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Office Of Cannabis Management Offers $100,000 Grants For Youth-Servicing Projects In Priority Communities
By David Carlucci
The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), New York State’s foundation for its cannabis regulatory program, aims to rewrite the wrongs of the past and promote social and economic equity. On October 16th, 2024, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) released its next major equity-focused program: the Community Reinvestment Program (CRP), a series of community-oriented grants for non-profits funded by adult-use cannabis tax revenue.
Through the CRP, the Cannabis Advisory Board will award 501(c)(3) community-based organizations individual $100,000 grants for youth-serving projects in priority communities. CRP projects do not need to be related to the cannabis industry but must circulate around the areas of Mental Health, Housing, and Workforce Development in communities negatively impacted by the War on Drug, and not just state-level cannabis prohibition.
The total available funding for this grant opportunity is $5,000,000.
OCM offers over thirty funding areas through the CRP. These include projects directly related to three main program areas and those that indirectly relate to the main goals, like transportation services, sports activities, and childcare. The only restrictions are that funds may not be used for costs incurred in applying capital improvements, structural modifications, or legal expenses. In general, if a program works to improve the success of future generations in disadvantaged areas, there is room for it under the CRP.
Applicants must provide a series of documentation and application responses to be considered for the grant. Documentation includes, but may not be limited to, the organization’s business information, non-profit status, a signed letter of attestation, and other information. Applicants must be preregistered with the State Financial System before applications are due. Please note that receiving SFS prequalification can take 5-10 business days. Open responses then include spaces for organizations to detail the primary service location of the project, a project proposal, a work plan, a budget, and a narrative justification response.
The list below outlines critical events for the grant process:
- Applicant Pre-Submission Webinar – Wednesday, October 30th, at 10:00 am. You can register for the webinar here.
- Applicant Questions Due Date – Friday, November 8th
- OGS Issues Responses to Questions – Friday, November 22nd (estimated)
- Application Due Date – Friday, December 13th at 5:00 pm EST
- Projected Notification of Awards – Wednesday, February 19th, 2025
The Community Reinvestment Program may be designed to fund such initiatives as job placement, job skills services, adult education, mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, housing, financial literacy, community banking, nutrition services, services to address adverse childhood experiences, afterschool and child care services, system navigation services, legal services to address barriers to reentry, including, but not limited to, providing representation and related assistance with expungement, vacatur, substitution and resentencing of marihuana-related convictions, and linkages to medical care, women’s health services and other community-based supportive services.
The grants from this program may also be used to further support the social and economic equity program created by the cannabis law and established by the Cannabis Control Board.
More information about this program can be found on the OCM’s website.
