Before January 2020, farmworkers throughout New York State did not have the legal protections required in other sectors, including guaranteed time off, the right to organize, and overtime pay. Winning these rights took years of advocacy—work that, on Long Island, began on farms.
For years, advocates across the state pushed for change through the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign. With sustained support from The Trust’s Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund, Long Island nonprofit Rural & Migrant Ministry (RMM) helped drive that effort, visiting farms to help workers organize.
“We went farm-to-farm, building relationships and learning what people needed,” said Jennifer Brown, RMM’s foundation relations director.
Early legislative wins included access to clean drinking water, toilets, and hand-washing stations in the fields. Then, in 2019, the Campaign helped pass New York’s Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act, guaranteeing farmworkers overtime pay, a day of rest each week, disability and family leave, unemployment benefits, and other protections.
“The Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund supported this campaign for multiple years, and it would have been very difficult to succeed without sustained support,” Brown said. “Our goal is systemic change—justice, equity, and empowerment—things that cannot be achieved within a single year.”
Established in 1993 by the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock, our Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund supports grassroots nonprofits whose work aligns with the religion’s core values: love, equity, generosity, transformation, justice, pluralism, and interdependence.
Members of Unitarian Universalist congregations from across the Island make up an advisory committee to ensure these values guide the Fund’s grantmaking. The Trust awards $355,000 in grants from the Fund each year to grassroots organizations.
“We look for organizations that are really making an impact in the community where they are located,” said Jim Monnier, a member of the Fund’s advisory committee. “This includes embracing trust-based philanthropy, where we follow the expertise of community members directly affected by the issues and leading movements for change.”
The Fund seeks out nonprofits that reflect the communities they serve, like longtime grantee ERASE Racism, which provides leadership training to high school students interested in creating change in their schools and beyond. The nonprofit also advocates for policies that address racial disparities and foster equity and inclusion.
Grants from the Fund also help new organizations take root by providing early support. This seed funding has helped groups like SEPA Mujer and Gender Equality Now grow into established nonprofits providing critical support across Long Island, including through youth development initiatives and legislative victories.
New Hour for Women and Children also received early Fund support after it started in 2013 as a small group of volunteers mentoring women at the Riverhead Correctional Facility. It has since helped thousands of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their families build stable lives in their communities.
Rural & Migrant Ministry has used recent grants from the Fund to expand its local organizing and youth development work.
When community members in Riverhead raised concerns about challenges they faced registering their children in the local school, receiving school communications in their native language, and more, RMM offered a space for families to discuss their experiences and explore solutions together.
Their weekly conversations evolved into a group of parents and RMM staff members who partnered with legal service providers to ensure the school district was in compliance with the New York State Language Access Law, and the establishment of a Community Involvement and Language Access Committee composed of Riverhead school board members and parents.
“That committee is an example of how community voices can create lasting solutions,” said Juana Cortes de Torres, director of RMM’s Immigrant Legal Rights Project.
The nonprofit’s focus on building trust and strong relationships has been a key to its success.
“After years of continuous work to earn the Riverhead community’s trust, we know people feel safe coming to us to connect with support and work together to create change,” said Noemi Sanchez, RMM’s Long Island regional coordinator.
More recently, the Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund has responded to the needs of grassroots organizations by simplifying its application process and offering general operating support to grantees it has worked with for three or more years.
“We say to the groups, ‘Tell us what you need, tell us what the issues are in your community, and just as importantly, what is your plan to address them?’” Monnier said. “The most meaningful part for me is to see an organization go from an idea, to a functioning nonprofit, to outgrowing us.”
