Grant Impact Stories

Urgently-Needed Support Granted for 211 ALICE Program

United Way, Human Services Coalition

United Way’s 211 ALICE Program, in partnership with the Human Services Coalition, has recently received critical funding thanks to collaboration with Community Foundation.

As community needs have increased this year, funding for programs providing households with support to address rent arrears, utility shutoffs, car repairs, and insurance cancellations has been exhausted. United Way of Tompkins County funds the program which addresses immediate needs to retain safe housing and continue to work or learn for Tompkins County households living under a sustainable income when other resources are unavailable. However, with this year’s economic impact, the funding budgeted through June 30 was nearly expended and the program faced interruption until United Way moved through its budget process for funding programs as of July 1, 2024.

United Way made this need known as part of regular bi-monthly conversations with the Tompkins County Funders Group. This resulted in grants totaling $42,500 to United Way from Community Foundation’s Lane Family Fund as well as its Tompkins Today and Tomorrow Fund.

The Lane family shares:

“For many in Tompkins County, life has more bills to pay than paychecks to cash. The 2-1-1 ALICE 211 provides needed help for those moments and we are pleased to help provide resources to that program. We urge all in Tompkins County to take the opportunity to run towards helping our fellow citizens.”

The program now has enough funding to remain in place without interruption. Community Foundation CEO George Ferrari said, “When local funders can match community needs with donors’ interests we can together deliver the resources needed so that all can thrive.”

United Way of Tompkins County President & CEO Michael Ramos shares, “We cannot thank enough the funding sources that through our partnership with Community Foundation have been able to assist community members to meet urgent needs and keep the promise of thriving alive in challenging times. Thank you, Community Foundation, for your partnership!”

Learn More about the ALICE Program, Click Here:  Meet ALICE

Connecting Communities for Climate Action

Sustainable Finger Lakes

In 2022, the Community Foundation awarded a grant to Sustainable Finger Lakes, formerly Sustainable Tompkins, to support the launch of a new webinar series: The Finger Lakes Forecast. This free, public series featured regional experts and policymaker panelists discussing how climate change will affect life across the Finger Lakes Region and how communities can prepare and adapt.

The Community Foundation’s support was essential in transitioning the name and mission. After 18 years as Sustainable Tompkins, the name change to Sustainable Finger Lakes (SFLX) in spring 2022 reflected an expanded mission of serving the regional sustainability and environmental justice movement. The Finger Lakes Forecast helped introduce SFLX to a regional audience of activists, nonprofit groups, and regional elected officials. Through this role of being a convenor and connector, SFLX brought a diverse audience of hundreds of upstate New Yorkers together to learn about critical issues and potential solutions.

The premise of the series is that regional resilience will not emerge without an informed populace and democratic engagement in understanding the risks, costs, and benefits of various action pathways. The series examined a range of pressing environmental and community issues, such as reducing flood risks for one’s home, and examining food security in a largely agriculture-dependent region. Beyond individual resilience, the series engaged people to examine where policy change can occur through the next two webinars that examined the role of land use in energy and water issues. For instance, New York State has set a goal of meeting 100% of its electrical demand from carbon-free sources by 2040.

Panelists discussed questions, such as: How much land will be needed to site that much solar and wind energy? Who should decide where it goes, and what are our options? The next webinar examined how communities can better adopt better land-use practices and policies to slow nutrient runoff and reduce Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) intensity.

The series successfully engaged local officials, academics, and grassroots leaders from 9 different organizations in meaningful conversations about how our communities can build resilience to climate change. Organizations represented by panelists include: Cornell University, Rochester Institute of Technology, CCE Tompkins and CCE Schuyler, the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability, Tompkins Food Future, and Stick and Stone Farm. Attendees were from 14 different counties, which included local officials and higher education representatives. The webinars were recorded and posted on our YouTube channel, where they exist as a resource and have reached almost 500 additional viewers. Check out our series here. 

