- unitid
-
{"value"=>"6196", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"MssCol 6196", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"2001-2005", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"2001/2005"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
2001
- date_inclusive_end
-
2005
- keydate
-
2001
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"September 11th Fund records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"10.33 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"25 boxes; 1 sound recording; 26 videos", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2.75 Gigabytes (4365 computer files"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. <span class=\"subarea\">Manuscripts and Archives Division</span></span> <div class=\"address\"><span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The September 11th Fund (2001-2005) was established by The New York Community Trust and the United Way of New York City to meet the immediate and long-term needs of victims, families, and communities affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. The September 11th Fund records hold general administrative files and program-related files created through the funding of grants for such needs as cash assistance, employment assistance, health care, and mental health."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>September 11th Fund records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"September 11th Fund", "type"=>"corpname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The September 11th Fund was established by the New York Community Trust and the United Way of New York City to meet the immediate and long-term needs of victims, families, and communities affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Almost immediately after the attacks, both corporations and outside individuals began receiving donations intended to aid victims.</p> <p>Lorie Slutsky, President of the New York Community Trust, and United Way's CEO, Ralph Dickerson met on the afternoon of September 11th and agreed to launch a joint venture that would utilize the skills of both organizations to manage the donations. Slutsky and Dickerson agreed that the September 11th Fund would operate in complete independence from the New York Community Trust and the United Way, with its own board and staff. The Fund would not solicit donations on an ongoing basis, would grant all of its resources to charities and agencies within a limited period of time, and then cease to operate. The Fund was initially led by executive director Joshua Gotbaum, then Carol Kellerman, and staffed with a team of 20 project directors, consultants, and assistants who shared ideas as well as the workload.</p> <p>On September 21st, the telethon \"America: A Tribute to Heroes\" was broadcast simultaneously on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Actor George Clooney organized celebrities to perform and man the telephone banks to accept donations. The telecast raised $129 million for the Fund, all of which went to direct cash assistance to victims. This, combined with the money raised by individual and corporate donors from September 11th through January of 2002, gave the Fund $525 million to distribute. Between beginning operations and closing its doors in December 2004, the Fund granted the entirety of this money to various charities, agencies, and aid programs.</p> <p>As the Fund's mission was to be carried out entirely though grants to nonprofit organizations and agencies, the immediate concern was to define priorities for giving. Initial grants were made swiftly to established emergency assistance agencies, such as Safe Horizon, New York City's leading victim assistance organization. The Fund then identified several major areas of need on which to focus. These included, but were not limited to, cash assistance to victims; health care services for the wounded; mental health services, including a city-wide crisis counseling hotline; and an Employment Assistance Program which provided information on new jobs, referrals, and training for displaced workers. The Fund referred to each of these designations internally as \"programs.\" Each program was headed by one or more project directors. Project directors worked to identify gaps in services and evolving needs, guided the grant selection process and helped grant-receiving organizations that already fell within each designation to expand or focus their activities. The bulk of the money donated to the September 11th Fund was granted to various non-profits handing out cash assistance. These groups distributed money to those who were injured, lost a loved one, or were displaced from their homes or jobs as a result of the attacks. Additionally, the Fund approved grants to provide food and other supplies to childcare centers and incentives to help small businesses and non-profits in lower Manhattan.</p> <p>Potential non-profit grantees were required to submit a grant proposal which would state the amount of money needed, the specific project the money would support, a financial report of the non-profit, and other supporting documents as necessary. The case would then be considered by staff members within one of the programs, and an approval or denial recommendation would be made. Grants falling outside these specific programs were also considered (such as grants for confronting bias and intolerance) if the project directors felt that the non-profit could achieve the goals presented and that the project fell within the general scope of the Fund.</p> <p>Within the first months of operation, the need for charitable collaboration became apparent. The Fund was in a prime position to address this issue, as the staff had access to detailed information about the charitable response of so many organizations, and could see where increased communication and information sharing between the individual groups could expedite service. Along with the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and Safe Horizon, the Fund was involved in launching a collaborative charitable response. The 9/11 United Services Group was formed in December 2001 to facilitate, expedite and enhance coordination of services among various charities and agencies in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. USG was composed of a small core staff, whose efforts were aided by representatives from member organizations. They provided service coordination through the already existent Safe Horizons hotline to direct individuals to the proper agencies. USG also created and maintained a confidential electronic victims database with up-to-date information on individuals applying for assistance as well as an interactive information portal for victims and service coordinators. Most of the 40 agencies and charities participating in USG were September 11th Fund grant recipients.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The September 11th Fund records consist of electronic and paper files. The bulk of the records are electronic. Users should consult both the electronic and the paper records to gain a full understanding of the organization.