Program Areas

The Altman Foundation supports programs and organizations within the five boroughs of New York City in four major areas: Education; Health; Strengthening Communities; and Cultural Engagement, Youth Development, and the Arts; and in the overarching area of Services to Not-for-Profits. To learn more about the objectives and results of each, please click on the Program Area of interest below.

Given that high-quality education is a key driver of social and economic mobility and essential to equitable opportunity for all, the Foundation invests in organizations, programs, and projects that achieve results aligned with the two objectives outlined below. We give priority to initiatives in our areas of interest that expand or enhance multiple programs or schools across a system or network. As a general rule, we do not provide support for individual early childhood programs, or individual district schools, charter schools, public universities, or private colleges/universities. Please note that the "Results Sought" reflect the specific outcomes of interest to us.

Objective 1

Provide disadvantaged children and youth with more high-quality learning time through early childhood education and afterschool, summer, and expanded learning programs.

Results Sought:

  1. Significantly improve the social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children
  2. Measurably improve the academic performance of disadvantaged students
  3. Significantly improve students’ ability to learn, work, and thrive in a digital society
  4. Demonstrably improve the effectiveness of leadership, faculty, and staff

Objective 2

Increase access to and success in high-quality post-secondary educational opportunities.

Results Sought:

  1. Significantly improve the social-emotional capacities of youth essential to college and career success
  2. Increase the number of underserved students enrolled in and completing college
  3. Increase the number of underserved students enrolled in and completing other high-quality post-secondary training and credentialing programs

Recognizing the critical importance of health and mental health care to individuals, families, and communities, the Foundation invests in programs or projects that achieve results aligned with the objectives outlined below. Please note that the "Results Sought" reflect the specific outcomes of highest interest to us at this time.

Objective 1

Expand access to health care for underserved, uninsured, or vulnerable populations or communities.

Results Sought:

  1. Increase in number of New Yorkers with adequate health insurance, particularly public and/or publicly subsidized health insurance
  2. Decrease in system- or community-wide barriers to health care or particular health services due to, e.g., immigration status, economic means, or provider capacity
  3. System- or community-wide increase in number of New Yorkers able to seek, navigate, and manage their health care and health insurance, either alone or with the help of a caregiver

(Priority will be given to projects aimed at systems-change or that are systemic or community-wide in scale or approach.)

Objective 2

Expand and strengthen quality out-of-hospital health care for the most underserved and vulnerable populations.

Results Sought:

  1. Increase in New Yorkers benefitting from primary care from a “Patient-Centered Medical Home” or comparable out-patient community-based provider
  2. Increase in New Yorkers benefitting from coordinated care, care management, and/or multi-disciplinary services and supports provided in an accessible community- or home-based setting, with a focus on programs targeting individuals living in poverty, with multiple chronic or behavioral health conditions, and/or who are transportation-challenged, including frail elders
  3. Increase in New Yorkers receiving services and supports aimed at reducing unnecessary hospital admissions, readmissions, or emergency room use, and successfully transitioning patients into out-of-hospital community-based care and care management

(Priority will be given to programs capable of being sustained with earned or public sector revenue, producing outcomes of long-term value in a short time, and/or of reducing cost to the system while maintaining or improving quality of care to the individual.)

Objective 3

Promote development and expansion of the workforce needed to support delivery of primary, community-based, and at-home health care and care management for the most vulnerable populations.

Results Sought:

  1. Increase in number of health care support workers with improved skills, enhanced job quality, and expanded pathways to advancement in the transforming health service sector
  2. Increase in number of workers newly trained for and successfully placed in entry-level and/or paraprofessional positions related to care coordination, care management, and community outreach

The Foundation has an historic interest in ensuring that individuals and families living in the city have access to the services and resources they need to pursue and sustain successful lives. The Foundation invests in organizations, programs, and projects that achieve results aligned with the objectives outlined below. Please note that the "Results Sought" reflect the specific outcomes of interest to us.

Objective 1

Build and preserve economic security and independence among low-income individuals and families.

Results Sought:

  1. Increase the number of low-income New Yorkers who are placed in and retain jobs that support economic independence
  2. Increase the number of low-income New Yorkers enrolled in public benefits that complement work
  3. Enable vulnerable populations (e.g., the elderly) to remain in their own homes and communities, with a focus on systemic efforts to address barriers to independence

Objective 2

Promote and sustain the availability of, and equitable access to, essential community resources needed to support stable, healthy communities, with an emphasis on systemic efforts.

Results Sought:

  1. Preserve and/or increase the quality and amount of affordable housing
  2. Preserve and/or increase the quality and availability of well-maintained parks and open spaces, and other essential community resources

The Foundation has had a longstanding interest in the arts, reflecting Benjamin Altman’s personal commitment and our belief in the essential role that cultural engagement and the arts play in enriching the lives of New Yorkers and creating new avenues of exploration and opportunity for the city’s young people. Given our particular focus on issues of access and inclusion, the Foundation invests in organizations, programs, and projects that achieve results aligned with the objectives outlined below. As a general rule, the programs that we support take place outside of the public schools. Please note that the "Results Sought" reflect the specific outcomes of interest to us.

Objective 1

Promote access to arts and culture for all New Yorkers, with a special focus on people from underserved communities

Results Sought:

  1. Increase sustained engagement and participation of underserved populations in high-quality programming at established arts and cultural organizations
  2. Strengthen the arts infrastructure in the city and build capacity at critical junctures for organizations providing high-quality arts and cultural programming

Objective 2

Promote positive youth development among underserved youth through engagement in arts, cultural, and other unique programs that provide sequential opportunities to participate over an extended period of time.

Results Sought:

  1. Significantly increase mastery of program-specific competencies and developmentally appropriate life skills
  2. Prepare participants to transition successfully to post-secondary and/or professional opportunities, including employment in the creative economy

A strong and resilient nonprofit sector is essential to the work of the Altman Foundation and to our colleague funders, both private and public. We are only as good as our grantees. In this overarching program area, the Foundation provides support to achieve the results aligned with the objectives outlined below. Please note that the "Results Sought" reflect the specific outcomes of interest to us.

Objective 1

The Foundation provides support to achieve the following:

Results Sought:

  1. Significantly enhance the ability of key umbrella organizations to help their member or constituent agencies address critical community issues in the Foundation's areas of interest
  2. Measurably improve organizational effectiveness or program quality of community-based or other organizations working in the Foundation's areas of interest

?>