Sustainable Finger Lakes is a community-based organization dedicated to promoting the long-term well-being of our region through the integration of social equity, economic vitality, ecological stewardship, and shared responsibility. Learn more about how you can support our work: SustainableFingerLakes.org

A Lifeline of Food and Care

King Ferry Food Pantry

Thanks to the generous support of the Community Foundation, the King Ferry Food Pantry has continued to be a place of hope and nourishment for our rural neighbors. The grant we received helped us strengthen our Healthy Bodies/Strong Minds initiative — ensuring that children in the Southern Cayuga School District have consistent access to nutritious food. Through this funding, we have been able to expand our weekend BackPack program and provide healthy food for students who might otherwise go without. One school staff member recently shared that a student who had been struggling to focus while in class now comes to school each Monday “with energy and a smile,” knowing there will be something to eat over the weekend. A teacher shared a story about two young siblings she saw wrapping up uneaten food from their breakfast. She assumed they wanted to discard it, but they shyly shared they were saving it to take home for their little sister. That act of generosity was born from a family’s struggle with food insecurity. The children were welcomed into the backpack program, and the teacher saw an immediate improvement in their spirits and their interactions with other students. The recent government shutdown has added another layer of uncertainty for many of the families and seniors we serve. Those who rely on programs such as SNAP, WIC, and Social Security are feeling anxious about interruptions in benefits that are essential to their daily well-being. Seniors often have the least flexibility in their budgets – already stretching limited incomes to cover food, housing, and medication. At the King Ferry Food Pantry, we hear their worries firsthand. Our commitment remains steady: to provide dependable access to nutritious food and reassurance that our neighbors are not alone during this time of instability. The Foundation’s partnership has also helped us keep our pantry shelves stocked with wholesome foods for families facing hardship. Each month we respond to over 200 household visits with nutritious grocery choices. Many of our neighbors in need are parents working hard to support their children in the face of rising costs and limited local resources.

Client testimonials confirm to us that our mission is vital to the well-being of the community. For some community members the King Ferry Food Pantry serves an important dual purpose; it is both a practical lifeline and an important social engagement. In addition to lifting the physical and emotional burden of food insecurity, a visit provides a sense of community that combats isolation and loneliness. Recently an elderly couple visiting the pantry thanked a volunteer for happily “passing time” with them. Their bi-weekly outing to the pantry has become a part of their routine, and an important source of connection and conversation. They are met by familiar smiling faces and genuine pleasure, and these positive interactions lift their spirits. Volunteers take the time to talk with them about their lives, laughs are shared, and a potentially humbling task becomes a pleasant social outing. 

These shared experiences foster a bond between volunteers, donors and clients, and a network of care and community that extends beyond the food itself. Small human touches build a foundation of understanding, inclusion, and mutual trust and support. Giving and receiving strengthens a community and creates solidarity.

Your investment has not only filled empty cupboards – but it has also nourished dignity, learning, and a sense of belonging across our community. We are deeply grateful for the Foundation’s belief in our mission and for helping us ensure that every child and family can thrive.

Fostering Academic Growth

Golden Opportunity

When we talk about changing lives, we often think big — but sometimes, real change starts quietly, in a room with just one student and one tutor. And that’s precisely where the Community Foundation makes its most powerful impact for Golden Opportunity (GO) Students. With support from the Community Foundation, students in grades 2 through 8 who are struggling — not because they lack potential, but because they lack access — are getting the help they need to grow, learn, and believe in themselves.

GO Students come from families facing economic hardship. They are navigating housing instability, food insecurity, and family stress. Often, their learning needs fall through the cracks — and that is where the GO Tutoring and Mentorship Program steps in. GO Students receive free, one-on-one tutoring in math and reading — beginning in grade two for consecutive years with the same tutor. GO Tutors are retired or current classroom teachers deeply dedicated to helping students succeed. The GO Program has witnessed a third grader go from tears trying to decode sounds to read fluently, to proudly reading aloud in front of her class; and a seventh grader, who used to call himself “bad at math,” now helping his classmates after school.

GO provides more than academic growth — tutors build confidence and long-term relationships with students and their caregivers, offering holistic support for families in need. It’s a sense of being seen, supported, and believed in. The Foundation’s support ensures that learning is no longer a struggle these students face alone. They now have consistent, caring adults who meet them where they are, and walk beside them — at their pace, in their school, without cost or judgment.

