House Committee on Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro announced that the Committee is accepting Community Project Funding (CPF) requests from Members of the U.S. House of Representatives for Fiscal Year 2023. This is in addition to the standard programmatic and language-based requests. Each Member is limited to no more than 15 Community Project Funding requests across all subcommittees for FY2023. The funding process will be highly selective and there is no guarantee that any of the requested projects will be funded. The FY2023 CPF process has a limited scope with combined earmarks capped at 1% of all discretionary spending and eligible accounts restricted to those listed in the table below.
Please note:
- Congressman Tonko CANNOT accept CPF requests for projects outside of NY-20
- All projects must meet relevant statutory and administrative criteria for funding through the grant program under which it is submitted
- A request submitted to Congressman Tonko does NOT guarantee the project will be selected, and the selection of a project for formal submission does NOT guarantee it will be funded by the Appropriations Committee
- The Committee will NOT provide cost-share waivers and grantees are legally responsible for meeting the non-federal cost share requirements and all other applicable grant criteria
The posted deadline for submitting project requests to Congressman Tonko was close of business on April 15th, 2022.
More information on the process can be found on the House Appropriations Committee’s page. Staff may follow up for additional information to support the CPF request such as budget justification, documentation of community support and need, or proof of ability to meet match requirements once an initial request is submitted.
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Eligible Entities & Projects
Only state and local government entities, public institutions, and non-profit entities are eligible to submit and receive funding through CPF. Funding cannot be directed to for-profit entities and will not include waivers for State or local match requirements. While matching funds do not have to be in-hand prior to the request, requesting entities must have a plan to meet such requirements for the project to be viable. Additionally, each submission must be for FY2023 only and cannot include multi-year funding requests. The Committee will only consider projects with demonstrated community support in the form of: letters from local elected officials; press articles highlighting need; support from newspaper editorial boards; mentions on State intended use plans, community development plans, or other publicly available planning documents; resolutions passed by city councils or boards; etc.
Transparency
The final 15 CPF requests selected and submitted by Congressman Tonko to the Appropriations Committee will be posted on this page. Members are required to certify that neither they nor their immediate family have a financial interest in the CPF requests made.
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Community Projects Requested
NOTE: The projects are listed alphabetically by project title.
Project Name: Business Incubator
Recipient: Amsterdam Free Library
Address: 28 Church Street, Amsterdam, NY 12010
Amount Requested: $469,333
Project Description: The Amsterdam Free Library serves the city and town of Amsterdam, which has a 27.5 percent poverty rate and an 84 percent graduation rate. This project would rehabilitate space in the Amsterdam Free Library to serve as a Business Incubator, providing free and accessible workforce training, educational services, and other programs to support underserved individuals and help them prepare for the workforce. Free services will include offices and conference spaces, computer labs, printers, fax machines, copy machines, tutoring services, test preparation, GED preparation, assistance with employment applications, and support studying for a driver's license. The Business Incubator will foster and develop a workforce of prepared individuals, ensure investment in local talent, and keep graduates in the area and attract entrepreneurs, while increasing overall employment, population growth, and the region's per capita income.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Charlton Community Center Renovation
Recipient: Town of Charlton
Address: 758 Charlton Road, Charlton, NY 12019
Amount Requested: $540,000
Project Description: The project would renovate and restore the Town of Charlton Community Center, which is currently in need of repair and is at risk of becoming unusable. Since 2008, the building has provided meeting space for a variety of volunteer groups and community organizations. Additionally, the building is home for the Charlton Seniors, who use it to hold meetings, provide weekly exercise classes, and maintain a lending library on site. Funding would be used to remediate mold issues, upgrade the center’s dirt floor, preserve the building’s historical appearance, and install a back-up generator so that the center can serve as an emergency shelter for the community.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Educating Nurses for Underserved Communities
Recipient: Siena College
Address: 515 Loudon Road, Loudonville, New York 12211
Amount Requested: $496,541
Project Description: Nursing schools across the country, including Siena's Baldwin Nursing Program, are struggling to expand capacity to meet the rising demand for qualified, compassionate health care workers. To meet that need, particularly in underserved areas, nursing schools need to expand, and they need to be stocked with the right educational equipment and enough of it to properly train new nurses. To maintain a robust pipeline of bachelor's level nurses, up-to-date educational equipment must be in place in the nursing labs to give Siena students hands-on experience in caring for the future patients in the Capital Region. The new educational and laboratory equipment will support Siena's ability to expand its existing health care services to the community by enrolling and graduating even higher numbers, thereby addressing a well-documented health care access disparity in the community and helping to make the Capital Region "eds and meds" sector more attractive to prospective students, health care employers and investors.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Employment Services Facility Improvement Project
Recipient: Unity House of Troy, Inc.
