Robin Hood Awards ‘Fuel for 50’ Funding to 10 Programs Focused on Parents and Caregivers of Children 0-3

NEW YORK, NY, January 12, 2023 – Robin Hood, New York’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy, today announced the ten organizations that have each been awarded $250,000 in funding as part of the second phase of FUEL for 50, a three-year, $10 million initiative to support the learning and development of young children living in poverty through programs focused on their caregivers. These ten awardees advance from a cohort of 50 organizations that each received $25,000 in support in March 2022. Their programs represent uniquely promising, community-led approaches to promoting child development, connecting support for caregivers to missions in immigration, housing, mental health, nutrition, and more.

“Any organization that serves parents or families has the potential to affect a child’s development positively,” said Kelly Escobar, Ph.D., Director of the Fund for Early Learning. “By engaging a diverse cohort of nonprofits that includes both long-established programs and new, caregiver-focused approaches, we are expanding the tent of early childhood work and moving closer to a New York City where all children have a fair shot at long-term success. The additional funding for these ten organizations will provide a full year of collaboration and give us an opportunity to learn from each other as the awardees add new capacities and position their programs for sustained funding and impact.”

FUEL for 50 is an initiative of Robin Hood’s Fund for Early Learning (FUEL), which has committed $50 million to transform New York into an early learning metropolis. With an emphasis on holistic support for parents and adult caregivers and funding phased over three years, FUEL for 50 is designed to engage and nurture community-led programs that might otherwise be shut out of early childhood funding.

These ten organizations – which represent work in all five boroughs of New York City – will each receive $250,000 in unrestricted funding to develop and scale their program throughout 2023. They were selected from the cohort of 50 organizations chosen by a committee of local parents, nonprofit leaders, and early childhood researchers to participate in the first phase of the FUEL for 50 program in 2022. The third, final phase of FUEL for 50 will take place in 2024 when up to three of the organizations will share $3 million in funding to further scale their efforts and impact within their community.

View the full list of FUEL for 50 Phase 2 awardees below [and read more here]:

• Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) – to help asylum-seeking families access work permits and critical resources
• Barbershop Books – to create child-friendly reading spaces and promote early literacy in barbershops
• CAMBA – to help parents in Evergreen Family Residence keep their children on track for formal schooling
• Chances for Children – NY – to provide parent-child therapy and group services to address trauma and promote secure attachment
• Day One NY – to provide social and legal services to pregnant and parenting survivors of intimate partner violence
• FamilyCook Productions – to help families learn about nutrition and use cooking and mealtime to foster parent-child bonding
• Forestdale Inc. – to provide parent-child relationship interventions and build safer relationships for families involved in the child welfare system
• ImmSchools – to increase access to PK-12 education opportunities for undocumented and immigrant families with young children
• The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children – to help parents with histories of abuse and domestic violence build nurturing relationships
• The Tree of Life Center – to foster early childhood development in a newly built apartment community and service hub

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About FUEL for 50

FUEL for 50 was born out of Robin Hood’s Fund for Early Learning (FUEL), which launched in 2016 with a mandate to help transform New York City into an “early learning metropolis” by focusing on children three-and-under living below the poverty line. To date, FUEL has partnered with New York City agencies that support young children, advanced new research, and committed $50 million in investments to partner organizations. To learn more about FUEL for 50, visit FUELfor50.org.  

About Robin Hood
Robin Hood has been fighting poverty in New York City since 1988. Because Robin Hood’s board covers all overhead, 100% of every donation goes directly to the poverty fight. In 2021, Robin Hood awarded $172 million in grants, filling a critical void during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing cash assistance, meals, housing, healthcare, education, and other urgent needs to one million New Yorkers impacted by COVID-19, as well as funding an array of programs and initiatives developed to elevate families out of poverty in New York City. Follow the organization on Twitter @RobinHoodNYC and learn more at www.robinhood.org.