In a community as vibrant as Ithaca, equity in education shouldn’t be a dream — it should be a reality. The Community Foundation helps make that possible for students who might otherwise be left behind. Thanks to their investment, GO Students are catching up — and some are even getting ahead. And, perhaps most importantly, they’re learning to believe that they can succeed — in school and in life.

Supporting Every Stage of Life

Lifelong

Thanks to the generous support of the Community Foundation, Lifelong has been able to continue providing vital programs and services that help older adults in Tompkins County stay active, connected, and engaged. As a small nonprofit, receiving unrestricted funding is truly transformative. 

With this support, Lifelong has been able to offer a full range of semester-based classes, health and wellness and creative arts activities, social and support groups, and special events that build community and enrich lives. In addition, we’ve continued to provide essential services such as free tax preparation and Medicare counseling—resources that many older adults rely on to navigate complex systems and maintain financial and personal well-being.

We are deeply grateful to the Community Foundation for helping us continue to fulfill our mission of enhancing the quality of life for older adults in our community!

Expanding Internships - A Gamechanger at GIAC

Greater Ithaca Activities Center

William (Bill) Maxwell, Cornell Engineering Professor Emeritus, has been a member of the GIAC (Greater Ithaca Activities Center) family for over 15 years. Recently, Mike Zak, a former student of his wanted to honor Professor Maxwell for the impact he had on his life. The result of Mike’s most generous gift is an endowment fund at Community Foundation of Tompkins County to forever support GIAC’s internship program named in honor of Bill Maxwell.

Bill was inspired and has also created a companion fund, the William and Judith Maxwell Internship Fund, to honor his wife Judith, which expands the internship program even further.

GIAC Director, Leslyn McBean-Clairborne, spoke about GIAC’s internship program history and how the new funds will extend help to more students. Prior to the program, McBean-Clairborne said the lack of funds made it difficult for the center to provide multiple internships to students at the time.

“I fell on my knees, when I heard of the new funds, and there were tears falling,” McBean-Clairborne said. “We have been rubbing pennies every year to place at least one person somewhere when we have four or five who are asking for an internship. So, it is making the biggest difference already for us.”

Mike Zak said, “I was, perhaps, Bill’s first intern, in a sense. Professor Maxwell took a risk which did a lot for me (a former student) a long time ago. To express my happiness, I am proud to create these Maxwell Internships at GIAC, in the hopes that Tompkins County can take more and more risks on youth. Young men and women who have yet to establish themselves, who perhaps just need a chance to see how the world works, can find a place in it for themselves, can test the waters, and then go on and prosper as citizens who contribute to the greater common good.”

Internships are a proven gateway to jobs. It’s widely acknowledged that paying interns is a critical first step to addressing barriers to access for historically underrepresented students who otherwise could not afford to spend their non-school hours working for free.

Paid internships can build networks and connections. Internships are an important path to a career.

One past recipient, Xavier Bourne (pictured above), held a paid internship at Ithaca International Airport. Xavier’s passion for aviation can be heard when he said the GIAC internship allowed him to “learn airline contracts and airport management which strengthened my interests.” He carried that experience into a career as he is now a Delta Airlines Analytic Specialist keeping people connected to the world.

Mike Zak shared, “This gift acknowledges a long-time champion for the youth of greater Ithaca, William Maxwell, who has changed the lives of many, including mine, and I am excited about how these internships may change the lives of young men and women in greater Ithaca.”

Take a chance – there are big benefits to taking time to facilitate these connections:  Data suggests that both young and people of color are particularly likely to report feeling lonely in the workplace. Informal relationship-building will not solve all of this, but it can bolster employee engagement. Interns just testing the waters in the world of work may not share this understanding of how to build or mobilize networks. And according to research from America’s Promise Alliance, young people of color and from low-income families believe connections and social capital are essential for navigating their career journeys but report struggling to build them.

Inspiring the voices of future generations:  Internships operate as engines that promote inclusion rather than inequality in the labor market, compensating interns with both financial and social capital matters.

