Recommendation For $100 Thousand In Public Purpose Fund Allocations To Roosevelt Island Organizations Approved By RIRA Common Council Last Night - On To RIOC For Final Approval

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The Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Common Council approved the recommendations of its Public Purpose Funds committee for the allocation of $100 thousand in Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Purpose Funds during its monthly meeting last night. These recommendations will now be submitted to RIOC for its final approval.

Here are the recommendations.

Summary of 2012 RIRA Public Purpose Fund Recommendations

Island Kids
Amount Requested $16,000
Recommendation $11,000

The Island Kids program continues to be managed effectively and to offer a well-received program. The request is for scholarships for the summer camp that the program runs. With an income eligibility test to receive a camp scholarship, the program benefits low and moderate income residents. Last year, the number of applicants for full and partial scholarships exceeded the funds available. This year, the participation in the program is expected to grow again.

PS/IS 217 PTA
Amount Requested $26,558
Recommendation $14,000

The PTA request represents a continuation of the program that was partially funded from PPF funds last year. Budget cuts continue to leave no room for art instruction at the school, but the mandate to include such instruction in the curriculum remains. The PTA membership and school leadership have had good results with fundraising and believes strongly in the benefits that the program brings to the environment at the school. The committee’s recommendation is less than last year’s because of the increase in competing requests.

LifeFrames
Amount Requested $25,000
Recommendation $7,000

The LifeFrames program has expanded the involvement of the local community and has increased its funding from outside sources. It is well received by its participants and the leadership of its participating programs. The recommendation is a slight increase from last year’s modest allocation.

RICLA
Amount Requested $20,000
Recommendation $8,500

RICLA has done a good job of expanding their outreach to Island organizations to increase awareness of the program for matching funds for advertising and fund-raising efforts. This improvement was a recommendation by the committee last year. This year, the program allocated their PPF funding much sooner than they did the previous year. Because of this success, the committee recommends a modest increase in funding for the coming year.

RISA
Amount Requested $20,000
Recommendation $11,500

The committee feels that funding of computers for the Senior Center will be a significant benefit to RISA members. Existing computers in the Senior Center are very old. While RISA makes good use of volunteers for maintenance, updating the computers with faster, more functional machines will increase the availability of computer resources to the users. Full funding of their request, however, is not possible because of the competing priorities of other PPF applicants. The committee recommends fully replacing the machines over a period of 2-3 years using this year’s allocation to start the upgrade process.

RIDA

Amount Requested
$10,500
Recommendation $9,000

The RIDA request represents a continuation of an extremely well-received and beneficial program that permits Roosevelt Island disabled citizens to go on trips that significantly improve their quality of life. Without this program, such travel is extremely difficult. The past success of the program, in the view of the committee, justifies continued funding. The recommendation is for the same amount as last year.

R&R Concerts

Amount Requested $14,400
Recommendation $ 8,500

R&R Concerts continues to produce high quality and highly regarded concerts for the RI community. The program is well-run and brings musical events that Island residents might not otherwise get to enjoy. The leadership of R&R Concerts has done a good job of expanding non-PPF funding sources. Despite the success of the program, the committee recommendation is a slight decrease from last year’s allocation.

RIHS
Amount Requested $26,000
Recommendation $8,000

RIHS has done a good job of utilizing the funds allocated to them from Public Purpose Funds. The committee wishes to see the progress continue that the organization has achieved in archiving Island historical documents and items. Compare to other Island organizations, however, the direct benefit to Island residents, in the committee’s view is not as great as other organizations.

RIDN
Amount Requested $35,000
Recommendation $7,500

The RIDN program has a number of unique features, including the use of a third-party organization to vet applications for their scholarship recipients. Because of the overall high cost of the program, however, the committee did not feel that the benefit of these scholarships was as great as other similar programs on the Island. Nevertheless, the committee wished to provide some funding to the organization to permit some participation by Island residents in their program.

Roosevelt Island Swimming

Amount Requested $53,000
Recommendation $6,000

The RI Swimming program has shown a great deal of staying power, having provided swimming lessons to Island youth for over seven years. While the program is makes good use of limited resources, the committee feels that the rate of participation for the funds provided is not as great as other programs.

RIVAA

Amount Requested $28,800
Recommendation $9,000

The committee recognized the benefit of permitting RIVAA to adjust to the new environment under which they must pay rent for their space under the Master Lease. The committee believed however that funding the entire amount of their rent was not possible given other priorities. The committee wishes to encourage the organization to expand their fund raising efforts further to cover their lease expenses.

More on Roosevelt Island Public Purpose Funds from previous posts.

The request by Roosevelt Landings Residents Association for Public Purpose Funds in the amount of $2800 to pay a previously incurred bill of a submetering consultant advising the residents in their dispute with Urban American landlord was rejected in a close vote after a lengthy discussion. The Roosevelt Landings Residents Association application was initially rejected by RIOC because they did not have 501 (c) (3) status which is a requirement for receiving Public Purpose Funds but a sponsoring 501 (c) (3) organization was later obtained, though after the deadline for applications. Will have more on this later.