Sister Paulette LoMonaco is retiring

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By Zach Williams

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Sister Paulette LoMonaco is retiring. The longtime executive director of Good Shepherd Services has kept busy well into her 70s, as chronicled in this profile by The New York Times. To say the nun’s blend of executive acumen and humble service has created many fans in the nonprofit sector would be an understatement:

Sister LoMonaco will leave her position at the end of the year, according to a press release. A Nov. 12 event in Manhattan will celebrate her career. “Good Shepherd Services has never been about one person – but an entire community. Together, we have built  a small provider of out-of-home care for vulnerable girls into one of the largest youth social services agencies in New York City,” she said in the press release.

 

A new social media campaign is advocating for reforms to New York City procurements. #NoProcurementsNoPeace is the hashtag for nonprofit advocates who want the city Charter Revision Commission to rethink how the city does business with human services agencies that deliver foster care, homeless shelters, food assistance, education, youth development and other services. This video explains what it is all about – in pizza terms.

FPWA does not like what it sees in President Trump’s proposed budget. The financial plan for the upcoming fiscal year includes rosy economic predictions, hikes in military spending – and cuts to domestic programs. “We urge Congress and the White House to reach a new budget agreement that not only reverses course on the planned sequestration cuts but also increases support for the woefully underfunded programs that serve low- to middle-income families in New York City and across the country,” Jennifer Jones Austin, FPWA executive director, said in a March 11 press release. On the chopping block is funding for “Section 8 housing vouchers, public housing programs, Head Start, the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program,” food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and other programs, Vox reports.

 

The Community Housing Improvement Program is not happy with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. A deal with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development gives the city 20 years to remove lead from the Bronx Rivers project in the Bronx. Jay Martin, executive director of CHIP, issued the following statement in response. “Today’s report that HUD Secretary Ben Carson and Mayor Bill de Blasio provided NYCHA with 20 years to solve its lead crisis is the height of hypocrisy and failed leadership. As any private property owner knows, the stringent lead testing and remedying laws require immediate action with the threat of jail time,” Martin wrote in a March 11 press release.

 

Westhab Inc. has received a new contract to provide housing for the homeless in a commercial hotel. The $710,956 deal will retroactively fund about two months’ worth of housing in 2017 at 113-10 Horace Harding expressway in Queens, according to the City Record. Volunteers of America Greater New York has received a $2.28 million contract to provide single room occupancy housing for adults at 22 East 119th St. in Manhattan through June 2023. The nonprofit will also provide similar services at 331 East 12th St. in Manhattan and 30 West Mt. Eden Ave. in the Bronx, via respective $1.16 million and $2.2 million contracts with the agency.

Is the de Blasio administration picking up the pace with Fare Fairs? The delayed program for discounted subway fares for disadvantaged people is moving along through a $85,900 contract for “Arista network appliances for Fair Fares project” with the New Jersey-based “Raj Somas dba RUDS Solutions.”

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