Who wouldn’t want to help shape a childhood? We expect to hear more often what Xavier stated, “My internship was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and many of the connections I made at the Ithaca Airport are friends of mine today.”

A win for us all. Que the applause and cheers!  Read More, Click Here:   Ithaca Voice  and  Tompkins Weekly

Where Land Meets Opportunity

Khuba International

The Community Foundation of Tompkins County supports Khuba International’s land justice initiatives and Youth on the Land programming. They have stood by our communities through thick and thin and have been our first funder who believes in our work at a time when many did not understand the need to diversify rural landscapes and make food available to the most vulnerable by the means of their own land-empowered labor. We cannot express our gratitude enough for the work of this amazing Community Foundation.

You Keep It Rolling!

Foodnet Meals on Wheels

Recently, Community Foundation made over $72,000 in grants to Foodnet Meals on Wheels from 7 different funds.

Over $48,000 was granted from 3 Donor Advised Funds responding to non-grant cycle requests for kitchen equipment. Fund advisors appreciated learning about these emergent needs as demand for meals increased.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, $5,600 from the COVID-19 Response Fund supported Foodnet’s ability to provide meals to families who were food insecure while under quarantine. This need was identified by the Food Task Force Distribution Team which convenes over 15 food serving organizations to fill gaps in services.

Over $17,000 was provided in unrestricted grants, allowing Foodnet to use funding wherever it was needed most during rapidly changing needs.

From Foodnet Meals on Wheels: “We are lucky to be located in an incredibly generous community here in Tompkins County. We have received numerous grants over the years for specific projects and equipment, and for those we are extremely grateful.

The Community Foundation’s recent support has been particularly special because funds have been provided in unrestricted grants. Foodnet has been able to use these grants for general operations, which has been especially helpful as operating costs continue to rise – for example, between 2023 and 2025, the cost of peas increased by 32%, olive oil by 45%, and beef patties by 25%.

We also were able to use Community Foundation funds to repair the northern side of our facilities on Triphammer Road, which had been damaged due to decades of weather damage. Thanks to the Community Foundation, our wall is now more energy efficient and is a perfect location for something special – like a mural perhaps!

The Community Foundation has been essential in furthering Foodnet Meals on Wheels’ mission to provide meals and other nutrition services for older adults and others in need in Tompkins County. Thank you Community Foundation!”

Canoes, Trails, and Smiles

Outdoor Adventures

Outdoor Adventures – a partnership between the Cayuga Trails Club and GIAC – is made possible by grants from the Community Foundation!  Each summer, 150 kids in GIAC’s summer camp get opportunities to hike in nature preserves, canoe on Beebe Lake, explore stream life, care for and ride horses, wonder at gorges, and so much more.  The campers love it and ask when they get to do it again. Parents want to learn about wild places and how to take their children camping.  We are so grateful that the Community Foundation has given us the opportunity to narrow the “nature-gap” in experiencing the wonders and joy of exploring the outdoors.

A Safe Haven for Artists

Ithaca City of Asylum

Ithaca City of Asylum, a project of the non-profit Center for Transformative Action, provides refuge and support to writers and other artists recognized for accomplishment in their own countries but no longer able to work there safely. With the help of grants and individual donations, we offer a two-year residency with financial and social support for one artist (and family) at a time. We help them find housing, transportation, visa support, connect them with schools, medical and social services, and with groups that share their culture and language. We help them establish new networks by introducing them to other artistic professionals in their fields and we create opportunities for them to showcase their artistic work in the community. At the end of the residency we help them prepare to move on. While ALL people deserve to live safely and productively, ICOA’s focus is on threatened artists with the potential to reach thousands of other people, educating some, reassuring and inspiring others, and adding to the artistic expression of their generation. Our resident artists are talented, courageous, resilient people who add an incomparable dimension to our community.

