North Star Fund
Helping the Disenfranchised Find a Voice
North Star Fund raises money from New Yorkers for grants to support grassroots organizing in New York City and the Hudson Valley. For 40 years, the North Star Fund community has been comprised of organizers, donors, and advocates, whose invaluable work ensures that traditionally disenfranchised communities have a voice and the tools to be heard.
During the racial and civil unrest of the Summer of 2020, the Foundation sent funds to North Star, for their distribution to Let Us Breathe, the only NYC-based fund led by and for Black activists. North Star has prioritized growing and sustaining a deeply underfunded Black-led organizing infrastructure in the New York City, and we support them in their efforts.
The Foundation is proud to have been one of the lead supporters of the North Star Fund’s Activism’s Future Campaign, as well as continuing to fund critical general operating support. This enables North Star to fulfill its mission as a voice for the values of equality, economic justice, and peace.
Our Response to COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic presents enormous challenges to our way of life. Here in New York City the heroism and selflessness of so many individuals continues daily, as frontline workers treat the ill and care for our community at great risk to themselves.
As part of our immediate response to the pandemic, the Foundation provided $1MM in relief to the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) for direct distribution to city hospitals hardest hit by the pandemic. We gave a $1MM grant to NYU Langone Medical Center also to help alleviate the burden on essential workers during this emergency. These relief funds went directly to meals and transportation for essential health workers like doctors, nurses and other hospital staff, as well as much needed housing, including for those who do not want to return home to families who are safe in isolation.
The Foundation responded to the critical needs of those living in the Foundation’s immediate neighborhood and supported the Westside Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH.) WSCAH serves more than 20,000 New Yorkers annually, and provides essential benefits for New York families at risk. The organization acted quickly to partner with other Upper West Side and Bronx-based organizations and are now serving more people than ever. Please watch their inspiring video at the bottom of our homepage.
The Foundation honors our current commitments to our grantees, many of whose work is threatened during this time. We accelerated payments and lifted restrictions on the grants in order for the organizations to use the funds where they are most needed.
The staff of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation remain operational and working remotely, responding to our grantees and the needs of our greater community here in New York.
Please be well and stay safe.