living in poverty and promote economic mobility for lower-income New Yorkers amid rising poverty levels, a deepening affordability crisis, a destabilized funding environment for human service nonprofits, and mounting threats to vital federal safety net programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance.

While 65% of all grants approved during the first half of 2025 were categorized as a renewal, a continuation of a multi-year grant, or a supplemental grant, 35% were new grants, including just over one in four new grants approved are supporting policy efforts in response to a volatile federal funding climate and $9 million in new funding to support a mixed-use, affordable housing development in the Bronx.

In 2024, Robin Hood distributed $129.5 million in grants to 285 nonprofit organizations. Since its founding in 1988, Robin Hood has invested nearly $3 billion in programs and initiatives that seed opportunities for the one in four New Yorkers living in poverty.

“The poverty rate in New York City is nearly double the national poverty rate, and our most recent data shows that more than 100,000 additional New Yorkers were plunged into poverty compared to the prior year,” said Richard R. Buery, Jr., CEO of Robin Hood. “Escalating rents, higher grocery prices, and persistent inflation have taken their toll on vulnerable New Yorkers. As the federal government threatens to take away basic needs like health coverage and food assistance from families that are already struggling, New Yorkers are on the cusp of a poverty crisis that will have generational consequences for our city and the country. We must resist any effort to cut or eliminate funding to federal safety net programs. Our very future depends upon it.”

Robin Hood’s first and second quarter grant dockets included 128 grants awarded to 114 nonprofit organizations. These grants support financial security, high-quality education, stable housing, thriving communities, health, and career advancement, as well as capacity building and cultivating the use of data —all core domains of human investment necessary to enable low-income New Yorkers to reach and exceed milestones associated with upward economic mobility. Funding during the first half of 2025 also included nearly $2 million in immediate support to strengthen advocacy efforts to protect and expand essential federal safety-net programs and preserve the mission-driven work of nonprofit service delivery organizations.

Grantmaking at Robin Hood is aligned with multiple, research-supported life stage milestones that promote economic mobility. Our grants are clustered into six domain areas across life-stage portfolios funding supports that help New Yorkers in need to thrive at every stage of human development. The domain areas include: high-quality education, financial stability, mental and physical health, career advancement, stable housing and thriving communities, and capacity building and data.  Below is a chart summarizing the grants awarded during the first half of the year by the domain area. Finally, there is a summary section for each domain detailing individual grants awarded.

Summary of Grants by Domain Area

High-Quality Education

Forty-four grants totaling $19.4 million support a wide range of education and youth development initiatives across New York City. These include expanding access to high-quality child care, particularly for families in shelters and children with developmental disabilities, enhancing child care provider training, and improving program quality. Funding also bolsters academic outcomes through early literacy programs, tutoring, and integration of AI into high school curriculum platforms. Additional investments support college access and persistence, high school retention for young men of color, career readiness for out-of-school youth, and work-based learning for low-income students. Grants also fund mental health services in public schools, teacher training in literacy instruction, after-school and summer programs, and the development of a new computer science education initiative. Finally, support continues for a multi-year, evidence-based, field-tested school leadership development model that will elevate student achievement in literacy and math, especially in low-performing, low-income schools.

Financial Stability

Twenty-six grants totaling $5.5 million support emergency food distribution across all five boroughs. Additional funding helps low-income families access critical benefits, such as food assistance, housing vouchers, tax credits, health care, and immigration programs, by simplifying complex application processes. These investments aim to promote long-term stability and self-sufficiency for struggling New Yorkers. Grants also support advocacy to protect and expand safety net programs, including the federal Child Tax Credit, as well as provide legal aid and tax preparation services for immigrant and undocumented communities, financial services for low-income residents, and protections for students and gig workers facing economic challenges.

Mental & Physical Health

Twelve grants totaling $2.9 million support a range of mental health and maternal health initiatives. Funding expands programs that promote caregiver-child bonding, maternal health outreach, and neonatal and doula training. Grants will also strengthen mental health services for young adults experiencing homelessness, improve outcomes for infants, children, and caregivers involved in family court, and support the development of data-driven advocacy tools to protect Medicaid funding.

Career Advancement

Eighteen grants totaling $4.3 million provide job training and readiness, counseling, placement, and work experience in growing, high-wage earning sectors for adults and young adults from high-need communities. Additional funding supports resettlement and employment placement for young adult Ukrainian refugees.

Stable Housing & Thriving Communities

Twenty grants totaling $14.7 million support efforts to expand and preserve affordable housing across New York City. Funding helps streamline access to housing vouchers, strengthen tenant protections, support tenant organizing, and promote resident decision-making in public housing. Additional investments provide psychiatric and medical care for the homeless, support renters in basement apartments, and fund Early Head Start home visits. Grants also address the deterioration of NYCHA housing, support justice-involved youth with employment pathways to reduce recidivism and sustain advocacy to protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Capacity Building & Data

 Eight grants totaling $1.9 million support nonpartisan research to deepen understanding of the complexities of poverty. Additional funding sustains a campaign for universal child care, addresses the needs of low-income residents on Staten Island, supports efforts to reduce child poverty, and equips New Yorkers with advocacy tools through a community-building initiative to strengthen the citywide fight against poverty.

Meet our grantees and learn about the impact of our grantmaking.

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About Robin Hood
We are NYC’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and since 1988, we have invested nearly $3 billion to elevate and fuel New Yorkers’ permanent escapes from poverty. In 2024, through $129.5 million in grantmaking with 285 community partners, we created pathways to opportunities out of poverty through our strategic partnerships on child care, child poverty, jobs, living wages, and more. We are scaling impact at a population level for the nearly 2 million New Yorkers living in poverty. At Robin Hood, we believe your starting point in life should not define where you end up. To learn more about our work and impact, follow us on X @RobinHoodNYC or go to robinhood.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Kevin Thompson, Director of Communications, Robin Hood, press@robinhood.org