Social Innovation Fund (Center for Economic Opportunity)

In 2010, the Mayor’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) and the Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC received a $5.7 million Social Innovation Fund (SIF) federal grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. This grant is supporting the replication of five of CEO's most promising anti-poverty programs in New York City and seven partner cities: Kansas City, MO; Memphis, TN; northeast Ohio; Newark, NJ; San Antonio, TX; Savannah, GA; and Tulsa, OK.

The SIF programs being piloted are:

• Jobs-Plus, a site-based employment initiative for public housing residents;
• Family Rewards, a conditional cash transfer program to reduce current and future poverty;
• $aveUSA, a savings program linked to the Earned Income Tax Credit;
• Young Adult Internship Program, a paid work exploration and education program for disconnected youth; and
• WorkAdvance, a sector-focused training and advancement program for low-wage workers.

The Mayor’s Fund continues to seek private support for this innovative national effort. For more information on the SIF programs, please visit www.nyc.gov/ceo.

NYC °CoolRoofs (Office of the Mayor)
Launched in September 2009, NYC °CoolRoofs is a collaborative effort between the NYC Department of Buildings, NYC Service and nonprofit partner Community Environmental Center aimed at promoting and facilitating the cooling of New York City’s rooftops. To “cool” rooftops, a reflective white coating is applied to the surface of the roof, which decreases the amount of energy absorbed by the roof. This lowers the building’s temperature, and subsequently reduces energy use, cooling costs and carbon emissions. This initiative began as a pilot program in Long Island City, Queens – where rooftop temperatures were recorded significantly higher than the city average. Whether you are interested in purchasing coating material, making a monetary contribution or volunteering to help coat rooftops, your support will be instrumental in helping make NYC even cooler!

To learn more about NYC °CoolRoofs, go to www.nyc.gov/coolroofs.
NYC Civic Corps (Office of the Mayor)
As part of NYC Service, the Mayor's initiative to promote volunteerism in New York City, NYC Civic Corps was launched on April 20, 2009. NYC Civic Corps matches individuals with local public and nonprofit organizations to help build sustainable-impact volunteer programs. Now in its second year, the initiative is helping to drive volunteer activity to the issues where the City's needs are greatest: strengthening neighborhoods and helping neighbors in need, education, health, emergency preparedness and the environment. NYC Civic Corps members receive a monthly living allowance, health insurance, educational awards, and other benefits. For more information go to www.nyc.gov/service.

Greater NY (Office of the Mayor)
Launched by private sector business leaders in response to the current economic crisis, Greater NY is a strategic partnership program that pairs business executives with nonprofit executive directors in an effort to build stronger and more effective nonprofits. Through two-year one-on-one partnerships, leaders work together to develop and implement innovative solutions to nonprofit business challenges using best practices from both the private and nonprofit sectors.

Greater NY is one of a series of initiatives announced by the Mayor on April 6, 2009 to help nonprofit organizations survive the economic downturn. These initiatives aim to reduce nonprofit organizations' fixed costs, expand loan programs, enhance the responsiveness and efficiency of City contracting procedures to speed payments, and build new partnerships, such as Greater NY, to help foster stronger nonprofits. To learn more, go to www.nyc.gov/nonprofit.

Financial Empowerment Centers (Department of Consumer Affairs)
The Financial Empowerment Center Initiative provides one-on-one free, confidential, and individualized financial counseling and coaching in English and Spanish. Administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs' Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) and the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), the first Financial Empowerment Center, in the Melrose section of the Bronx, was opened by Mayor Bloomberg on June 19, 2008. Center staff provide direct assistance to people in crisis, help families stabilize their finances and plan for their future, and provide strategic referrals to other public and private resources. Financial counseling services are targeted to money management, budgeting, selecting safe and affordable financial products, evaluating credit decisions, credit and debt assistance, negotiating with creditors, managing debt, and understanding (and exercising) consumer rights and responsibilities in the financial services marketplace. On May 11, 2009 the Mayor opened three new Centers in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

