UJA-Federation of New York and Queens Community House will host a community meeting at PS 69 in Queens (77-02 37th Avenue) at 5:30 PM this Wednesday (April 25th) to discuss the proposed cuts to the federally funded Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and engage New Yorkers in advocacy.  The community forum will be attended by hundreds concerned residents from across the borough, with the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), which monitors the allocation of the funding, to be on hand to answer questions about how the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) supports community programs.

This forum is the second in a series of five conceived by Save CSBG NYC, acoalition of citywide non-profits led by the Human Services Council, Federation of Protestant WelfareAgencies, UJA-Federation of New York and United Neighborhood Houseswith the goal of informing New Yorkers of the White House’s proposal to slash by CSBG funding by over 50%. CSBG is the longest standing stream of federal funding to alleviate poverty nationwide. CSBG provides flexible funding to states and localities to support a broad range of community-based programs combatting poverty, empowering people to achieve self-sufficiency, and revitalizing low-income communities.

If adopted, the cuts would mean NYC could lose up to $31 million in funding annually used to provide after school programs, senior, literacy and immigrant services, housing support, and the fatherhood initiative to 30,000 New Yorkers.

In response to the forum, Senator Gillibrand remarked “As low-income families struggle to recover from this recession, it is critical that we continue to provide adequate funding for the CSBG program. This program enables community action agencies to provide essential services to help low-income Americans achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence.”
Last year, advocacy organizations, and local community-based organizations worked with NYC’s Congressional delegation to restore funding to CSBG, with the mobilization efforts becoming a national model. Similar meetings in the other four boroughs will take place throughout April and May, which also share the purpose of provideinformation to the public and engaging them in advocacy to save the programs that matter most to them.

Ron Soloway, Managing Director of Government Relations at UJA-Federation of New York, states “As the City’s non-profit community is facing major cuts from all levels of government, it is crucial to restore funding to the Community Services Block Grant, which provides critical programs to the poorest and most vulnerable in our City. UJA-Federation of NY is proud to be part of Save CSBG NYC and urges Congress to restore this funding.”  Mary Abbate, Associate Executive Director from Queens Community House, adds “Loss of CSBG funds, targeted toward communities with high need, will be a detriment to families, youth,the neighborhoods in which they live, and to the community based social service safety net.