Address: 2431 6th Avenue, Troy, NY 12180
Amount Requested: $800,000
Project Description: Funding will be used by Unity House of Troy to upgrade an existing facility in disrepair to accommodate employment readiness training for low-income individuals and supported employment programs for local community members. This will include by providing work experience at Unity House’s thrift store staffed by supported employment participants. This project would relocate Unity House’s employment programming to downtown Troy, a low- and moderate-income area where these services are not currently available.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Esperanza Verde Park
Recipient: City of Amsterdam
Address: 61 Church Street, NY 12010
Amount Requested: $650,000
Project Description: Esperanza Verde Park is located at the eastern gateway to the City of Amsterdam. It is the first park in a neighborhood where many individuals do not have their own vehicle, public transit is minimal, and the nearest large-scale supermarket is more than three miles away. The project would expand Esperanza Verde Park to create vital gathering spaces and expand the community garden so that residents can grow healthy food and foster a vibrant community. Funding would be used to acquire playground equipment, signage, picnic tables, benches, shade structures, and community garden equipment. The project would transform a vacant location into a cherished community gathering place, while helping to fill a food dessert gap and provide healthy food to an isolated neighborhood.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Expanding STEM and Healthcare Workforce Development Education
Recipient: Hudson Valley Community College
Address: 80 Vandenburgh Avenue, Troy, NY 12180
Amount Requested: $2,065,000
Project Description: Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) is undertaking a workforce development project to update and increase its current educational footprint in Upstate New York. The updated technology, state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, and new classroom furniture at HVCC North will provide expanded workforce development training opportunities to individuals, incumbent workers, and New York State Registered Apprentices in greater Upstate New York, ultimately leading to increased job attainment. This project includes laboratory renovations to the current facility that has reached capacity which will allow the college to increase enrollment and update technology for high-demand programs in STEM, health sciences, and the skilled trades. The goal of the revitalization of the existing laboratories is to increase the enrollment capacity of education and skills training in high-demand health science, STEM and skilled trades programs by 10 to 20 percent beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year. This will allow for expanded course offerings in the academic and workforce development programs vital to New York industry partners, GlobalFoundries, General Electric, and Regeneron. Increased program offerings will allow a greater number of employees to take needed courses in areas of growing workforce demand including Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Clean Energy Management, Solar and Wind Technology, Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology, and Computer Science. The laboratory spaces will also support a larger number of New York State Registered Apprentices, allowing for a collaborative "Apprenticeship Center."
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Hoffman Park Community Center Improvements
Recipient: City of Albany
Address: 24 Eagle Street, Albany, NY 12207
Amount Requested: $400,000
Project Description: The project would redesign and upgrade the Hoffman Community Center, which serves over 15,000 residents. Located in the City’s South End neighborhood, the public facilities at Hoffman Park serve a predominantly low- to moderate-income and historically underserved population, with 40 percent of those living within the target area not having access to a vehicle and the median income being $18,000. A redesigned Hoffman Community Center will allow local and state-wide health partners to coordinate programs to service a designated "Potential Environment Justice Area" and the residents more effectively. The successful completion of this project will revitalize and modernize essential infrastructure in this distressed community and represents an investment for long-term community and economic impact. The funding of the community center project is a vital economic, and a critical necessity to maintain mental and physical health, develop skills, and economic growth.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: HOMEBASE - Combatting Social Isolation & Stigma in the Mental Health Community
Recipient: RISE Housing and Support Services
Address: 127 Union Street, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866
Amount Requested: $2,358,292
Project Description: RISE Housing and Support assists people in Saratoga Springs living with mental health and substance use disorders, chronic illnesses, and other life challenges, many of whom suffer from isolation and homelessness. RISE's HOMEBASE project will combat these problems by creating a social center in downtown Saratoga Springs where individuals can socialize, while also participating in programs and receiving necessary services. Federal funding will be used to support pre-development and construction of a second story addition, and reconfiguration of the first floor of RISE's existing main office building. This 5,200 square foot expansion and reconfiguration are vital for optimizing the existing space and facilitating the HOMEBASE program. First-floor reconfiguration will accommodate the growing level of staffing required to adequately serve vulnerable populations in Saratoga County. Administrative staff will relocate to the second-floor addition, prioritizing first-floor space for direct-care staff providing in-person services.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Little Italy's Neighborhood Placemaking for Economic Development
Recipient: TAP, Inc.
Address: 210 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Amount Requested: $500,000
Project Description: For decades, Troy's historic Little Italy neighborhood was a vibrant community with active small businesses, however, today, most of the commercial spaces are vacant. This project will transform a vacant asphalt lot at the site of Little Italy's historic open-air market into a community piazza and park for neighborhood programming, festivals, events, and community gathering. The new piazza will revitalize a historic neighborhood, celebrate the region’s heritage, benefit thousands of residents and visitors, and boost the local small businesses that make up what survives of the historic Little Italy neighborhood. The transformation of an unused asphalt lot will also help combat urban heat island effect by increasing shade and expanding urban green space.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Matton Shipyard Preservation and Adaptive Reuse Initiative
Recipient: Erie Canalway Heritage Fund, Inc.