$aveNYC (Department of Consumer Affairs)
In an effort to explore strategies to help low-income families build savings for asset development and emergency needs, the Office of Financial Empowerment piloted a matched savings incentive during the 2008 tax season. The initiative, $aveNYC, was targeted towards Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) recipients who committed to holding savings in an account for at least one year. Research of the first year cohort resulted in improved participation rates and more expansive implementation of the program in 2009. In 2009, the $aveNYC program was expanded to all people filing at participating Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites, with implementation partners opening 1,058 accounts in the first half of the tax season. Program participants leveraged over $575,000 in savings with total contributions of over $388,000 and an anticipated match amount of over $188,000.

Over three years, the $aveNYC Account program has successfully encouraged New Yorkers with low incomes to build savings at tax time. To date, approximately 2,200 New Yorkers with low incomes chose to participate in the $aveNYC program, fully exhausting private match dollars available and saving $1.4 million in total, with an average savings of $561.  Approximately 80 percent of participants saved for the full term, despite incomes averaging approximately $17,000. Additionally, 70 percent of participants maintained their accounts beyond their program term; and 30 percent participated again in the program the following year.

$aveNYC is now part of the Social Innovation Fund as $aveUSA and is being piloted nationally in Newark, NJ, Tulsa, OK and San Antonio, TX.

Opportunity NYC (Center for Economic Opportunity)
The nation's first conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, Opportunity NYC, is an evidence-based strategy for reducing poverty in New York City. Officially launched by Mayor Bloomberg in September 2007, the initiative provides financial incentives to low-income families to improve education, health and workforce outcomes and consists of three separate pilot programs for children, adults, and families.

Implemented by the City of New York, in collaboration with non-profit partners MDRC and Seedco, the Opportunity NYC Family Rewards program includes a sample of approximately 5,000 families in Central and East Harlem in Manhattan, Brownsville and East New York in Brooklyn, and Morris Heights/Mount Hope and East Tremont/Belmont in the Bronx. Two other pilots, the adult-focused Work Rewards program and the child-focused SPARK program, are being implemented in many neighborhoods across the City. Unlike conventional approaches to poverty reduction which focus on social services to create a safety net for those in need, incentive-based strategies increase participation in targeted activities and programs that decrease factors contributing to poverty and long-term dependency. Monetary incentives are being awarded when households meet specific targets.

Opportunity NYC represents a ground-breaking and inventive approach to poverty reduction and a national model for anti-poverty policy. The initiative will be rigorously evaluated to determine the impact of incentive-based strategies on child, youth, and family outcomes as well as on overall poverty reduction. Evaluation results will help determine whether these strategies are a cost-effective approach to reducing poverty in NYC, and will serve to inform future policy decisions. Over $62 million is being raised entirely through private donations from foundations, corporations, and individuals.
Read the Executive Summary of the CEO Strategy & Implementation Report, released December 27, 2007 (in PDF)

Mayor's Tax Credit Campaign (Department of Consumer Affairs)
In 2002, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg directed the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to create a Citywide coordinated campaign to increase the number of eligible New Yorkers claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In the intervening years, New York City has assembled the most comprehensive EITC Coalition in the country, combining the efforts of more than 250 partners to publicize the credit and to help New Yorkers file their taxes for free or at a low cost, and raise awareness of important tax credits such as the EITC and the NYC Child Care Tax Credit.  The EITC has been called the most successful anti-poverty program in the country, returning government dollars to working families and individuals through either a credit on taxes or as cash refunds. 

Over the past nine years, we have distributed nearly 17 million pieces of EITC Campaign literature to City agencies, post offices, public libraries, and schools and placed advertisements on the subways and buses, in bus shelters and phone kiosks, in McDonald's, and in dozens of newspapers, including community and ethnic media outlets, and on several television channels and radio stations.  Since 2002, New Yorkers at the City’s free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites have completed more than 500,000 returns, 40% of which were EITC returns. According to the Internal Revenue Service, New Yorkers claimed approximately $3.62 billion in total EITC tax credits and obtained an average EITC refund of $2,163 in 2011.