In this Issue
- Stay Connected: A Message from Our Executive Director
- Q2 Grants total $355,000
- Clinton Hill Community Action: In the Spotlight
- Jared Boone is now a Next Gen Fellow
- Announcing Schumann Partner Response Fund
- Equip NJ Pooled Fund
- National Letter to Protect Nonprofit Nonpartisanship
Stay Connected: A Message from Our Executive Director
What a pleasure to see so many of our friends and partners at our annual Schumann Social in June. We continue to receive positive feedback about this event and the opportunity it gave for people to be “in community”. We’re always open to more great ideas about how we can continue to offer support while fostering meaningful connections. Let us know!
During the last few months, we’ve also heard about the challenges many of you face with federal funding freezes, cuts, and rescissions of funds committed to your organizations. Many of you are also navigating abrupt policy shifts that threaten your ability to serve vulnerable and already marginalized communities. In response, we will soon launch a Schumann Partner Support Fund to provide supplemental grants to current Schumann grantee partners. Funds will help our partners adapt to recent unexpected funding and policy changes by supporting investments such as strategic planning, legal support, budget planning, staff investments, and/or related initiatives. Continuing reading below for more information on this new fund.
One of the ways Schumann Fund seeks to leverage impact and expand our reach is to participate with other funders in pooled or collaborative funds. Equip NJ is a great example of such a fund and we are a proud financial contributor. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched Equip NJ and it’s now a stand-alone fund housed with the Community Foundation of New Jersey. This pooled fund is an intermediary initiative that works to strengthen the ecosystem of organizations working to advance equity and justice in New Jersey. Equip NJ provides financial and technical support to New Jersey equity and justice-focused organizations. To learn more about their work, keep reading.
Let’s stay connected in the weeks ahead. Program Partner Jared Boone and I remain available to listen, share ideas and resources, and strategize together in the months to come.
Q2-2025 GRANT AWARDS TOTAL $355,000
$355,000 in grant funding was approved by Schumann Fund Trustees at their quarterly board meeting in June 2025.
The funds will empower organizations across New Jersey to drive justice, equity, and community development. Key initiatives include creating affordable housing, expanding youth services and preventing youth homelessness, expanding the availability of child care, and strengthening youth mental health and education programs. These grants aim to build stronger, more resilient communities by supporting essential staff, services, and outreach efforts.
Executive Director Lucy Vandenberg, shared, “The latest Point in Time Count showed an eight percent increase in homelessness in New Jersey over the past year. These trends reinforce our commitment to investing in Essex County and New Jersey organizations fighting every day to increase the supply of affordable housing for youth and families, connect them to housing stability through housing first approaches, and prevent homelessness in the first place.”
Learn more about each of these grantees and their awards below.
Equip NJ, fiscally sponsored by Community Foundation of New Jersey, received a $50,000 operating grant to strengthen the ecosystem of organizations focused on justice and equity in the state of New Jersey. Morristown, NJ
New Jersey Center for Nonprofits received a $50,000 multi-year grant ($25,000 per year for two years) to support their policy and communications initiatives statewide in response to federal policy changes and funding cuts affecting New Jersey non-profits. Mercerville, NJ
Fair Share Housing Center received a multi-year operating grant of $80,000 ($40,000 per year for two years) toward creating new affordable homes, with a concentration in Essex County, New Jersey. Cherry Hill, NJ
Family Promise of Essex County received a $225,000 multi-year operating grant ($75,000 per year for three years) with a focus on hiring a new Montclair Homelessness Liaison. Montclair, NJ
Covenant House New Jersey received a $15,000 program grant for the planning stage of Covenant House New Jersey’s successful model of care and the construction of a new, multi-use center to serve homeless and at-risk youth and Newark residents. They also received the second installment of their 2024 program grant for $25,000 ($50,000 total grant for two years) for case management services at Newark Youth Engagement Center. Newark, NJ
Programs for Parents received a multi-year operating support grant of $100,000 ($50,000 per year for two years) with focus on support for the full-time Community Program Manager. Newark, NJ
Family Connections received a program grant of $30,000 for their School-Based Youth Services Program and Pride+. East Orange, NJ
St. Benedict’s Preparatory School received the final installment of $25,000 ($50,000 total grant for two years) for their 2024 program support grant for the Steven M. Grossman Family Counseling Center. Newark, NJ
Montclair Foundation received the final installment of $20,000 ($60,000 total grant for three years) for their 2023 program support grant for the Nature Connections Program and Discovering Nature Field Trip Program. Montclair, NJ
GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT: CLINTON HILL COMMUNITY ACTION
Community Building – An Act of Love and Resilience
There are few stabilizing forces like the power of community.
Winds blow, change comes, and time inevitably moves forward. Yet, when all else is shaken, community remains the foundation of our society. In times like these, community builders are worth celebrating.
Clinton Hill Community Action (CHCA) is a bedrock institution in Newark’s historic Clinton Hill neighborhood. Located on Chadwick Avenue between West Runyon and West Bigelow streets, CHCA’s footprint extends deeply into the heart of Newark’s South Ward. Founded in 2019, and led by Executive Director Khaatim Sherrer El, CHCA believes in a resident-led approach to community building. By working alongside neighbors, CHCA engages and mobilizes residents to be part of actions that lead to sustained progress.
CHCA’s signature campaign is Beat the Blight – a resident led initiative that was birthed in response to complaints about the number of vacant, abandoned properties located around the neighborhood. Each year, in the spring and fall, CHCA organizes with neighborhood residents to cleanup and beautify long blighted areas of the neighborhood. During each cycle, their goal is to address at least 20 vacant and abandoned properties and, in doing so, change the narrative about the Clinton Hill neighborhood.
