COVID-19 Related Information

May 11th update for our community partners:

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across our communities, we have been communicating with our long-standing partners as well as other CNY funders to more fully understand Oswego County’s evolving needs.

Based on these discussions, the Richard S. Shineman Foundation is responding by:

• Honoring all grant commitments previously communicated including approved multi-year installments
• Deferring all grant reporting requirements due in the next 2 months to alleviate unnecessary burden
• Waiving programmatic restrictions on any grant funds awarded but not yet spent in order to provide greater flexibility for the greatest organizational needs (pursuant to a discussion with our foundation staff)
• Deferring many first round grant decisions until July 23rd board meeting to allow our partners additional time to evaluate and revise their funding proposals
• Second round grant deadline remains June 15, 2020. Discussions with interested grant applicants will commence May 1, 2020 via Zoom meetings
• Expanding our grant capacity (payout) by making targeted COVID-19 investments intended to deploy additional resources in the areas of food, human services, and remote learning resources to the most vulnerable segments of our communities
• Maintaining open lines of communication with our partners through virtual office hours, online meetings (i.e. Zoom), and phone calls to maintain an ongoing pulse on the ever-changing needs

As the circumstances evolve over the coming weeks, we will be updating these guidelines as required. In the meantime, our offices continue to be closed for the foreseeable future. If you need assistance, please email or call and we will respond promptly.