At the height of the economic Crisis of 2008/2009, The Elmezzi Foundation Board decided to create a special “Crisis Relief Fund” to address the increased demands for relief services in Western Queens. The recipients of these funds included East River Development Alliance (ERDA), Jacob Riis Settlement House, and Hour Children.

As the applications began pouring in, it became clear both ERDA and Hour Children’s food pantry programs were both deserving and under unprecedented pressure. ERDA reported a shocking 40% increase in families requesting food between 2008 and 2009, after the crisis’ impact reached the average family. Hour Children similarly reported as many as 13 new families in one day coming to the pantry to humbly request assistance as they could no longer afford food for their family. Both ERDA and Hour Children have been serving the community of Long Island City for years, and have an excellent record of providing healthy food to those that need it most.

Jacob Riis Settlement House, a nonprofit that has been around since the great depression of the 1930’s, requested a relief grant so they could continue providing a full week of meals to senior citizens. According to Eboni Banks, Senior Services Director at Jacob Riis, the money came just in time: “For many of our senior participants, these meals provide their only social contact in addition to the healthy, well-prepared food so necessary for their overall health.  However, skyrocketing food costs, cuts to government funding, and increased need threatened to force us to limit the number of free or low-cost lunches we offer every day.  Thanks to the generosity of the Elmezzi Foundation, we will not be faced with the reality of denying meals to the lower-income seniors of Long Island City”.

The Elmezzi Foundation looks forward to working further with the dedicated nonprofits on Western Queens as we continue our assessment of the area through our community development initiative Project 126.

The Elmezzi Foundation has been exploring ways of bringing our nonprofit partners together in meaningful ways, so when Camp Herrlich shared with us their interest in bringing more New York City kids to their summer program, we were happy to make some phone calls.  As a result, 20 students from our partner Streetsquash and 20 youth from I Have a Dream Ravenswood traveled to Patterson, New York to laugh, learn and connect with young people throughout the northeast.

Last week, we received a pleasant surprise in the mail; a pile of thank you letters from the youth expressing gratitude for the opportunity we gave them.  It is letters like these that make our jobs worthwhile, so we thought we would share them with all who were interested.

Click HERE to download the letters.

Elmezzi Foundation Kicks Off Community Development Initiative with Community Celebration

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(CLICK HERE to see pictures from the event!)

(LONG ISLAND CITY/ASTORIA, June 29, 2009) Over 1,000 community residents and leaders attended the official kick-off to the Thomas & Jeanne Elmezzi Foundation’s community development initiative Project 1-2-6. The Community Celebration was held on Saturday, June 27 in the schoolyard of P.S. 111.

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Over 35 participating non-profits serving Long Island City/Astoria promoted their resources and services and garnered support for their organization through presenting the community with various volunteer opportunities. City Year, the Queens Library, and Hour Children, with the help of individual volunteers, also gained exposure while leading children’s games and activities.

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Community leaders, including Community Board 1 District Manager Lucille Hartmann and NYC Councilman and Public Advocate candidate Eric Gioia dropped by for the festivities. Neighborhood performing arts organizations took the stage, providing live entertainment reflecting some of the different cultures of Long Island City/Astoria. Diversity was also found in the array of food at the free international buffet, featuring food from local businesses and served by restaurant staff and volunteers.

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The Community Celebration was the official launch of Project 1-2-6, a community development initiative that spans Long Island City/Astoria zip codes 11101, 11102, and 11106. Project 1-2-6 is led by the Thomas & Jeanne Elmezzi Foundation, with the support of community residents and leaders. Project 1-2-6 aims to ensure sufficient access to resources and services, to increase opportunities for residents’ civic engagement and leadership development, and to strengthen and connect community groups through a forum that ensures all community stakeholders agree upon priorities for the community’s development. The Foundation will accomplish these goals through community-based participatory research, community engagement, and the investment of technical and financial resources.

