Category: Donors & Partners

ESL Federal Credit Union Gifts $40,000 to the NeighborWorks® Community Partners Rochester COVID-19 Relief Program

ESL Federal Credit Union has pledged $40,000 to support the Neighborly Fund, relief loans for community members in need as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. NeighborWorks® Community Partners Rochester (NCP) announced the creation of the Neighborly Fund in April 2020, and the inaugural distribution will provide no interest, deferred loans of up to $3,500 to homeowners in Monroe County who are financially impacted by COVID-19 through layoffs, furloughs, or other hardships.

“NeighborWorks Community Partners is vital to preserving the financial well-being of many residents throughout our community,” said Ajamu Kitwana, Vice President/Director of Community Impact, ESL Federal Credit Union. “We support the organization, its mission and the ‘Neighborly Fund’ because these grants are imperative to providing much needed assistance to residents throughout Greater Rochester experiencing financial hardships related to housing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

NCP set out to raise $250,000 for these no interest, deferred loans, which can be used to pay mortgages or utilities, phone bills, buying groceries, or other urgent needs. Borrowers also receive free, one-on-one financial counseling to plan for the coming months and repay the loan when (or if) they can. Any repayments made on loans will be paid forward to continue providing affordable financing to low-income WNY residents.

Applications officially open NOW through NCP’s website.

“ESL Foundation has been a strong supporter of NeighborWorks® Community Partners and for residents of the City of Rochester for many years,” said Jerome M. Nagy, Chief Executive Officer of NCP. “We are so proud to work with the Foundation to help ensure homeowners in Rochester have a little extra support. Working together with our neighbors in the community and with partners like the ESL Foundation we will get through these troubled times stronger and more resilient.”

To date, the online fundraising campaign has raised more than $175,000 for WNY (Erie, Niagara and Monroe Counties) homeowners and Buffalo small business owners, including $100,000 in seed capital from NCP. To support the Neighborly Fund, visit the GoFundMe page or website.

About NeighborWorks® Community Partners Rochester
NeighborWorks® Community Partners Rochester is committed to providing quality services that help individuals and families with modest budgets create safe and healthy homes, build personal wealth through homeownership and grow vibrant communities across the Greater Rochester region. For more information, click here.

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Updates to Services: COVID-19 Response

Dear Neighbors,

Between a tough flu season and the recent news about COVID-19, we wanted to check in with you about visiting the office during this time, which will remain open Monday – Friday, 8:30am to 5pm until further notice. Please review the following updates to our programs and services:

  • At this time, we are suspending face-to-face counseling. If you have a counseling appointment, you can still maintain you appointment with your counselor via telephone or video conference. Please contact us so we can provide you with further instructions.
  • All education classes have been cancelled for March. We will follow up shortly with more information about rescheduling.
  • Home energy assessments will continue as scheduled, but will be doing health checks with all homeowners in advance.
  • Loan payments continue to be due, as scheduled.

We will continue to evaluate the situation and share any changes to our office hours to our website, and on social media as things happen.

If you have other needs, or have further questions, feel free to give us a call at (585) 325-4170 or email us at info@nwcprochester.org and we will get back to you by the end day.

Thank you,
The NeighborWorks Community Partners Team

NeighborWorks® America Grants NCP $35,000 for Special Projects

We are excited to announce that NeighborWorks® Community Partners has received $35,000 in supplemental grant funding from NeighborWorks® America to help strengthen our capacity to deliver the highest quality of services while continuing to work toward mission-sustainability. These funds will allow us to take a good, hard look at community needs and find new ways to expand our services. We are grateful to NeighborWorks America for its continued support of the work that we do in the Greater Rochester region, and across Western, NY!