The Community Foundation of Tompkins County provided significant organizational support through its donor advised funds to Ithaca City of Asylum in 2023 and 2024. It tipped the balance of funds needed and we were able to offer a two-year commitment to our current resident artist, Arthur Groys, a playwright, a puppeteer, and a filmmaker from Russia. Arthur and his wife publicly opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and with two young sons at risk of being drafted, they quickly left the country, going first to Israel and then coming to the U.S. He left behind a prolific career in children’s television, acting, and writing, but can no longer work or publish there. He has become a joyful presence in Ithaca, appearing in dramas at The Cherry Arts (Baba Yaga), the Kitchen Theatre (Comedy, Puppets, and Fantastic Tales”) and presenting a documentary and clips from the Russian comedy TV show “Yeralash” at Cinemapolis during the Fingerlakes Film Festival and earlier at Kendall at Ithaca. He wrote recently as follows:

“Before 2022 I could not imagine that prefixes of negation could be so physical and real: in- as in instability, dis- as in displacement, un- as in uncertainty, a- as in apathy, and so on. The … ICOA (residency) in early 2024 has become our blessing. The whole team of miracle workers of ICOA acted like true warriors of peace and almost miraculous eliminators of all negative prefixes. For almost two years of our residence in Ithaca we have been experiencing true stability, certainty, both empathy and sympathy, and a feeling of perfect ‘placement’. And, above all, the sense of belonging and a strong desire to contribute to the wellbeing and thriving of the community of Ithaca and to this wonderful country as a whole.” 

The ICOA project is proud that every one of our previous resident artists has gone on to find sustainable employment at the end of their residency.  One who has settled here, Pedro X. Molina, a political cartoonist from Nicaragua, was asked recently by someone new to ICOA what the organization has meant to him. His responded, “It has meant everything! Without ICOA’s invitation to come to Ithaca it is very likely that today I would be … hidden in a safe house unable to work and fearing being arrested at any moment, or I would be one more of the many political prisoners in Nicaragua, or one more of the hundreds of Nicas murdered since 2018. However, today, 4 years later, I enjoy life and freedom to continue doing my work connected with my country of birth in a place that is both stimulating and calm like Ithaca. A community where my family and I feel welcome and of which every day with each activity in which we participate, we feel more part. I don’t know what the future holds, but ICOA will always have my gratitude for being there when I needed it most and in the way that I needed most.”

Expanding Access to Early Childhood Education in Ithaca

The Downtown Ithaca Children's Center

The Downtown Ithaca Children’s Center (DICC) is proud to announce the opening of a new aftercare site at 201 E. Tompkins Street, dedicated to serving four-year-old children enrolled in Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) or related programs. This expansion underscores DICC’s commitment to providing accessible, affordable, and high-quality care for families across the Ithaca community.

Over the past year, DICC worked diligently to identify a location in the Northside neighborhood to ensure accessibility for families of all income levels, transportation needs, and employment schedules. With generous support from the Legacy Foundation, Park Foundation, Women’s and Children’s Project Fund of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County, Children & Youth Fund of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County, and the Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation, this vision has become a reality.

We were faced with a few modifications to the building we leased to meet NYS OCFS licensing and best ensure safety for the children and families we serve.  Community Foundation’s generosity and support directly funded the acquisition and installation of new flooring throughout the care space. As an integral part of our pursuit to expand service to the community, DICC with the help of Community Foundation and other local funders has opened a second location which now provides care to 15 children enrolled in ICSD UPK within our same base neighborhood easily accessible to ALL families and employs 3 more childcare teachers.

The new program, launched in September 2025, will be led by Ms. Kenya Way-Vines, Program Director, and supported by a diverse team of educators who reflect the children and families they serve. The former glass studio has been transformed into a vibrant space for imagination, creativity, and exploration.

Leaving a Legacy: Collaborative Exchanges

A $500,000 grant was made to the Department of Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S)  in support of conferences and other activities centered around economic theory.  In honor of the late Tapan Mitra, longtime professor of economics at Cornell and two-time chair of the department, this funding continues his passion for top-level collaboration in economic theory and his legacy of generosity.

“Dr. Mitra has passed on his dedication to our department, said Seth Sanders, the Ronald G. Ehrenberg Professor of Economics and chair of the economics department (A&S).  “We are deeply appreciative, and it makes us understand the work that earlier generations of faculty did to establish economics at Cornell and motivates us to carry forward that legacy.”

