Helping Hands
We seek to help people at a critical moment with a need triggered by an emergency. Our hope is that this assistance will make a difference in someone’s life with lasting impact. In 2024, the program supported 5,706 households and students—over 1,000 more than the previous year—with 80% of 2023 rent grant recipients confirmed to be stably housed one year later. Read our 2024 Impact Summary.
The primary way that we offer assistance is by making grants to social service and other organizations including colleges, whose staff then applies strict criteria and distributes grants averaging approximately $1,350 per household. In addition to providing emergency financial assistance, it is critical that the organizations that receive our grant offer additional support services as their clients work to regain stability after a crisis.
We focus on programs that work directly with individuals one-on-one. The majority of our Helping Hands grants go toward rent, particularly needed in the primary areas where we fund – New York City, Boston, and Palm Beach County – where there is not enough affordable housing. We also help with expenses such as utilities, transportation, moving, furniture, or clothing that an individual is temporarily unable to pay for because of an unexpected hardship.
We may make a limited number of grants to programs that connect individuals to additional community resources.
Reflections on Helping Hands
Lou Gerstner shares the origin of and his vision for the emergency grants program, lessons learned over the past decade, and his belief in the critical importance of the work.
Watch the videoFeatured Grantee
SUNY Westchester Community College
Founded in 1946, SUNY Westchester Community College is a campus of the State University of New York and Westchester County’s largest educational institution, serving over 20,000 students annually.
In 2016, Gerstner Philanthropies partnered with Westchester Community College to pilot assisting students with unforeseen financial hardships that endangered their continued enrollment. The program prompted the college to create the Office of Student Support Services, a hub for students seeking support that connects students and their families with resources to help resolve life challenges, ensuring students continue to persist.
Helping Hands grants are non-scholarship funds used to assist students with a one-time emergency expense that might otherwise force them to pause their studies. The primary uses of the grant at Westchester Community College are rent, transportation, and utilities, with an average grant size of ~$1,700. The program has demonstrated significant impact; since the start of the partnership, Westchester Community College has supported over 300 students through the Helping Hands program and 91% of these students are persisting in their studies or have graduated. For 2025-2026, Westchester Community College, through its WCC Foundation, was awarded a $400,000 Helping Hands Grant to continue expanding the program to reach additional students.
To learn more, please visit https://www.sunywcc.edu/student-services/bac/.
Our Grantees
Major Helping Hands Grants
Grants listed below may be from the Gerstner Family Foundation or another Gerstner family philanthropic vehicle. Amounts may reflect cumulative annual grants or multi-year grants. To see annual amounts, please see listings of grants paid each year.
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United Neighborhood Houses
New York, NY | Visit Website
To support Neighborhood-Based Emergency Cash Relief through Settlement Houses
$9,921,125
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Safe Horizon
New York, NY | Visit Website
To fund the Emergency Client Assistance Program.
$4,750,358
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Catholic Charities USA
National | Visit Website
To support Housing Stability through CCUSA's Housing Counseling Program.
$4,100,000
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Adopt-A-Family
Lake Worth, FL | Visit Website
To support the Housing Stabilization Program.
$3,761,500
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The Havens Relief Fund Society
New York, NY | Visit Website
To support the emergency cash grant program.
$3,325,000
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Coalition for the Homeless
New York, NY | Visit Website
To support the emergency cash grant program.
$3,280,000
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Part of the Solution
Bronx, NY | Visit Website
To support the Housing Stabilization Program
$2,540,000
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Sanctuary for Families
New York, NY | Visit Website
To support the emergency cash grant program.
$2,484,500
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The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
New York, NY | Visit Website
To support the Emergency Cash Assistance Program
$2,096,000
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Legal Services of the Hudson Valley
White Plains, NY | Visit Website
To support the Eviction Prevention Emergency Assistance Program
$1,724,962
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Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse
Delray Beach, FL | Visit Website
To support the Support for Survivors Program
$1,617,000
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Stories
Pia was injured when she was attacked by an unknown assailant and was unable to work for a month. When she reported the assault to her local precinct, the desk sergeant introduced Pia to a crime victim advocate with Safe Horizon’s Crime Victim Assistance Program. After reporting the crime, Pia connected with Safe Horizon’s Crime Victim Assistance Program and shared that she would be unable to pay her rent because of lost income while recovering from her injuries. Thanks to a Gerstner Helping Hands Program, Pia was able to pay her rent and recover in peace without worrying about falling into arrears. Pia is now back at work and very grateful for the one-time assistance to help her through such a difficult time
Helping Hands News
