Yes!  When Philanthropedia asked experts to rank organizations making the biggest impact in social justice, The Fortune Society came out on top!!  This is a great honor for the organization, but even more importantly it provides more visibility for the programs and services offered — programs and services which organizations throughout the country are encouraged to emulate.  Along with serving clients in the New York City area, Fortune’s mission goes beyond these geographic boundaries and with the organization always willing to lend a helping hand to those looking to provide support and services for those undergoing reentry from incarceration, or participating in Alternatives to Incarceration programs.

Experts participating in the Philanthropedia were asked to recommend nonprofits working on solving criminal justice issues ranging from before conviction, to while serving time, to re-entry.  They were also asked to consider varying types of nonprofits, including service providers, research groups, advocacy groups, legal defense organizations, community organizing groups, membership groups, technical assistance provides, communications strategy organizations and organizations providing education and public outreach.  For the complete list click here.

Fortune Society’s Fall Benefit was a rousing success as new friends and old ones gathered together to show their support for our mission and our programs.

The night began with awards as Russell Simmons, CEO and founder of Rush Communications, received this year’s David Rothenberg Achievement Award.  Simmons shared with the audience his philosophy of how important it is for those who achieve success to give back to their communities.  He was joined as an awards recipient by Capital One, honored with the Corporate Leaders for Change Award for its ongoing support of the Fortune Society and other philanthropies.

The awards were following by a special performance of The Castle II, during which four formerly incarcerated individuals shared their journeys from prison to being responsible members of New York City society.  Their stories reinforced the impact of the programs and services Fortune is able to provide due to the generosity of our supporters and helped set the tone for the rest of the evening when guests were able to dine and socialize with one another.

Obviously there is a tremendous amount of work that goes into such an event, and The Fortune Society executive team thanks all of those, both within the organization and its many outside partners, who made the evening such a rousing success.

Russell Simmons, founder and chairman of Rush Communications, is the recipient of this year’s David Rothenberg Achievement Award.  Russell will be honored during the Fortune Society’s Fall Benefit, its major fundraising event of the year. This year it will take place on Nov. 7th, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Tribeca Rooftop space.

Also being honored during the event is Capital One, recipient of the Corporate Leadership Reward. Plus, a centerpiece of the evening will be a performance of the new Castle II play during which four individuals tell their stories of how they went from prison to becoming successful, responsible members of New York City society.

Join Russell Simmons, Capital One, the talented Castle II cast members, and friends and supporters of Fortune by buying your tickets NOW!  Click here.

The Castle II is already proving to be a popular successor to the long-running off-Broadway play The Castle I, and there are several opportunities coming up to still be among the first to experience hearing four individuals tell their stories of how they went from prison to becoming successful, responsible members of New York City society.

The first opportunity is on Sept. 25th, at 3 p.m., when this will be performed at The Fortune Society’s Castle Gardens facility.  This will then be closely followed by a performance scheduled for Sept. 27th at Baruch College (25th and Lexington Avenue in NYC) with the curtain going up at 6 p.m.

The play will be performed again on Sunday, Oct. 23rd, at 3 p.m. at Castle Gardens (this performance will be free to clients and staff) and then a private performance at The Fortune Society will take place on Friday, Oct. 28th, at 3 p.m., for all Fortune Society staff.

For tickets or for more information please contact David Rothenberg at 212-255-4834.

The play will also be the centerpiece of the Fortune Society’s Fall Benefit, taking place Nov. 7th at the Tribeca Rooftop at 6 p.m.  Russell Simmons, chairman of Rush Communications, will be honored that evening as the recipient of the David Rothenberg Achievement Award while Capital One will be honored with the Corporate Leadership Award.  For more information on the benefit or to purchase tickets, please r.s.v.p. here.

This latest installment is set to air July 31st at 8:30 p.m., on Channel 34 – Time Warner Cable, on 82/RCN and on 33 FIOS Verizon, as well as being made available at www.mnn.org.  It is also repeated on Aug. 3rd, via these same media channels, at 10:30 p.m.

The Fortune Society is proud to announce that it is the recipient of a $300,000 grant awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  This grant will be used to fund an environmental workforce development and job training program.  The intent is  recruit, train and place clients  in green jobs assessing and cleaning up brownfields and other contaminated sites.  As a result of this grant, plans are to train 60 clients and to place at least 42 graduates in environmental jobs.  All graduates will also be tracked for one year following the completion of this program.

The awarding of this grant was announced at a press conference that took place at  the Fortune Society’s facilities in Long Island City, and was jointly attended by representatives from the organization as well as from the EPA.  Former students from the Fortune Society also demonstrated the job skills they acquired through participation in a similar job training program.

Additional information is included in this press release.

Fortune Society July 26 Press Release

Bill Tracker 7.23

However, it isn’t just this continued funding, and the positive impact it will have, that’s encouraging.  It is also how we are able to join with organizational allies, and individuals, to have not only OUR voices heard, but also elicit support for our work among so many members of the NYC Council.  It’s this kind of “teamwork” that will continue to affect positive social change, and here at The Fortune Society we are deeply appreciative of being able to take part in such initiatives.

Download the toolkits here.

Employing Your Mission – Building Cultural Competence in Rentry Service Agencies

In Our Backyard – Overcoming Community Resistance to Reentry Housing