Future conferences will bring scholars together to exchange ideas and disseminate research findings in areas including microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, and econometric theory.

“These are the core of what economics is about and form the core of our teaching of graduate students,” Sanders said. “In the long run, these funds will be used to convene meetings on the evolving frontiers in these areas. It will be a way for our faculty and graduate students to bring together world experts in a frontier issue, to understand cutting edge methods and results and to share the work being done in the department at Cornell.” The first conference, planned for spring 2025, will honor Professor Mitra and bring world class scholars and former students to campus.

The grant continues a family tradition in economics. Mitra’s cousin, Dr. Mukul Majumdar, was a professor of economic theory at Cornell for roughly 50 years. His nephew, Aveek Majumdar ’05, majored in economics at Cornell.  “My uncle was a constructive and supportive mentor for many, including myself,” Aveek Majumdar said. “These conferences will hopefully be a benefit for the field and for Cornell, an institution he cared deeply about.”

“Dr. Mitra’s passion for the community and for education drove him to make significant philanthropic gifts, both during and after his life,” said George Ferrari, CEO of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County, where Mitra established three funds in 2016: for education, cancer research and future generations. “Community Foundation is honored to uphold his philanthropic intentions to the benefit of residents and Cornell students and faculty alike.”

Mitra taught at Cornell from 1981 until his death in 2019 and served as chair of Cornell’s Department of Economics from 1993–98 and from 1999–2002. His research themes included analysis of the economic decision-making of “forward-looking agents” – individual and societal agents who consciously plan today’s actions knowing they will affect their future opportunities as well as future welfare.

Mitra made pioneering contributions to issues that have become central to macroeconomic theory, Sanders said, and he understood the reach of theory into economics broadly.  Mitra was dedicated to the exchange of ideas and to excellence at Cornell, believing that collaboration produced the best work, Sanders said: “This funding will encourage collaboration and will focus on areas on which the entire discipline is built just as Dr. Mitra did throughout his career.”

Excerpt from Kate Blackwood, A&S Communications.  READ: the full story on Cornell University Arts and Sciences College website 

Combatting Food Insecurity

Lansing Lunchbox

Because of our partnership with the Community Foundation, Lansing Lunchbox has been able to make a visible and lasting impact on students throughout the Lansing School District. Our mission has always been to combat hunger and food insecurity by providing nutritious foods to kids in our community so they can grow, learn, and thrive. As a non-profit organization, our success has come purely from the generosity of donations and special grants, such as those provided by the Community Foundation. Their support has given us the resources needed to help manage our programs effectively.

What began as a simple effort to fill the gaps has grown into a community movement that promotes dignity, food equity, and care for every child. Through our collaboration with the Community Foundation, we’ve been able to provide all three Lansing School District buildings access to nutritious snacks in a stigma-free environment. At the high school, our Lansing Lunchbox Club assembles meal kits for students to take home which helps to ensure that healthy food is available even beyond the school day. This summer we were able to partner with Lansing Loves to Read and Milton Meadows to bring our Brunch & Books Program to LCSD kids in the neighborhood. None of this would be possible without the continued support of our community partners. We are deeply thankful to the Community Foundation for believing in our mission and helping us make a lasting difference in the lives of Lansing students. 

Amplify Grants through Strong Community Connections

Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers

A Donor Advisor funds a request by the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers (DCJS). After attending the concert, along with his wife, they were so moved by the experience, they made an additional grant in support of this beloved community group.

“Supporting the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers through my donor advised fund was a meaningful way to celebrate the power of music to bring people together.

Attending A Feast of Carols at Ford Hall was an unforgettable experience—hearing the Jubilee Singers alongside guest tenor Limmie Pulliam filled the space with joy, hope, and a deep sense of connection.

What inspires me most about DCJS is their commitment to community: a diverse group of local residents who come together year-round to share their voices and uplift others. Their work reminds me that investing in the arts is also an investment in belonging, resilience, and the shared spirit of our Ithaca community.”

