Community building

We build partnerships with local organizations to respond to urgent needs and improve the health of underserved communities

Roderick Wong

Chairman of RTW Charitable Foundation

When COVID-19 began ravaging New York, it was clear that RTW Charitable Foundation could be of service to the city we call home. We selected our grantees due to impressive track records, deep ties to the communities and nimbleness in responding to the needs of those they serve. We’re honoured to support their work, on which many New Yorkers depend for their lives and livelihoods.

Sarah Garwood

Assistant Director, Humanitarian Program

Locally-led development is critical for lasting impact in the community. One thing I love about our work at RTWCF is that we really focus our projects on community-led initiatives and shift the power to local leaders. Our partners know the challenges their communities are facing the best, making them best positioned to respond well.

Nate Pelsma

Chief Operating Officer

We look for inspiring local community activators that are passionately serving the needs of their communities in new and creative ways. Their leadership drives our support to greater community impact.

Pandemic recovery initiatives supported in New York City

95,000

Meals provided to families affected by the pandemic

8,158

Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine provided

Nursing staff salaries provided for 3 months

240

Low-income families provided with safe, improved affordable housing

Small businesses in Chinatown supported with grants to remain open in the face of COVID-19 and anti-Asian racism

Violence intervention staff members provided with counseling

70+

Families provided with education support

STEM Education

6th graders in East Harlem are learning about genetics through our partnership with BioEYES and Mount Sinai School of Medicine

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Support for Ukraine

RTW donated $100,000 to Razom, an NYC-based Ukrainian-led non-profit sending medical supplies to hospitals and first responders in Ukraine

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Health Fair in Brooklyn

RTWCF teamed up with ACT Care Foundation to distribute 3,410 pounds of food to local Flatbush residents

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Topic

Areté Education

"We were able to expand our support services to families in temporary housing whose children have not been able to access schooling during this period of remote learning."

- Dr. Sarah Benis Scheier-Dolberg, President of Areté Education, Inc.

"Think!Chinatown launched “Assembly for Chinatown” in the Spring of 2020 to design and construct outdoor build outs at no cost to the restaurants in need, most of which are immigrant- and family-owned."

- Yin Kong, Director and Co-Founder of Think!Chinatown

Hunts Point Alliance for Children

"At PS 48, we've faced many challenges over the last two years. The RTWCF funding will help our teachers be better equipped to handle the emotional challenges and traumatic changes our young learners have faced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic."

- Mr. Joseph Dicrescento, Principal at PS 48

New York Cares

"COVID-19 has devastated NYC, especially those communities that continue to suffer the effects of systemic inequality. New York Cares channels the goodness of New Yorkers to address the immediate needs of those communities while building a foundation for long term prosperity."

- Gary Bagley, former Executive Director of New York Cares

Harlem United

"Harlem United is absolutely thrilled to be partnering with RTW Charitable Foundation. This gift of $100,000 promotes health equity in communities of color most impacted by COVID-19."

- Kevin Rente, Senior Vice President of Strategic Advancement at Harlem United

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

"Early in the pandemic, when Long COVID was an emerging phenomena leaving millions without answers or treatment options, the RTWCF provided us with our only source of research support. This enabled rapid, action-oriented research that has steered knowledge in the field of Long COVID rehabilitation and care."

- David Putrino, PhD, Director of Rehabilitation Innovation for the Mount Sinai Health System

Habitat for Humanity New York City

"COVID-19 may have placed us all in the same storm but we are not all in the same boat. Hard-working New York City families, particularly low-income families, have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic itself, and then again by the ensuing rent and mortgage crises."

- Karen Haycox, CEO of Habitat for Humanity New York City

Welcome to Chinatown

"Manhattan’s Chinatown is a resilient neighborhood that has long served as one of the oldest cultural enclaves in the U.S. The prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic poses a great risk to accelerate the gentrification of Chinatown and the displacement of its residents and small businesses."

- Jennifer Tam, Co-Founder and Board Chair, Welcome to Chinatown

Send Chinatown Love

"Send Chinatown Love is able to feed about 2,500 hungry New Yorkers with meals through our Gift-a-Meal campaign."

- Justin McKibben, Founder of Send Chinatown Love

Weill Cornell Medicine

"Investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine are researching how the COVID-19 pandemic affected children's mental health by analyzing pediatric mental health emergencies during the first three waves of COVID-19 using a large database comprised of 5 major medical centers in NYC."

- Debbie Levine, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics

NICE

"Immigrant workers and their families are facing some of the worst outcomes of this pandemic. They are also the backbone of New York City’s economy and so without support for them there is no true path to recovery for our city."

- Manuel Castro, former Executive Director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)

Violence Intervention Program

"For the Latinx communities hit hardest by death and diagnosis related to Covid-19 and its related economic devastation, this gift is a ray of hope."

- Margarita Guzmán, JD, Executive Director of Violence Intervention Program

BioEyes

"BioEyes makes science come alive for kids! RTWCF partnered with @mountsinainyc and @uofpenn to bring #BioEyes—a hands-on #biology unit where students get to learn about genetics and observing zebra fish hatch under microscopes—to six schools in East Harlem, New York, with hopes to expand to more schools in the fall."

- BioEyes

Rutgers

"RTW Charitable Foundations has been able to provide an invaluable experience for our Medicine-Pediatrics residents at Rutgers Health New Jersey Medical School. With this opportunity, our residents are able to provide assistance to communities around the world."

- Kristin Wong, M.D., FACP, FAAP, Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program Director

ACT Care Foundation

“ACT Care Foundation gives many thanks to RTW Charitable Foundation for the support they have given our organization to enable us to continue the work we do in our community. Flatbush usually doesn't receive enough resources and RTW's contribution has enabled us to feed thousands of families, provide PPE, supplies and referrals to healthcare access. Their partnership has been a true blessing.”

- Ann Marie Selfridge, Program Director, ACT Care Foundation

NYU Langone Health

"Led by the Senior Director of Nursing Wellness and Resilience at NYU Langone, this project aims to train 10 nurses to learn, practice, and implement non-pharmacological holistic integrative health practices they can then deliver to groups of nurses in at risk areas."

- NYU Langone

AICC

"AICC aims to pilot an adapted online version of an evidence-based mental health support program for 32 Black nurses and healthcare workers."

- African International Collaborative Center

ABC

"ABC’s Children’s Mobile Crisis Team (CMCT) provides rapid mental health crisis response to children in Manhattan 24/7. This grant would be used cover the salary of an additional mobile mental health clinician for one year to support children’s mental health needs in NYC."

- Association to Benefit Children

Community building

Roderick Wong

Sarah Garwood

Nate Pelsma

COVID-19 relief impact