Nonprofit leader takes over social services at Nassau County

Montauk Point Lighthouse on the eastern tip of the southern form of Long Island.

Montauk Point Lighthouse on the eastern tip of the southern form of Long Island. Shutterstock

Breaking Ground has welcomed a new addition to its board of directors. Michael Lascher oversees the financing of all Blackstone’s real estate investments as the firm’s senior managing director and global head of real estate debt capital markets, which would appear to make him a natural fit for helping Breaking Ground, the largest supportive housing nonprofit in New York City. 

 

A longtime figure at HELP USA is going to lead Nassau County’s Department of Social Services. The county’s legislature confirmed Nancy Nunziata’s appointment to the post on Monday night. Nunziata most recently served as senior vice president, family transitional and supportive housing social services for HELP USA, where she’s held leadership positions since 1991. She has also served as executive director of HELP Suffolk. 

 

The Nonprofit Finance Fund received a $1 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The funding will allow the organization to explore how community development financial institutions can use their investments to support racial equity. Partnering with Capital Impact Partners, it will focus on the impact of lending to health clinics primarily serving people of color. 

 

Westchester County Executive George Latimer highlighted the importance nonprofits play in the 2020 census at a seminar sponsored by Nonprofit Westchester. Westchester was the ninth-hardest-to-count county in New York state during the 2010 census, according to a press release from Latimer’s office. Participation was especially low in Mt. Vernon and parts of Yonkers, said Norma Drummond, the commissioner of the county Department of Planning, at the seminar, which was attended by more than 80 nonprofit leaders and other figures. Nonprofits will certainly play a key role locally, especially since Carola Bracco, executive director of the immigration nonprofit Neighbor’s Link, co-chairs the county’s Census 2020 Complete Count Committee. 

 

Save the Michaels of the World will operate a newly opened recovery center in Niagara County. The center was funded in part with $437,500 in federal dollars allocated to opioid treatment. Peer support for recovery and trainings for giving Naloxone to prevent overdose death are some of the services available at the new House of Hope recovery center. 

 

The Stern School of Business at New York University received a $5 million donation from an alumna. Over the course of 10 years, Elizabeth Elting’s gift will support fellowships for a total of 40 female business students and create a fund to provide seed capital for 20 women-led businesses.