Address: PO Box 219, Waterford, NY 12188
Amount Requested: $505,359
Project Description: The Matton Shipyard, located within the City of Cohoes and the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, is a rare surviving example of an early 20th century civilian ship building and repair facility. The site, which has been a fixture in the region since 1917, is in urgent need of repairs and faces increasing threats from flooding due to its location at the junction of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. The City of Cohoes and adjacent Lansingburg and Troy are included on New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Climate Justice Working Group's draft list of Disadvantaged Communities and Environmental Justice Zones. The City of Cohoes has an Environmental Burden that is higher than 79 percent of census tracts statewide and a Population Vulnerability score that is higher than 58 percent of census tracts statewide. This project would restore the shipyard’s historic structures, ensuring that they are protected against future environmental disasters, and remediate contaminated soil. These improvements would bring this once vibrant community site back into public service by developing a historical, cultural, and recreational hub with restored structures, an active and accessible waterfront, and linked trails available for residents and visitors to enjoy for generations to come. The restored shipyard will improve the lives of local residents, attract visitors to the region, and help tell the story of the Capital Region’s historic waterfront.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Reimagining Nursing Virtual Reality Hub
Recipient: Maria College
Address: 700 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, New York 12208
Amount Requested: $770,088
Project Description: Clinical experiences are an important part of nursing education, providing valuable opportunities for skill development. As healthcare needs expand, and institutions enroll more students in nursing programs, clinical placement rotations diminish, often with competition for limited placements. Thus, additional opportunities for students to practice essential skills must be created. The Reimagining Nursing Virtual Reality Hub program addresses this need by augmenting experiential learning with virtual reality technologies and nursing education applications to not only afford students more practice in controlled nursing simulation scenarios but also expand the types of scenarios beyond what they might encounter in a two-year nursing program clinical rotation. In addition, this program will enable students to leverage more experience from clinical hours, gain further opportunities to practice and learn from mistakes, and develop competency confidence. Maria College plans to purchase and install Virtual Reality software, hardware, monitors and other equipment so that the faculty and staff can use it as a platform for success in learning via social presence.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Schenectady Community Action Program (SCAP) Campus Project
Recipient: Schenectady Community Action Program
Address: 913 Albany Street, Schenectady, NY 12307
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
Project Description: The project would create a two-generation, whole family campus that addresses systemic economic challenges, featuring comprehensive supports for low-income residents in Schenectady County, including housing, childcare, employment, resource navigation, case management and counseling services. It would address multiple social determinants of health indicators, including housing and homelessness, education, employment and workforce development, childcare and early childhood development, and behavioral and mental health. It would also address systemic inequity through significant investment in a distressed neighborhood within the City of Schenectady that contributes to documented neighborhood improvement and revitalization priorities.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Schenectady Community Virtual Power Plant
Recipient: City of Schenectady
Address: 105 Jay Street, Schenectady, NY 12305
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Project Description: The City of Schenectady plans to carry out clean energy retrofits of low- and moderate-income (LMI) residential buildings, including multi-family buildings, with energy efficiency upgrades and on-site clean energy generation, such as solar photovoltaics and battery energy storage systems. The building loads (e.g., plug loads and equipment, lighting, and heating ventilating and air-conditioning, and distributed energy resources) within these buildings will be optimally controlled by the Secure Transactive Energy marketPlace (STEP). The retrofitted buildings will be optimized using machine learning for energy use reductions and demand and generation flexibility, empowering LMI community participants. Further, each retrofitted building within the community will be connected and coordinated using the STEP. This funding will enable Schenectady to continue its smart city and clean energy agenda.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Transitional Housing and Services for LGBT and Gender Non-Conforming Youth
Recipient: In Our Own Voices, Inc.
Address: 245 Lark Street, Albany, NY 12210
Amount Requested: $750,000
Project Description: The project would purchase and renovate an existing building to expand In Our Own Voices’ (IOOV) transitional and re-housing program for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Gender Non-Conforming Youth (LGB TGNC). A new, enlarged space will enable IOOV to add two new vital programs: a drop-in center for LGB TGNC youth aged 16-24 and transitional housing for homeless and at-risk LGB TGNC youth. These programs will be transformative for the community by providing a safe, supportive space for addressing topics such as LGB TGNC inclusion, respect for oneself and others, leadership, the dynamics of gender roles, self-esteem, and healthy relationships, as well as housing, case management, HIV and HCV testing, mental health services, and referrals to community resources.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
Project Name: Village of Fultonville Water Project
Recipient: Village of Fultonville
Address: 10 Erie Street, Fultonville, NY 12072
Amount Requested: $45,000
Project Description: The Village of Fultonville has an aging drinking water system in desperate need of upgrades. Due to numerous dead-end connections, water sits in the pipes and due to high iron count in the water, residents experience discolored and sometimes foul-smelling water. Many residents wash their white clothing elsewhere. Additionality, the water system lacks adequate security. This funding will enable Fultonvillle to replace dead-ended water pipes with looped connections and an old fence around the water supply and install a security system.
Signed Disclosure Letter: Click HERE