It's More Than Books

Groton Public Library

During a laid-back conversation, Aiden, Bradie and Luke, three teens staffers at the Groton Public Library, shared how their library makes a difference in the community.  They share the common experience of getting involved with the library through their school, and other interactions in their community. One high schooler, began volunteering at the library with the Healthy Tuesday program, created in 2013 by his grandmother, Ruth Williams and library director, Sara Knobel. The healthy and yummy food provided through grocer donations, supplements food budgets of families in need. The teen explains this is just one way the library is a community hub improving the community as well as describes the library as “the heart of the community” and keeps the environment ticking and lively. Teen staff also assist with children activities such as “Tails and Tales” along with other summer programs for youth, cooking and nutrition related activities and much more.

They shared the new opportunities as a result of the recent renovation. Being built in 1917, the library has a timeless and intricate feel and through the modern addition there is more space for community activities and gathering. As a teen that grew spending time at my local library in Seneca County, Edith B. Ford Memorial Library, libraries play a fundamental role in community development through their wide array of resources such as career planning, young adult literature, development of computer and multimedia skills, making connections in the community, academic assistance, and most importantly a positive environment to gather and study coursework. Library’s offer additional coursework assistance that is beyond beneficial to youth such as educational publications, which I personally hold responsible for my academic achievements.

The teens say what drew them to the Library was the overall sense of positive environment. They describe their summer youth activities as being all about “Helping the community, helping skills, maintaining skills, making everyone happy and keeping everyone busy, and all around just making it a memorable few months for the kids”. A library’s purpose of being a gateway to knowledge and culture wouldn’t be attainable without the devoted staff and volunteers. Along with what they do for the community they also shared how the library has helped them by giving them a sense of belonging, sense of family in the workplace, another avenue to spend time in a constructive way. They said “The library has benefited me in a way of giving me a new perspective, and funny enough a beneficial place mentally because the staff and patrons are just nice and welcoming, we are all about community and even before working here there was this place of family and kinship” and “Every day I look forward to coming in and working here because it doesn’t feel like a job”.

In conclusion, libraries are essential to youth by being open to all, giving them a sense of belonging and family, and providing services to help neighborhoods thrive. From internet access and academic aid, to story-times, and community activities, libraries serve as a staple to one’s community by their admirable ability to connect people, offering vital resources to address community needs, and serve as a place where the community gathers and grows.

Story and interview by Ella Robinson, an Ovid teen, from across the lake, and proud cardholder of the Edith B. Ford Memorial Library.

GIAC and Southside Community Center Endowment Fund Continues to Strengthen Community

Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Southside Community Center

Established in 2013, the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC) and Southside Community Center Endowment Fund was created to ensure that two of Ithaca’s most vital community institutions would have ongoing, sustainable support for essential programming. Today, the fund has granted over $450,000 to each organization, helping to sustain food access and expand technology resources—two cornerstones of community well-being.

This fund was envisioned as a permanent investment in community. Endowments are unique because they provide annual support in perpetuity, allowing organizations to plan for the future while continuing to meet immediate needs. For GIAC and Southside, this means they can count on reliable funding every year to strengthen their food programs and bridge the digital divide.

Rather than short-term fixes, this fund supports long-term resilience—ensuring children have meals after school, families stay connected to resources, and community members can access the tools they need to thrive in a digital world. Food programming at both centers offers more than just nourishment. It creates safe, welcoming spaces for youth and families to gather, share culture, and foster wellness.

Technology-related programs empower students with tools for academic success, help adults improve digital literacy, and connect elders to their loved ones. These are the everyday essentials that allow people not only to survive, but to grow, lead, and build stronger neighborhoods.

GIAC continues to be a vibrant center for youth development, civic engagement, and community-building. From afterschool care and summer camps to mentorship and leadership programs, GIAC fosters a culture of empowerment and inclusivity.

Southside Community Center, with nearly 100 years of history, remains a cultural cornerstone for Ithaca’s Black community. Through its programs in arts, education, advocacy, and food justice, Southside preserves history while nurturing future generations of leaders.

These organizations don’t just serve the community—they are the community.

