The Catskill Hudson Area Health Education Center (Catskill Hudson AHEC) addresses regional healthcare workforce shortages through education and community relationships that assist students, career seekers, and health professionals. Part of the New York State Area Health Education Center system, its educational programs focus on recruiting, training, and retaining a healthcare workforce in medically underserved areas. It serves…
Grace Episcopal Church is one of the oldest congregations in Middletown, founded in 1845. From its location in the center of the city, the church’s large parish hall has served as a community center for over a hundred years. In 1980, in response to growing poverty and need in the neighborhood, the church opened the Guild…
People facing criminal prosecution have a constitutional right to be represented by an attorney during trial, but there is no such guarantee provided for people facing civil legal issues including housing, domestic violence, healthcare, disability, and veteran’s rights. Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV) fills this gap by providing free, comprehensive civil legal services for low-income…
The Winners Circle Project (WCP) is a workforce and youth development program. Conceived in early 2019, its goal is to create opportunities for high school students to get hands-on experiences that combine their interests in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math with the world of racing by building a race car from the ground up. Using a…
Astor Services for Children & Families supports children and their families through a wide range of mental health and well-being programs for children of all ages. Offering care management, crisis response and intervention, early childhood education, school- and community-based mental health treatment, and therapeutic out-of-home placement in both foster homes and residential facilities, among other supports,…
“The past few years have been especially challenging for nonprofits in the Hudson Valley region, New York State and around the country. We are proud to partner with the Dyson Foundation to not only provide the direct services needed to help individual nonprofits adapt and be successful in this ever-changing environment, but also to help assess what the broader issues and trends are in the region.” – Kelly Matthews, Chief Operating Officer
The nonprofit world continued to experience great upheaval in 2021, with changes and challenges in all areas of operation, including human resources and staffing. And while the importance of the sector’s services became more apparent, its critical role in the economy of the Mid-Hudson Valley was less obvious. In 2021, Dyson Foundation grants supported the New York Council of Nonprofits’ (NYCON) work measuring and sharing data related to these key areas.
Plans for a study of salary and benefits in the region’s nonprofit sector began prior to the pandemic in response to a common challenge for nonprofits – offering salaries and benefits that allow organizations to recruit and retain qualified staff. While the survey process was delayed, NYCON persisted in collecting and assembling the data during 2020, and in 2021 released the report, “Compensation & Benefits Profile of Mid-Hudson Valley Nonprofits” (download a free copy here). Funded by the Dyson Foundation in partnership with the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley, the report gathered data from 77 organizations representing 4,127 employees in six Mid-Hudson Valley counties. Numerous charts and tables illustrate details related to organizational characteristics, employee benefit offerings and employer contribution policies, and position-based wage and salary information.
In 2021, NYCON also began work on a report examining the economic impact of the nonprofit sector in the Hudson Valley. “Mission and More: The Economic Power of the Hudson Valley’s Charitable Nonprofit Sector”, was conceived and supported by several grantmaking organizations in the Hudson Valley Funders Network. Utilizing several data sources, the report demonstrates the economic impact of the 7,700+ active, public-serving nonprofits in a nine-county Hudson Valley region including, for example, that nonprofits as a whole employ nearly 1 in 5 non-governmental workers, making the sector the largest private employer in the region with over 139,000 employees. The report also contains findings about the impact of the pandemic on nonprofits as employers. Using New York State Department of Labor nonprofit-specific employment data for 2019 and 2020, the report is unique in comparing employment in the sector both before and during the pandemic.
NYCON is also working on a regional DEI nonprofit assessment tool which will be provided free of charge to nonprofits in the six-county area. Dyson Foundation grants to NYCON for these reports underscore the importance of information in the sector, and the role of nonprofit organizations in the lives of individuals and communities.