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“The Foundation already supports three organizations in Long Island City/Astoria: the Jeanne Elmezzi Adult Learning Center of the Queens Library at Long Island City, the I Have a Dream Foundation at Ravenswood, and Hour Children. The Elmezzi Foundation plans to support more organizations in Long Island City as a tribute to the Foundation’s founder, Thomas Elmezzi, who grew up in Long Island City and worked as a chemist, reformulating Pepsi in the 1930s,” explains Jose Rivero, President and Chairman of the Thomas & Jeanne Elmezzi Foundation.

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Established in 1996, the Thomas & Jeanne Elmezzi Foundation is a private foundation that provides financial and technical support in three program areas: education, youth development, and community development. In February 2008, the Board of Directors of the Elmezzi Foundation decided to focus a majority of its funding to promoting social and economic development in Long Island City/Astoria.

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Interested in volunteering?  Call Chris at 417-379-4370 for immediate information.

About Project 1-2-6

Led by the Thomas & Jeanne Elmezzi Foundation, Project 1-2-6 is a community development initiative that works alongside community residents and leaders in three zip codes in Long Island City/Astoria with the greatest social and economic needs. The Foundation identified these zip codes as11101, 11102, and 11106—hence, Project 1-2-6.

The primary focus of the community development initiative is youth and how their families and communities affect their development. The Elmezzi Foundation understands that enhancing the quality of life for youth and their families in Long Island City/Astoria requires a long-term commitment. That is why the Elmezzi Foundation plans to support the community over a period that spans generations.

Project 1-2-6 has Three Major Objectives

· To ensure sufficient access to resources and services, so that every community resident is empowered to achieve their full potential.

· To increase opportunities for residents’ civic engagement and leadership development, as it is necessary for sustainable community development.

· To strengthen and connect community groups through a forum that ensures all community stakeholders agree upon priorities for the community’s development.

Our Long-Term Commitment

The Elmezzi Foundation recognizes the multi-generational effort required to make this vision a reality, and commits unconditionally to its fulfillment.

For the 105,000 residents of 1-2-6, 22,000 of whom are children, we envision:

· For each child, from birth to adulthood, an environment that is safe; stimulating; educational; character-building; and opportunity-rich.

· For the entire community, an environment that supports strong families; cooperation; safety & security; economic development; cultural preservation; and civic participation.

Strategy for Implementation

The Project 1-2-6 strategy for implementation includes: forming an accurate snapshot of the community, building an active network of community residents and leaders, and empowering the community to make funding recommendations.

Snapshot. We will create a “snapshot” of the community to identify its needs, priorities, and assets. The final product will be the result of collaborative community research and will reflect the information gathered from a sample population of residents (youth, adults, and elderly), non-profit leaders, and other LIC/Astoria stakeholders. Focus groups, surveys, data analysis, asset mapping, and other research tools and methods will be used.

Network. We will build a pro-active volunteer network to meet the needs of local organizations, such as food banks, health clinics, libraries, and youth development centers. Neighborhood associations and issue-based councils will be strengthened—and developed, where necessary—to further support community development initiatives while creating more opportunities for civic engagement and leadership development.

Vision. Inspired by the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a steering committee made up of leaders drawn from neighborhood associations and issue-based councils, will be created to help make funding recommendations in the future. The purpose of the steering committee is for community leaders and residents to collaborate in finding common goals and realizing a unified vision for the community’s future. It is the steering committee that will make funding recommendations for the community.

Translating Community-Driven Research into Community-Driven Action

Project 1-2-6 is unique from many foundation-based initiatives in that it, alone, brings together all of the fundamental elements to effectively address community issues:

Community Research + Community Engagement + Financial Resources

Community-Driven Funding Recommendations

Since the community’s needs and priorities change over time, it is important that the community takes part in constant dialogue. That’s why the Elmezzi Foundation will promote pro-active volunteer networks, neighborhood associations, and issue-based councils to encourage a continual stream of knowledge sharing. Drawn from these groups, a steering committee made up of committed community leaders will be created to make funding recommendations and see the long-term vision to the end.

