KeyBank Foundation Supports the Yonkers NY Community With Grants Aimed at Underserved Youth
KeyBank recently announced two multi-year Community Impact grants from KeyBank Foundation to nonprofits in Yonkers, NY, a community within the bank’s Hudson Valley/Metro New York market. With one of the highest poverty rates in Westchester County, the grants aim to bring resources to Yonkers students. Both grants align with KeyBank Foundation’s mission to provide skills, education and capabilities to students and young adults that prepare them for fulfilling careers and successful futures.
Westhab awarded $240,000 grant to bring tutoring, college, and career advising to Yonkers teens
Westhab, an organization that provides affordable housing, youth programs, and employment services in New York City and Westchester County, received a three-year $240,000 grant from KeyBank Foundation to create a pipeline to college and careers for low-income students at Dayspring Community Center in Yonkers, NY. Starting September 2024, the program will support thirty 9th to 12th grade students from Dayspring’s youth program in proactively exploring and choosing the post-secondary path that suits them best.
To develop the programming, Westhab will work with the Yonkers Partners In Education (YPIE), a Westchester-based nonprofit with expertise in ensuring students are ready for, enroll, and complete college. Staff will help students academically prepare for college, navigate, and complete the college application process. For students not interested in college, staff will assess teens' skills and interests and, through partnerships with programmers and guest speakers, help inspire potential career pathways. Participants will be connected to additional support, such as Dayspring’s Employment Services, to help actualize their plans.
"I grew up in Yonkers; this is the kind of investment our neighborhood needs," shared Dayspring Director JC Soto. "Nodine Hill of Southwest Yonkers (where Dayspring is located) has a poverty rate that is double that of all of Westchester County. Increasing college readiness and providing resources to advance their skills in careers with livable wages will allow teens to earn higher incomes, translating into better life outcomes, including health, wealth, and happiness.”
Over the course of three years, the program hopes to make larger shifts in the trajectory of the community. “This generous investment by KeyBank Foundation will help individual students, but also aims to create a more lasting change in the community by nurturing an ongoing college-ready culture for high school students. “We hope to broaden these teen’s futures and disrupt cycles of inequality that we see in Nodine Hill," said Mr. Soto.
Groundwork Hudson Valley receives $100,000 grant for Youth Leadership and Sustainability Education Program Expansion in Yonkers
KeyBank Foundation also presented a two-year $100,000 grant to Groundwork Hudson Valley to support the expansion of Groundwork’s Youth Leadership and Sustainability Education Programs. Groundwork Hudson Valley is an environmental justice non-profit working with communities to improve climate resilience and adaptation, promote sustainability education, and nurture the next generation of environmental leaders. KeyBank’s funding will provide out-of-school education for Yonkers NY Public School K-6 students to visit the Science Barge, a floating sustainability education center, and supplement the school system’s science curricula. It will also support its award-winning Green Team, a program that provides paid part-time jobs to Yonkers Public High School students to build their leadership skills and gain hands-on skills in environmental conservation, climate risk mitigation, and community engagement.
“We at Groundwork Hudson Valley are immensely grateful for partners like KeyBank who are committed to creating positive and lasting change and who provide resources to organizations like ours to propel our mission forward for Yonkers youth,” shared Oded Holzinger, Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Executive Director. “This partnership with the KeyBank Foundation exemplifies how we can come together to lay the groundwork and empower our youth to have the knowledge and skills to become the environmental leaders of tomorrow.”
Helping our communities thrive
KeyBank Hudson Valley/Metro New York Market President John Manginelli recently presented grant checks to each organization and spoke about the importance that KeyBank places on investing in the Yonkers community.
“The core of our community commitment is supporting nonprofits that work to improve the lives of disadvantaged members in our local communities through education, workforce development and community investment,” said John. “Our partnerships with Westhab and Groundwork will not only improve the lives and futures of Yonkers’ youth but can help create a ripple effect for real change in underserved neighborhoods throughout the city. KeyBank is proud to support their efforts “
KeyBank Foundations’ grants are part of the bank’s $40 billion community investment plan focused on economic access and equity to communities across the country. The scope of the plan includes investments and lending in affordable housing, home lending, small business lending, green initiatives, and transformative philanthropy targeted toward workforce development, education, and safe, vital neighborhoods for underserved communities and populations.
For more information on KeyBank’s work in the community, visit www.key.com/community.