BEFORE
AFTER
Be it preserving and sharing Clinton Hill history through its Neighborhood History Project, or organizing Concerned Citizens meetings, CHCA has built trust, amplified community voice, and turned collaboration into action for a stronger, more equitable Clinton Hill. CHCA’s success is a reminder to us all that the ties that bind us are far greater than the issues that may divide us. From Avon Avenue to Hawthorne Avenue, and South 19th Street down to Bergen Street, CHCA is demonstrating that community building is an ongoing act of love and resilience.
Schumann Fund began its support of Clinton Hill Community Action in October of 2021 with a $50,000 grant for general operating support. Since then, Schumann Fund has continued to invest in CHCA’s mission, most recently awarding another $50,000 to advance affordable and healthy housing in the Clinton Hill neighborhood. CHCA’s work aligns closely with the Schumann Fund’s program priority of affordable homes and healthy communities and is furthered through our community power-building strategy.
“At Clinton Hill Community Action, we believe community power starts with the people who live here. Through our efforts to ignite civic engagement and build resident leadership, neighbors are stepping forward to lead change, support one another, and strengthen the South Ward. Whether it’s Ms. Brenda, President of Seniors in Action, organizing seniors to make our neighborhood more age-friendly, Mr. Arnie Pinnix helping document our shared history, Devon Henry speaking up for small landlords and tenants knowing their rights, or Idrissa Wilson and Emma Warren leading through our Concerned Citizens meetings, we’re seeing everyday people become the driving force behind real progress. This is what resilience looks like, with neighbors lifting each other up and building something lasting together.”
-Khatim Sherrer El, Executive Director
PROGRAM PARTNER JARED BOONE SELECTED FOR
NEXT GEN FELLOWS PROGRAM
Congratulations to Schumann’s new Program Partner, Jared Boone, for being selected to participate in the national Exponent Philanthropy Next Gen Fellows Program. It’s a six-month leadership development program for dynamic leaders, roughly 18–35 years old, involved in various types of foundations as trustees or staff. It’s designed for deep learning, engagement, and peer networking to prepare participants to lead both in the future and now from their current position. Jared will join a cohort of foundation staff and trustees from around the country. The fellowship launches this fall with an in-person gathering at Exponent Philanthropy’s conference in Columbus, Ohio. Congratulations, Jared!
SCHUMANN PARTNER SUPPORT FUND
We are living in tumultuous times. In response to the emerging needs of our grantee partners, Schumann Fund for New Jersey is launching the Schumann Partner Response Fund this fall to provide streamlined, flexible funding to our grantee partner organizations. This fund will help them to navigate challenges that threaten their operations and programs, levy undue burden on staff, and inflict harm on vulnerable communities. The initiative reflects Schumann Fund’s commitment to advance ideas and opportunities which empower low-income children, families, and communities of color to thrive in Essex County and beyond. The Schumann Partner Support Fund will complement Schumann’s investment in Equip NJ, which provides funding and technical support to New Jersey equity and justice-focused organizations. More details about the Fund will be available this fall. For more information, please reach out to our Program Partner Jared Boone, at jboone@schumannfund.org.
EQUIP NJ POOLED FUND:
Strategic and Technical Support on the Way!
Equitable Policies in New Jersey (EQUIP NJ) is a philanthropic organization aimed at strengthening the ecosystem of organizations working to advance equity and justice in New Jersey. By “funding the fight,” EQUIP NJ provides strategic and technical assistance to non-profit organizations. EQUIP NJ is guided by six value-driven aims – aligning power, amplifying community, centering health and restoration, embodying equity, nurturing relationships, and strengthening the ecosystem. These values shape every decision the initiative makes and are set to ensure accountability to the field and the work that needs to be done. EQUIP NJ strengthens organizational safety and security infrastructure through the following support categories:
- Field Resources
- Training
- Shared Expert Consultation
- Implementation Funding
These supports span four key service areas:
- Physical Security
- Cybersecurity
- Financial Services
- Legal Supports
Schumann Fund is a contributor to Equip NJ. For more information about the strategic and technical assistance resources available, contact Sharif Braxton, Founding Director at Equip NJ.
SCHUMANN FUND SIGNS ON TO NATIONAL LETTER
TO PROTECT NONPROFIT NONPARTISANSHIP
Schumann Fund has joined hundreds of non-profits, including philanthropic organizations, to sign-on to a national letter organized by the Interfaith Alliance, National Council of Nonprofits, Independent Sector, and other organizations to protect 501(c)3 nonprofit nonpartisanship, which is currently under significant threat.
As reported by the NJ Center for Nonprofits at the end of July:
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has asked a federal court in Texas to approve a legal settlement that would undermine the federal law – commonly known as the Johnson Amendment – that protects nonprofits from partisan politics. If approved, the settlement would declare the Johnson Amendment to be unconstitutional and bar enforcement of the law against the entities involved in the case. It would set a dangerous precedent and open the door to dismantling the nonpartisanship framework that has protected 501(c)(3) organizations for more than 70 years.
The New Jersey Center for Nonprofits, like thousands of secular and religious nonprofits nationwide, has long supported the existing ban on partisan political activity, which has been in place for more than 60 years. We believe strongly that weakening this protection would undermine trust in the integrity of all 501(c)(3) nonprofits, make organizations vulnerable to untoward political pressures, and all but guarantee the infusion of “dark money” into charitable work. For additional background, see this piece from the National Council of Nonprofits.
We will continue to follow the NJ Center for Nonprofits for updates on this critical issue for our sector.
About Schumann Fund for New Jersey
Founded in 1988, Schumann Fund for New Jersey is a private foundation based in Montclair, NJ. It advances ideas and opportunities to empower low-income children, families, and communities of color to thrive. The foundation invests in non-profit organizations rooted in Essex County and statewide that work to advance racial and economic equity.