Hudson County relief groups get get Robin Hood funding
HUDSON COUNTY – Robin Hood’s Hurricane Sandy Relief Committee met on Jan. 18 and Jan. 23 to review and approve the latest round of relief grants. They awarded 71 organization grants totaling more than $9.5 million, bringing the total granted by Robin Hood thus far to $29.8 million to more than 220 organizations in the tri-state area. This represents 44 percent of the Robin Hood Sandy Relief Fund.
The majority of grants were for housing-related programs designed to help individuals and families get back into their homes or to help them move into transitional housing. This funding includes grants to several long-term recovery groups in New Jersey and Long Island.
“Our aim is to get 95 percent of the money from the Robin Hood Relief Fund granted no later than March 31,” said David Saltzman, executive director of Robin Hood. “We will continue to do our best to get the money out the door as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
Hoboken Department of Health and Human Services will get $210,000. The Hoboken Multi-Service Center housed a number of community health programs that served low- to moderate-income families, and the building has been closed due to damage from the storm. Funds from this grant will allow them to repair and refurnish classrooms and office space for Hoboken Day Care 100, which provides high quality day-care to 100 children, and to restore Hoboken Family Planning, which served 45 women per week, and which served as the sole source of medical care for the majority of those women.
Hudson Milestones, which is based in Bayonne and Jersey City and operates a wide variety of programs to assist developmentally disabled individuals of all ages, will get $75,000. Hudson Milestones lost twelve of their transport vehicles in the storm, including four specially equipped school buses and eight specially equipped 12-passenger vans. This funding will help defray the replacement costs (not covered by insurance) for some of these vehicles.
Founded in 1988, Robin Hood is New York’s largest poverty-fighting organization, and has focused on finding, funding and creating programs and schools that generate meaningful results for families in New York’s poorest neighborhoods. The Robin Hood Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund has granted tens of millions of dollars to organizations throughout New York’s tri-state region that help individuals and families recover from the devastating effects of the storm. In addition, Robin Hood’s board of directors pays all administrative, fundraising and evaluation costs, so 100 percent of donations go directly to organizations helping victims of Hurricane Sandy rebuild their lives.
Hoboken Housing Authority to appoint general counsel
The Hoboken Housing Authority Board of Commissioners will hold a special meeting on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. in the community room of Monroe Gardens, 221 Jackson St. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss responses to the request for qualifications for general counsel to the Hoboken Housing Authority, whose bid deadline is Feb 1.
Hoboken Museum reopens Sunday
The Hoboken Museum reopens on Sunday, Jan. 27 with two new exhibits. The new main gallery exhibit is called “Mapping the Territory: Hudson County in Maps 1840-2013.” A free public reception will run Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. The upper gallery also reopens with “Meadowlands, A Wetlands Survival Story: Paintings by Thomas Yezerski.” For more information visit www.hobokenmuseum.org
Courtroom Art now on display at 1200 Gallery
Courtroom Art, a new exhibition presented by the Mason Civic League, will run through Saturday Feb. 16 at 1200 Gallery, 1200 Washington Street. The exhibition features drawings done inside the courtrooms of some of the nation’s most riveting trials including Watergate and Son of Sam. Artist Elizabeth Williams has been published on the covers of many national and international publications and include the trials of John Gotti, Martha Stewart, Bernard Madoff and John DeLorean. Artist Aggie Kenny has covered many famous trials and won an Emmy award for her trial coverage for CBS Evening News.
Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information call (201) 706-8088 or go to www.gallery1200.org. For more information on the works in the exhibit visit www.illustratedcourtroomblogspot.com.
HoLa Duel Language School awarded $10K grant
Hoboken Duel Language Charter School is one of twelve recipients of the Seeds of Change “Share the Gold” grant in support of community based gardening and sustainable farming. The Hoboken Duel Language Charter School was selected from more than 13,000 entries. The school plans to use the grant to rebuild their garden from scratch which was flooded during hurricane Sandy.
Auction items for Rebuild Hoboken gala revealed
Tickets are getting scarce but still available for the Rebuild Hoboken Relief Gala on Saturday, Feb. 2. The gala is part of an ongoing effort to collect money for the Rebuild Hoboken grant fund, which will see its first round of distributions in February. A list of items up for auction at the gala was released today and they include: four Lady Gaga tickets, a signed Tony Romo Cowboys helmet, Jet Blue tickets, two 1-minute shopping sprees (yes, 1-minute) at Kings supermarkets (value $2,000), a one week stay in the South of France, a one week stay in St. Augustine, 20 gift cards to local restaurants, a one-year membership to Mimi Yoga, tickets to the Miss America pageant and the after-party, as well as a portrait from Hartshorn gallery. For more information visit www.rebuildhoboken.org