Annual Impact: 2025
Since its founding in 2018, WSCF has given over $1.4M in grants to organizations in Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, and Hudson Yards*.
The 2025 Annual Impact Report outlines the impact of WSCF’s Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 grants and highlights a few of the grantees’ initiatives. Key impact areas include food security, education and economic empowerment, community improvement, and health and wellness.
We encourage you to read the report and learn more about the critical services the grant recipients are providing to under-resourced residents in Chelsea, Hudson Yards, and Hell’s Kitchen.
We are proud to partner with these organizations and to continue advancing the Fund’s mission of strengthening the west side communities.
*Of the $1.4M, $186,000 was distributed as part of the West Side Small Business Grants in 2020
Grantee Highlights
VISIONS - Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired Combating the digital divide with intergenerational connections
VISIONS - Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a vision rehabilitation and social service organization in Chelsea, received a WSCF grant in support of a technology program connecting older blind adults with tech-savvy blind and sighted youth. As technology has become vital for daily tasks, from accessing healthcare to staying in touch with loved ones, VISIONS ensures that older adults with vision loss are not left behind. Nearly 40% of participants lacked the devices or digital skills to meet these basic needs prior to enrolling in the program.
Youth volunteers, trained in Certified Assistive Technology Instruction, provided one-on-one sessions on email and transportation apps, internet navigation, utilizing screen readers, text magnification, and the fundamentals of smartphone communication. VISIONS’ work is anchored in a “high touch” model: personalized, consistent support that reinforces learning over time.
The project exceeded its goals of increasing independence for older adults while delivering a meaningful service experience for youth and strengthening intergenerational community ties. One participant shared, “Going to VISIONS has helped me on multiple levels. It has allowed me to accept my vision loss, gain inspiration from others at the center, and learn to enjoy life again.”
Friends of Chelsea Green Park Inclusive by design
Friends of Chelsea Green Park works to ensure that the park, located at 140 W 20th St, welcomes all members of the community, including older adults and adults without children, two groups that are often overlooked. The park and its playground are popular with families with young kids, but recognizing that the space was built for everyone, neighborhood organizers launched initiatives to broaden participation and foster inclusivity.
Utilizing WSCF funds, a series of events were rolled out over the summer with a diverse turnout. Recurring monthly or with more frequency, coffee gatherings, Chi Kung workout classes, lectures, and music performances were opportunities for neighbors to gather beyond programs aimed at families with young children, while remaining welcoming to all.
Assemblymember Tony Simone has participated, and during a September coffee event, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal made an unplanned visit. Instead of offering a formal speech, Hoylman-Sigal chose to mingle with attendees, embodying the down to earth and inviting spirit the park’s organizers have worked to cultivate.
Gotham Food Pantry Increasing food access and strengthening community ties
Gotham Food Pantry, in partnership with Fulton Houses Tenant Association, expanded their food rescue and distribution service for residents of the NYCHA Fulton Houses in Chelsea. With WSCF grant funds allocated towards transportation and logistics, the program delivered 5,000 pounds of food each week. During a time of rising food costs and limited options, the project provided consistent access to fresh produce, proteins, and pantry staples for hundreds of households.
One resident, Marisol, a grandmother raising her two grandsons, shared that before Gotham Food Pantry’s distributions began, she needed to skip meals to stretch her SNAP benefits through the month. “Now,” she said, “I don’t have to choose between feeding the boys or paying the electric bill. The fresh fruit alone means so much–they hadn’t had peaches this good since we moved here.”
Access to nutritious food extends beyond hunger relief; it restores dignity, strengthens community ties, and empowers residents to play an active role in sustaining their own food systems. Tenant leaders helped organize bi-weekly distributions and coordinate volunteers, and local grocery stores, restaurants, and wholesalers supplied the initiative with surplus food. Over the course of the program, eight new donors were added, growing the network of support for residents. Food distributions became moments of mutual aid and connection. Hector, a longtime tenant leader, noted how the project transformed community spirit: “People don’t just come for the food. They stay to help unload, to check in on each other. It’s brought back a sense of connection we lost during the pandemic.”