New York state has awarded $5m in ‘Community Reinvestment Grants’ to 50 non-profit organisations around the state, in the first round of handouts funded by legal cannabis sales taxes.
The Cannabis Advisory Board (CAB), part of the state cannabis regulator, has now issued the first tranche of $100,000 grants to organisations focused on providing youth services over four years after the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) was signed in March 2021.
Under the nearly half-decade-old scheme, 40% of taxes raised on the sale of legal cannabis in the state is mandated to be put towards reinvesting in communities most impacted by cannabis prohibition, via the Community Grants Reinvestment Fund.
Youth services only
The initial grants will fund organisations serving young people aged up to 24 in three priority areas: mental health, workforce development and housing.
Eligible non-profits do not need to have links to cannabis businesses but must operate in counties identified as high-need for youth services and historically over-policed. Awardees will receive funding over two years, with a portion paid upfront and the remainder distributed quarterly.
The troubled launch of New York’s legal cannabis industry, which has struggled to compete with a flourishing illicit market and has expanded much more slowly than many anticipated, has meant that revenues available for these grants are more limited than expected.
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As such, the CAB announced last September that the first tranche of grants would focus specifically on youth services, aiming to ‘start small and build trust’, while showing measurable community impact.
The state’s legal sales are now picking up, however, with reports from earlier this month showing that August sales hit a record-breaking $214.4m, bringing the year-to-date total to $1.26 billion, with cumulative sales reaching $2.3 billion since the market’s launch in December 2022.
With cannabis tax receipts stabilising, the Cannabis Advisory Board is expected to expand funding to wider community initiatives in future rounds.
First recipients
The CAB, which oversees the process, said recipients were selected from 451 applications submitted earlier this year.
Programmes funded span mental health, workforce development, housing, education, the arts, and agriculture, reflecting the board’s emphasis on comprehensive community recovery rather than cannabis-related activity.
Fifteen of the funded organisations are based in New York City, with others spread across the Finger Lakes, Central New York, the Hudson Valley, and Western New York regions. The board aimed to ensure at least one grant per Empire State Development region, promoting equitable geographic distribution.
In the Finger Lakes, recipients include Hope585, The Centre for Youth, Unity Hospital, and the Urban League of Rochester, which will use funds to train nursing assistants, support homeless youth, and expand job-readiness programmes.
In Central New York, four local organisations received grants, among them East Hill Family Medical in Auburn, Aurora of Central New York, which supports individuals with visual and hearing impairments, and Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, which will expand its youth volunteering and education programmes.
Exalt Youth, a New York City-based non-profit that recently opened a Syracuse office, was also awarded funding for skill development and mentorship initiatives for young people transitioning out of the justice system.
In New York City, grantees include Community Connections for Youth in the Bronx, which mentors young people affected by arrests or school suspensions, and DreamYard, an arts and social justice organisation expanding its paid internship scheme for high school students.
On Staten Island, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden will use its grant to finance an agricultural apprenticeship for a young adult from the North Shore, promoting sustainable practices and community engagement.
