Robin Hood Invests $13.8 Million to Fight Back Against Cuts Threatening New Yorkers in Poverty

New York — Robin Hood, New York City’s largest poverty-fighting philanthropy, today announced $13.8 million in grants to organizations working to address poverty across New York City. The grants reflect a focused, strategic commitment to reaching New Yorkers most at risk as federal policy changes threaten to dismantle critical safety net programs — including SNAP, Medicaid, and immigration protections. This quarter’s grantmaking also includes investments in affordable and public housing.

“These grants reflect Robin Hood at our best. We’re clear-eyed about what’s at stake for the 2.2 million New Yorkers living in poverty; strategic about driving results by investing in the most impactful organizations, leaders and programs; and unrelenting in our commitment to building a City that works for everyone,” said Richard R. Buery, Jr., CEO of Robin Hood. “Federal threats to Medicaid, SNAP, and immigration protections are not abstract — they are shocks that will hit the families we serve in 2026 and beyond. We’re investing now in the programs, systems, and technology that will help those families hold on — and more than that — get ahead.”

The Q1 2026 docket spans five portfolios:

• Early Childhood — maternal health, early development, and family economic stability
• School-Age Children — education, teacher quality and diversity, literacy, and public benefits enrollment for families
• Young Adults — alternatives to incarceration, college success, and career pathways for New Yorkers ages 16–29
• Adults and Household Supports (including Housing) — workforce development, public benefits enrollment, eviction prevention,  public housing preservation, and the expansion of affordable housing.
• Public Policy — statewide advocacy, litigation, and research defending New Yorkers against federal cuts to food, health care, and housing

Early Childhood ($2,580,000)

Robin Hood’s Early Childhood investments strengthen the health, developmental, and economic foundations critical to children’s long-term success — and come as Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani announced a $4.5 billion state-city commitment to expand affordable child care across New York. Key grants include:

• $350,000 to Public Health Solutions to provide direct enrollment support, helping families access SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, and other critical benefits.
• $300,000 to CAMBA to continue the Mental Health Outreach for Mothers (MOMS) Partnership, helping homeless mothers in The Bronx and Brooklyn manage anxiety and depression so they can better care for their children.. 
• $300,000 to the Center for Justice Innovation to launch the Parent Support Hub, embedding mental health services and legal navigation support for parents with young children navigating the family court and child welfare systems.

School-Age Children ($3,930,000)

A $2 million renewal to Harlem Children’s Zone sustains comprehensive youth programming and family benefits access, and a $375,000 renewal to Teach For America New York (TFA-NY) supports efforts to recruit and retain a diverse teacher workforce — 66 percent of the current TFA-NY corps identify as people of color, compared with 42 percent of NYC public school teachers citywide. Robin Hood also renewed investments in BronxWorks, Grand Street Settlement, Good Shepherd Services, America on Tech, and the Child Mind Institute to connect families to benefits and close opportunity gaps in literacy and technology skills.

Young Adults ($2,050,000)

Robin Hood’s Young Adults portfolio invested in six organizations serving low-income New Yorkers ages 16–29, with a focus on alternatives to incarceration, college success, and career pathways. Highlights include:

• $525,000 to CASES for its alternative-to-incarceration program — 90 percent of completers had no new conviction within two years.
• $300,000 to Henry Street Settlement to connect disconnected young adults — largely unemployed, housing-unstable, and earning below half the federal poverty line — to jobs, college, and career pathways, with job placement rates more than doubling in two years and graduates placed in positions averaging $21–$25 per hour.
• $500,000 to the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Urban Male Leadership Academy, which serves more than 900 students annually and helps participants graduate at nearly three times the rate of their peers.

Adults and Household Supports (including Housing) ($2,411,000)

Robin Hood sustained investments in workforce and housing programs open pathways to family-sustaining employment, support increasing the city’s housing supply, improving access to affordable housing, and preventing evictions:

• $500,000 renewal grant to Brooklyn Workforce Innovations for commercial driver’s license training
• $350,000 to Nontraditional Employment for Women to support its union construction pre-apprenticeship programs. 
• $661,000 renewal grant to the Citizens Housing and Planning Council of New York,Inc. to double the pace of New York City Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) preservation and put NYCHA tenants at the center of decisions about rebuilding and repairs.  
• $300,000 planning grant to the Fifth Avenue Committee to maximize affordable housing development around the planned Interborough Express Corridor, while protecting existing communities from displacement. 

Public Policy ($2,885,000)

Robin Hood’s Public Policy grants form a coordinated statewide response to federal cuts to food assistance, health care, and housing. The most significant new investment this quarter is a $600,000 grant to Code for America to partner with the New York State Department of Health to strengthen Medicaid renewal systems before federal policy changes take effect in 2027, preventing 22,000 eligible Medicaid recipients in New York  from losing health coverage. 

Other key investments include:

• $580,000 to NORC at the University of Chicago to put parents at the center of the city’s universal child care expansion — surveying 2,500 families citywide to inform how the program is built and delivered.
• $200,000 to the Community Service Society to develop the policy roadmap New York State needs to respond to H.R. 1 — modeling coverage options that could protect more than one million New Yorkers from losing health insurance over the next two years.
• $500,000 to the National Council of Nonprofits to defend New York City’s more than 46,000 nonprofit organizations through litigation and federal advocacy

In addition to our grants, Robin Hood awarded a total of $600,000 to six start-up impact ventures during the first quarter of 2026.  Read here to learn more about those investments.

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 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, Managing Director, Communications, Robin Hood, press@robinhood.org