The Schenectady Foundation

Peak season at our glorious Schenectady Central Park Rose Garden

With today’s heat advisory, Schenectady’s splash pads offer a fun and refreshing way for families to stay cool while enjoying the outdoors.

We’re proud that the splash pads at Wallingford Park, Tribute Park, and Woodlawn Park were funded in part through The Schenectady Foundation’s Thriving Neighborhoods Fund, which supports projects that enhance quality of life and strength and communities across Schenectady County.

If you’re looking for a way to beat the heat today, consider visiting one of these neighborhood parks and enjoying all they have to offer.

Learn more about how we’re investing in stronger, healthier neighborhoods throughout Schenectady County by clicking the link below:

https://www.schenectadyfoundation.org/

Just a reminder .... This is tonight!

The Schenectady Kids Art Festival was a wonderful celebration of creativity and community. We are proud to support events that inspire artistic expression and bring people together.

Our sponsorship of this festival was made possible through The Schenectady Foundation's Arts Fund. By contributing to the Arts Fund, you help make programs like this possible and support arts and cultural opportunities throughout Schenectady County.

Consider making a gift today through the link below to help inspire the next generation of artists and strengthen our community through the arts.

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/theschenectadyfoundation/

Do you want to learn more about how rising costs are affecting our neediest neighbors? Do you want to better understand how poverty impacts families and individuals in Schenectady County? Do you want information about how you can help end poverty in our community?

If the answer to any of the above is yes, please join us on June 11 at this great event!

Every scholarship tells a story of perseverance, ambition, and possibility. For students across Schenectady County, scholarship support can be the difference between putting their dreams on hold and taking the next step toward a brighter future.

Through the generosity of our community, The Schenectady Foundation has awarded $91,000 in scholarships this year to help students pursue higher education and career opportunities. Now, we’re working toward an important milestone: increasing our annual scholarship awards to $100,000.

Your donation to our Scholarship Fund helps open doors, remove barriers, and remind students that their community believes in them. Together, we can create more opportunities, and empower the next generation to succeed. Click the link to be the impact.

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/theschenectadyfoundation/

We've continue to support the good work of the Regional Food Bank to make Schenectady County food secure.

The Schenectady Foundation Awards $91,000 in Scholarships!

Twenty-six Schenectady County high school seniors have won assistance to pursue college degrees through scholarships awarded last month by – the largest amount awarded since the Foundation began its scholarship programs in 1974.

The Foundation supports four scholarships:

The Anna Hudson Erbacher Teaching Scholarship provides up to $10,000 to graduating seniors pursuing a degree to become an educator. A total of $40,000 was granted to: Aidan Ford (Niskayuna), Lesly Garcia (Niskayuna), Kaylee Beehm (Schenectady), Regan Crary-Gracz (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), Laurel Karp (Mohonasen) and Apollonia Alois (Schenectady).

The Schenectady STEM Scholarship was established for Schenectady High School students by a former GE scientist, Sanford Shuler, to help inspire and empower the next generation of innovators in STEM fields. This year $10,000 was awarded to each student: Dylan Slater (Biology/Psychology/Medicine), Cole Bogdanowicz-Wilson (Physics), and Sonia Bhola (Physics/Aerospace Engineering).

Our Build Your Future Vocational Scholarship supports students to obtain certificates or degrees in a vocational field, toward a career in the trades. One student, Sage Steenburgh, of Scotia-Glenville High School, was awarded $5,000 toward her degree in Automotive Technology.

The Foundation’s Good Neighbor Awards recognize students’ civic involvement and good character, with selection based on financial need. Sixteen $1,000 scholarships will be awarded by Schenectady County High Schools at their June graduation awards ceremonies.

Come on out for a meal, and help us better understand how food insecurity is a challenge in your community.

We’re serving up data…and dinner’s on us! 🍽️

📍 Where: The Electric City Barn; 400 Craig St, Schenectady, NY 12307
🕠 When: Thursday, May 21st | 6:00 PM

Over the past three months, more than 950 residents shared their experiences with our local food system, and now it’s time to dig into the findings together.

What’s on the menu:
🍴 A free community dinner
📊 A walkthrough of key survey highlights and insights
🤝 Local organizations and community members sharing their data and stories
💬 Time for questions, discussion, and your feedback

This is more than just a meal; it’s a chance to see how your neighbors’ voices are shaping the future of food in Schenectady.

👉 Please RSVP: https://forms.gle/y9mBAgKAeXYshXH17

Come hungry for good food and meaningful conversation!

Last night, The Schenectady Foundation celebrated the inaugural Creative Changemakers Circle, a leadership development program that helps Schenectady County residents transform their bold ideas for community change into actionable plans. This first group of changemakers had 10 participants. Here's a story about one of them, Mont Pleasant resident Tiffany Caldwell.

"Tiffany Caldwell didn’t know anyone when she moved to Schenectady’s Mont Pleasant neighborhood with her daughter two years ago from New York City. The colder months, she recalls, were a struggle. It was dark and gloomy, and everywhere she turned, she saw blight - vacant buildings, crumbling infrastructure, trash.

'I immediately started thinking, ‘How can I come up with a solution?’ Caldwell said. 'How can we collectively come together to sprinkle light in the midst of darkness?'

For Caldwell, this wasn’t a rhetorical question. She began attending public meetings and quickly met people with the same desire to bring positive change to the community who were part of the ONE Schenectady movement. And she decided to get to know her neighbors and invite them to join her in revitalizing the section of Mont Pleasant sometimes referred to as Engine Hill.

Caldwell, 46, isn’t doing this work alone. She is one of a group of 10 Schenectady County residents selected to participate in the Creative Changemakers Circle, a leadership development program of The Schenectady Foundation. Through this months-long program, residents transform their bold ideas for community change into actionable plans.

'I’ve learned so much,' Caldwell said of her time in the Creative Changemakers program. 'I’ve met so many amazing people. The connections that I’ve made through ONE Schenectady and also on my own, taking a leap, reaching out to people - the support I’ve received makes me want to break down in tears.'

Caldwell has established a new neighborhood association, the Engine Hill Neighborhood Association, to address concerns and challenges in her community. She did a meet-and-greet at the local library, focused on helping residents connect with programs to save money on energy costs, and organized a neighborhood cleanup for Earth Day. She also plans to partner with C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios, a Schenectady non-profit that provides low-cost arts programming, to bring “light and color” to the neighborhood through community art.

The name of Caldwell’s project: Blight to Light.

'When you hear blight, you think of darkness, you think of gloom,' Caldwell said. 'But there’s always light at the end of any dark tunnel.' She added, 'I want to push people to realize that this is about people power. Once we come together, there’s strength in numbers. All of these little simultaneous goals - we’re tackling them little by little.'

To learn more about ONE Schenectady and resident-led systems change, click here:

https://www.schenectadyfoundation.org/page/one-schenectady-147.html