Building Partnerships with Public and Private Funders

In addition to working with the community to facilitate the research and community engagement process, the Elmezzi Foundation will build partnerships with public and private funders. When the research is completed and the community agrees on a unified vision, the Foundation will go on a presentation tour, pitching the results of the Project to potential funders, with the goal of securing enough funding to make the vision a reality.

Thomas & Jeanne Elmezzi Foundation

Established in 1996, the Thomas & Jeanne Elmezzi Foundation is a private foundation that provides financial and technical support to three program areas: education, youth development, and community development.

In February 2008, the Board of Directors of the Elmezzi Foundation decided to focus a majority of its funding to promoting social and economic development in Long Island City/Astoria.

Long Island City/Astoria

Long Island City/Astoria bears a special significance to Thomas Elmezzi. Born and raised in Long Island City/Astoria, Thomas began his career in the neighborhood as a chemist, reformulating Pepsi in the 1930s and inventing Diet Pepsi and other well-known beverage products. Long Island City/Astoria is also the place where Tom met his wife Jeanne.

While Thomas was alive, he often voiced his wish to assist those in need in Long Island City/Astoria. Honoring that wish, the Foundation is committed to Long Island City/Astoria through the community development initiative Project 1-2-6.

September 15, 2008

Jennifer Weisner, the new Program Director of the Hall Academy for Music and Fine Arts (HAMFA) at Hall Neighborhood House in Bridgeport Connecticut has increased the child involvement numbers by over 100%.  Joining HAMFA less than one year ago, Jennifer has passionately pursued Bridgeport children and parents in an effort to grow HAMFA enrollment.

Elmezzi Staff had the chance to visit HAMFA a few months ago to witness piano, guitar, dance, and drum performances from children of every ethnicity and creed.  The parental attendance, as well as the level of excitement from the children, was evidence that Jennifer had accomplished her goals.

The Elmezzi Foundation currently provides $100,000 annually to HAMFA, and is currently seeking funding partners to help grow such a tremendously exciting program and such an inspirational, genuine leader.

[googlemap lat="41.175205" lng="-73.194296" width="300px" height="150px" zoom="9" type="G_NORMAL_MAP"]HAMFA[/googlemap]

March 1, 2009

The conversation between Jose Rivero, Chairman of Elmezzi Foundation and Katie Seigal, Director of Education at Streetsquash gradually shifted toward the children’s requirement of books they would “actually read”.  Katie said “Donated books from old library stacks are not enough;  if these kids are going to fall in love with reading, we have to meet them where their interests are”.  The Elmezzi Foundation responded with a $5,000 unrestricted grant for the purchase of books that the children personally requested.

“Sister Tesa” as she is fondly referred to by the Long Island City neighborhood she serves, is the Executive Director of Hour Children, an all encompassing support service for formerly incarcerated women and their children. The Elmezzi Foundation has invested $25,000 for the early childhood education program. “The level of care and community involvement within the daycare rooms is inspiring” Jose Rivero, Chairman of the foundation noted. The investment is the first in Long Island City since the foundation’s decision to focus the majority of it’s funding to the area.

In the Elmezzi Foundation’s first act of servicing the 1.2.6 community (those living within the 11101, 11102, and 11106 zip codes), The Elmezzi Foundation is accepting grant requests from nonprofits in the region that have seen an increased demand for relief-based services as a result of the economic crisis.  This may include food pantry, job training for the recently unemployed, and medical clinic supplies.  Funding may be requested up to $5,000.  The Deadline for this Request for Proposal (RFP) is October 1st, 2009.

If interested, please either a) Fill out the form below, including the five sections listed below, or b) go to our contact us page and email Christopher Cutter, Program Officer a two-page grant application that includes the five sections below.

1. A two paragraph explanation of the purpose and length of existence of the program/service you are interested in receiving relief funding for.

2. A two paragraph explanation of the “normal” level of demand within the 1.2.6 community for this program/service.

3. A one paragraph explanation of the increase in demand from the “normal” level.

4. An explanation of why your service is the best of it’s kind to deliver the program/service.

5. A half-page cost analysis and formal request amount.