Omega Retreat Grants strengthen communities by supporting nonprofits

RHINEBECK — Omega, a nonprofit educational organization, announced 32 organizations working across the spectrum of social, economic, and environmental issues will be awarded working retreat grants. The announcement marks the fifteenth year of the Nonprofit Retreats at Omega program, which has served more than 5,000 people from more than 400 organizations since 2005, helping to strengthen the nonprofit safety-net that so many people depend upon.

“As a nonprofit, we know first-hand how difficult it can be to take time away from the office for strategic thinking and reflection, but it is crucial to building capacity and strengthening organizational well-being,” said Carla Goldstein, chief external affairs officer at Omega. “Over the past 15 years, these gatherings have proven to help organizations re-engage with shared purpose, heal organizational rifts, and deepen commitment to their mission, while also providing participants the opportunity to enjoy some much-needed peace and relaxation.”

Taking place during the week of Memorial Day 2019, recipients will attend one of two annual “summits” The Strengthening Communities Summit (May 27-29) will bring together nonprofits that prioritize a range of social, economic, or environmental issues. The Women Serving Women Summit (May 29-31), hosted by the Omega Women’s Leadership Center, will focus on organizations that serve the needs and interests of women.

“Nonprofit retreats at Omega offer an invaluable, one-of-a-kind experience that produces real outcomes,” said Doug Sauer, chief executive officer of the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON), Omega’s partner in the program. “We hear time and time again from leaders and individual participants that the experience helped clarify priorities, enhanced camaraderie, and enabled them to return to work with renewed direction and energy.”

Each organization will conduct 3-day/2-night, self-led, working retreats, accessing the amenities on Omega’s 250-acre Hudson Valley campus. The grant includes simple accommodations, meals, and a private meeting space.

Omega is pleased to announce the following 2019 grant recipients:

Strengthening Communities Summit Recipients

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (New York, NY); Council on Addiction Prevention & Education of Dutchess County (Fishkill, NY); Exodus Transitional Community (Poughkeepsie, NY); Family of Woodstock (Kingston, NY); Family Services (Poughkeepsie, NY); Holistic Life Foundation (Baltimore, MD); Lineage Project (Brooklyn, NY); Literacy Connections of the Hudson Valley (Poughkeepsie, NY); Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center (Newburgh, NY); Radical Joy for Hard Times (Thompson, PA); Schaghticoke First Nations (Millbrook, NY) ; Special Strides (Monroe, NJ); The 224 EcoSpace (Hartford, CT); The Art Effect (Poughkeepsie, NY); Transformative Culture Project (Roxbury, MA); Unison Arts Center (New Paltz, NY); Westchester Institute for Human Development (Valhalla, NY); Worker Justice Center of NY, Inc. (Rochester, NY).

Women Serving Women Summit Recipients

Artreach, Inc. (Norwich, CT); Black Women’s Blueprint (Brooklyn, NY); Center for Anti-Violence Education (Brooklyn, NY); Center for Community Change (Baltimore, MD); Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill (Hyde Park, NY); Futuro Media Group (New York, NY); Girl Be Heard (Brooklyn, NY); RefugePoint (Cambridge, MA); Resilient Coders (Boston, MA); Sadie Nash Leadership Project (New York, NY); Safe Homes of Orange County (Newburgh, NY); Seeds of Solidarity (Orange, MA); The Feminist Press (New York, NY); Working for Women (Kingston, NY).

In 2019 the organizations participating in the Women Serving Women Summit are connected with the cohort members of the new Juno Leadership Collective. Led by the Omega Women’s Leadership Center, the Collective program is a year-long immersive training for women leaders in nonprofit organizations working on issues including equality, justice, sustainability, violence, and economic empowerment.

The Nonprofit Retreats at Omega program is supported by Rose & Kiernan. The NoVo Foundation, New York Women’s Foundation, and Common Impact support the Juno Leadership Collective program.

To learn more about Nonprofit Retreats at Omega and the Strengthening Communities Summit, contact Betty Schlicht at 845.266.4444, ext. 609, or Bettys@eomega.org. For more information about the Juno Leadership Collective contact Bobbie Arrington at 845.266.4444, ext. 418, or owlccommunity@omega.org.