HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services Receives $20,000 Donation from Bay Ridge Bank

Christmas came early to HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services as the Northfield Bank Foundation awarded a $20,000 check to the organization that currently serves over 34,000 children, adults and families throughout New York City.

HeartShare, headquartered at 12 MetroTech Center, provides housing, education and job training programs for developmentally disabled and autistic people.

In 2014, St. Vincent’s affiliated with the 150-year-old HeartShare Human Services of New York, which is the third largest children’s services provider in New York City.

“We are so thankful to the Northfield Bank Foundation for their generous contribution to the HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services’ Pathways to College Program, which supports youth in foster care to graduate from high school,” Dawn Saffayeh, executive director, HeartShare St. Vincent’s told this paper.

“We thank Northfield Bank for its partnership and for their commitment to the Brooklyn community.”

The Northfield Bank Foundation awarded the $20,000 to HeartShare for the American Dream Program – – Pathways to College, a program designed to help youth (seventh graders) in foster care to prepare and develop a plan to graduate from high school, not just college bound, but college ready.  The program provides academic coaching and in-home tutoring to students to make sure they stay on track and graduate high school.

“Since 2008, Northfield Bank Foundation has awarded $7 ½ million dollars in grants to many nonprofit organizations throughout Brooklyn, Staten Island, and several counties in New Jersey,” Northfield Bank VP and Bay Ridge Branch Manager Brian Chin told this paper.  “The Foundation has donated $2.1 million for educational programs.”