At one Awesome Newburgh meeting, two proposals for school backpack giveaways looked like strong contenders for the group’s monthly $1,000 grant. Then a trustee who worked in the schools spoke up: The schools already had more backpacks than anyone knew what to do with. Another proposal would give 15 to 20 teenage boys somewhere to go and something to do after school for 14 weeks.
The conversation shifted. So did the funding decision.
For co-dean Janet Rossbach, the exchange captures how this grassroots giving circle works. There is no formula for weighing a garden against a concert, or a skateboard giveaway against a reading program. There are neighbors around a table, bringing different knowledge of their city to the question of what $1,000 could accomplish. “Opinions have been turned and changed because of board members saying, ‘Well, the reason why I think this is awesome is X, Y, and Z,’” Rossbach says.
Founded in 2018 by Naomi Hersson-Ringskog, Awesome Newburgh has supported more than 110 projects and distributed over $100,000. Part of the international Awesome Foundation network, the volunteer group pools trustees’ contributions to fund ideas benefiting the City of Newburgh. Trustees contribute $100 a month; donors underwrite some community members’ participation.
That arrangement matters to the discussions. “It’s not just what the folks with money believe are the priorities,” Rossbach says.
Hersson-Ringskog came to the model with experience in the nonprofit world and an appreciation for how difficult securing funding can be. She had seen Awesome chapters elsewhere and recognized an approach that could work in Newburgh: accessible applications, small grants, decisions made locally. “You don’t have to be a nonprofit,” she says. “You can be a small business. So it’s open to everybody.”
Rossbach joined in January 2021 after learning about the broader network through a newspaper article. She was drawn to the prospect of neighbors collectively supporting the small endeavors that make a community more connected, inventive, and enjoyable.
The proposals also offer trustees an ongoing education in the city, revealing residents’ interests and ambitions through projects that might otherwise never cross their paths or reach their attention.
The funded ideas cover considerable ground: gardening supplies, skateboard giveaways, community fridges, arts events. One bookstore needed lumber for shelves in a children’s reading area. Sometimes the missing ingredient is pizza; sometimes it is printing flyers so people know an event exists.
The group looks for projects where its contribution will do something concrete. A thousand dollars disappearing into a $100,000 budget holds less appeal than a manageable undertaking the grant can bring to life.
The application is simple: seven straightforward questions about the idea, its budget, collaborators, and community benefit. Applicants need no professional grant writer. Unsuccessful applicants can seek feedback and try again. Recipients face no elaborate reporting requirements. “There’s no strings attached,” Hersson-Ringskog says. “You don’t have to tell us how you spent the money.”
That trust comes with attention to practical details. After encountering an ambitious community-fridge proposal without arrangements for a site, electricity, or food supplies, trustees learned to look closely at whether essential commitments were in place.
Some grants have had consequences well beyond their original scope. Rossbach points to We Got You Girl, PERIOD, which began by assembling menstrual-product packets. According to Rossbach, the initiative subsequently expanded its distribution work through a sponsoring organization.
Newburgh Porchfest also received early support for a map and publicity. When organizers later sought more funding, Awesome Newburgh helped connect them with the Community Foundation of Orange, Sullivan & Rockland. The group sees itself as a source of starter money, with introductions sometimes helping projects find their next step.
The cumulative result is a portrait of residents making things happen: Cultivating shared spaces, creating opportunities for young people, and finding reasons to gather.
Awesome Newburgh will celebrate that work November 15, from 5 to 8pm at the Ritz Theatre Lobby. The evening will feature updates from 12 funded projects, a spoken-word performance, and an additional $1,000 grant awarded to a participating grantee.
Rossbach sees room to expand through more trustees, sponsors, and partnerships. Hersson-Ringskog, an urban planner, imagines larger grants supporting physical improvements such as street furniture and murals. Both want to put more resources behind the ideas already arriving. “There are some months when we could fund five projects if we could,” Rossbach says.
For now, the monthly rhythm offers something valuable in itself: another deadline, another conversation, another chance for a resident’s idea to become part of the city. As Hersson-Ringskog puts it, “We’re constantly there and so people can always come to us.”
Awesome Newburgh celebrates more than $100,000 in community giving on November 15, from 5–8pm at the Ritz Theatre Lobby in Newburgh. The evening features updates from 12 funded projects, a spoken-word performance, and the awarding of an additional $1,000 grant to a participating grantee.