</p> <p>The administrative files consist primarily of Board of Directors files, correspondence of consultant Helene Lauffner and project director Suzanne Immerman, Fund annual reports, and 9/11 impact studies used to prioritize grants and make funding decisions. The Board files hold copies of the board books sent to each board member, which consist of the meeting agenda and accompanying readings such as articles on 9/11 recovery, victim statistics, and grant spreadsheets. Electronic board records include board correspondence, reports presented to the board, and notes. There are annual reports, correspondence (primarily internal) and impact studies. Additionally, the electronic administrative files hold contact lists, financial documents, and disaster impact studies. There are documents relating to Safe Horizon including intake procedures, meeting agendas, eligibility zone borders for cash assistance, and informational session packets for victims and coordinating agencies.</p> <p>The correspondence of project director Suzanne Immerman and consultant Helene Lauffner spans nearly the entire life of the Fund. The most frequent correspondents are fellow staff - primarily project director Tim Wu, director of communications Jeanine Moss, and administrative assistant Jeffrie Allan. The email consists of three separate backups of Immerman's accounts, and one backup of Lauffner's account. Since the bulk of the correspondence is internal, it documents the day-to-day workings of the Fund. Issues discussed are policy changes, securing meeting spaces and coordinating presentations, internal meeting wrap-ups and post-meeting discussion, and networking with outside groups such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Other frequent correspondents include Mary McShane from The New York Community Trust, Gerald McCleery from the Mental Health Association of New York City, and Elizabeth McCarthy from Safe Horizon. These files have accompanying documentation such as calendars and address books. Email is restricted indefinitely.</p> <p>The Grant files hold grant approval and denial recommendations, as well as case management files and eligibility requirements. Electronic records are presentations describing requirements, letter drafts to grant recipients, case management reports, grant guidelines, and documents provided by grant-seeking organizations. These files document grant seeking organizations' initial contact with the Fund, as well as their continued case management, which was primarily focused on financial accountability.</p> <p>The cash assistance program files hold eligibility requirements, statistics, correspondence with agencies providing cash assistance, presentation materials, and coordination documents. The Fund received regular reports on how many individuals had received money and basic demographic information regarding the victims. Since the Fund did not directly write the checks, there is no personal information from those who received compensation except those who volunteered to be interviewed for promotional materials.</p> <p>The Employment Assistance Program files contain training evaluations, client summaries, presentations, and meeting agendas for the Employment Assistance Operations Workgroup. The Community Development Program files focus primarily on the revitalization of Chinatown and other downtown neighborhoods. The bulk of these files are advertising proposals for a program to promote tourism in Chinatown. Within the electronic files, there are meeting minutes from the Chinatown Tourism and Marketing Advisory Committee (a grantee), as well as strategy notes and long-term neighborhood impact studies. Grantees involved with the Employment Assistance and Community Development Programs include the Chinatown Manpower Project, the Chinatown Tourism and Marketing Advisory Committee, the Federation of Employment and Guidance Services, Seedco, and Wildcat Service Corporation, among others.</p> <p>Health Care Program records document the Fund's commitment to making sure the survivors of 9/11 received adequate health care coverage. Grants falling into this category supported groups working with insurance providers and local hospitals to track the care of the affected, transition the unemployed from temporary health insurance, and enroll individuals in disaster Medicaid. There are also documents relating to health screening and assessments for day laborers downtown, and minutes from strategy meetings with health care providers.</p> <p>The Mental Health Program files have intake training manuals for service providers, brochures and other handouts given to victims and their families, and reports on the performance of mental health-related grant groups. Electronic records include correspondence and memos with the 9/11 Mental Health and Substance Abuse Program and the Mental Health Association of New York City. There are also estimated program costs and presentations on trauma training initiatives for mental health workers. Studies and articles within these files include incidence estimates of individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder and explorations of different treatments such as acupuncture or sand play therapy for children.</p> <p>Press files document the Fund's many challenges with public relations and their efforts to disseminate information in a timely and accurate manner to donors, victims, and their families. The early days of the Fund were plagued with misinformation, with donors not understanding where their money was going, and survivors unclear about where they should register for services. The press files contain press releases, annotated copies of articles written about the Fund, website text, and press strategies, as well as brochures and posters. There are also master VHS and cassette copies of several September 11th Fund commercials, including a \"Taking Your Life Back\" spot in several languages and the \"One Life\" national commercial. Promotional video interviews of individuals assisted by the Fund's programs are held here.</p> <p>The 9/11 United Services Group (USG) files document their collaboration with the Fund. These files consist of meeting minutes, presentations regarding the victim database, and progress update memos. USG's electronic files hold impact studies commissioned by the group, press strategy meeting minutes, client assessment forms, presentations detailing ongoing recovery programs, and service coordinator training packets. Users may also wish to consult the 9/11 United Services Group records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Alphabetical by file title.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by United Way of New York City and The New York Community Trust (and Community Funds, Inc.), 2005</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The compact discs that comprise the Electronic Records were forensically imaged for preservation. The textual documents from these images were migrated to Microsoft's .docx format in order to create a full-text keyword searchable index. Additionally, named entity extraction algorithms were run on the migrated documents to identify personal, organizational, and location names contained within them.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Compiled by Lea Jordan.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Electronic records within the collection are available in the Reading Room where researchers can browse, keyword search, and view the records. Sound and video recordings are unavailable for use at this time pending preservation transfer. Portions of the email are restricted indefinitely.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
10.33 linear feet (25 boxes; 1 sound recording; 26 videos); 2.75 Gigabytes (4365 computer files)
- date_start
-
2001
- date_end
-
2005