From GIAC’s Dr. Leslyn McBean-Claireborne, “We could not do the work we do, offer the programs we have, and support community in the ways that we do without the trusted supported of the donors and funders who value the work that we do. Thank you for trusting us to carry out our mission of fighting against oppression and intimidation of all kinds through the programming and advocacy that we provide.”

From Southside’s Chavon Bunch, “Our food and technology grant also ensures that Southside Community Center is carrying out our mission when it comes to creating a more food-secure community. We are able to pilot programs such as our community lunches, and we are able to sustain payroll so that we can afford staff to facilitate and oversee our food-related programs; which is why Southside is truly thankful and grateful for the grant received by Community Foundations.”

Thanks to the foresight of the fund’s founders and the generosity of its donors, this endowment has helped build capacity, reduce funding uncertainty, and uphold the missions of GIAC and Southside. The Community Foundation is proud to steward this resource and to continue supporting the leaders, families, and visionaries who shape a more just and connected Ithaca.

This fund stands as a testament to what’s possible when we invest in our own communities, for the long haul.

Reimagine Access to Higher Education, Theatre, and Public Life

College Initiative Upstate, Civic Ensemble

College Initiative Upstate (CIU) and Civic Ensemble’s work is rooted in reimagining access to higher education, theatre and public life in response to social inequities in America’s systems of punishment and higher education.  The current pandemic and the movement for racial justice have highlighted these inequities, catalyzed increased demands to address their root causes, and reaffirmed the urgency and relevance of this work.  Every day working across boundaries of race, socio-economic difference, and other perceived divides to reclaim our common humanity.

Voices That Must Be Heard is a program for justice-impacted people whose life experiences, leadership initiatives, and vision for becoming agents of progressive change, are the heartbeat is this collaborative work.

SCROLL DOWN to hear three of these compelling interviews.

Multi-year grants totaling $25,717 from the Community Foundation’s Susan Christopherson Community Planning Fund provided critical funding bringing this material into our larger community where people are struggling with the questions and solutions to pressing issues around equity, policing, incarceration, and so much more.  During 2020, the Oral History Project explored complex human stories of people with incarceration experience.  In 2021, the Voices Theatre Project will bring participants together to devise an original play rooted in their owns stories and experiences and in collaboration with theatre professionals; culminating in a production of a final play.

Voices That Must Be Heard

College Initiative Upstate’s original Voices That Must Be Heard project brought together a cohort of emerging CIU student leaders to develop individual projects supporting progressive change around issues that directly impacted them.  This group of student leaders traveled to Columbia University to give a workshop at the national conference, Beyond the Bars: Strategies for Challenging a Carceral Society (March 5-8, 2020). Because of pandemic restrictions, CIU went on a three-month hiatus during the summer of 2020.  This gave the opportunity to re-envision a dynamic way to move forward with a revised plan and the new Oral History project began.

Oral History Project

CIU’s revised “Voices” initiative The Oral History Project, is a collaboration between CIU and Civic Ensemble’s ReEntry Theater.  The Oral History Project continues to work with court-involved and formerly incarcerated people.  The Oral History Project is a semester-long peer training, using oral history as a method to explore personal narrative.

Civic Ensemble ReEntry Theatre is governed by a Peer Council where participants are paid staff members and recruit, mentor, and provide leadership in programming with new members.  The Council members are respected as key stakeholders in the local reentry landscape.  Members are often invited to speak at conferences about topics such as reentry, mental health, and incarceration, and several members sit on local advisory boards and panels.  The Oral History Project was an excellent opportunity to see the ReEntry Peer Council actively taking the lead, engaging and encouraging CIU students to become narrators and drivers of their own stories.

As trained interviewers, College Initiative Upstate students gain interviewing experience and also move into our larger community in a visible leadership capacity.  Peers will support and learn from each other and in the process, build the support and confidence needed to move into the larger community with strong and effective voices.

Listen to three of these compelling interviews

Oral History Clip … There Is Hope

Oral History Clip … I Didn’t Want To Feel

Oral History Clip … Making Music

College Initiative Upstate: Redefining Possible Through Higher Education