Long Island City-Based Nonprofit Earns Pandemic Recovery Grant

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS —Urban Upbound, a Long Island City-based nonprofit dedicated to breaking cycles of poverty in New York City public housing and other low-income neighborhoods, recently was announced as a recipient of a Strategic Impact Grant from the New York Department of Small Business Services (SBS).

The grant is designed to help community-based development organizations (CBDOs) - and organizations providing technical assistance to CBDOs - support local small businesses in their recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, strengthening New York's commercial corridors in the process.

On March 10, SBS announced six CBDOs had been awarded a total of $160,000 in funds. Organizations in all five boroughs were among the recipients, with Queens having two representatives: Urban Upbound and the Queens Chamber of Commerce, for its servicing of Corona and Briarwood.

"We are thrilled to award additional funding to our neighborhood nonprofits to revitalize our most impacted commercial corridors," said Jonnel Doris, commissioner of SBS. "We look forward to the continued work these organizations will do to support small businesses in a post-COVID-19 economy."

According to its website, Urban Upbound was founded in 2004 by Bishop Mitchell Taylor, a lifelong resident of Queensbridge Houses. The organization has program sites in Queens, the South Bronze and East Harlem, and said it provides underserved youth and adults with the tools and resources needed to achieve economic prosperity and self-sufficiency.

Among the services Urban Upbound provides are: employment services, financial counseling, income support, community revitalization and financial inclusion. The organization even runs its own federal credit union.

The current Strategic Impact Grants are the second phase of grants provided by SBS. In January, the organization provided $750,000 to 25 phase-one recipients. Applications for a third phase of grants opened this week and will close in April. According to SBS, the next phase will target areas in Queens like: Jackson Heights, Queens Village, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park and Kew Gardens.

More information about the NYC Department of SBS and the Strategic Impact Grants can be found online.