About
LEAD.NYC and the Cinnamon Network U.S. launched a bold, 10-year project to measure and support the church’s transformational impact, within ten of the most vulnerable zip codes across the New York metro area, addressing 4 key areas for breaking the cycle of poverty.
Increasing High School Graduation Rates
Improving Test Scores for Elementary Students
Intervening to Mitigate the Cycle of Teen Pregnancies
Interrupting the Revolving Door of Youth Incarceration
We started this process in 2018 informed by our Gospel-driven dedication to the marginalized, and the research that was birthed out of Stanford University that stated: “Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, yet the social sector remains focused on the isolated intervention of individual organizations.”
This research identified three things needed for effective collective impact: a backbone organization, shared language and agenda, and shared metrics. Between LEAD.NYC’s stance as a neutral convening organization and the Cinnamon Network’s vast data network we strongly believe that these needs will be met.
About
LEAD.NYC and the Cinnamon Network U.S. launched a bold, 10-year project to measure and support the church’s transformational impact, within ten of the most vulnerable zip codes across the New York metro area, addressing 4 key areas for breaking the cycle of poverty.
Increasing High School Graduation Rates
Improving Test Scores for Elementary Students
Intervening to Mitigate the Cycle of Teen Pregnancies
Interrupting the Revolving Door of Youth Incarceration
We started this process in 2018 informed by our Gospel-driven dedication to the marginalized, and the research that was birthed out of Stanford University that stated: “Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, yet the social sector remains focused on the isolated intervention of individual organizations.”
This research identified three things needed for effective collective impact: a backbone organization, shared language and agenda, and shared metrics. Between LEAD.NYC’s stance as a neutral convening organization and the Cinnamon Network’s vast data network we strongly believe that these needs will be met.
Approach
By collaborating with the Cinnamon Network we were able to tap into an implementation and measurement system that tracks and reports the collective social impact of the church in local communities. Working with church, community, civic, and marketplace leaders, we began implementing this system to track two communities, Washington Heights and East New York.
Washington Heights & Inwood
Population: 195,830+
(U.S. Census Bureau 2016)
East New York
Population: 181,300+
(U.S. Census Bureau 2016)
We began the project by mapping out faith-based organizations in the two communities. We then reached out – calling, sending emails, holding open meetings in each ZIP code, and doing on-the-ground canvassing to acquire information about the services being provided by each organization. The data gathered was eye-opening! In each ZIP code, we saw an average of 770,000 hours of service provided by paid staff (representing around 371 full-time employees per ZIP code) and an average of 1.14 million hours of service provided by volunteers (equivalent to around 549 full-time employees per ZIP code).
If we multiply these hours by a living wage in East New York of $24.19 this amounts to $46.2 million in annual services being provided for the church in the community – and that’s in one ZIP code. There are 176 ZIP codes in New York City and other focused communities. If we take this average and multiply it across the city, the church of New York City is providing $8.13 billion in annual services, averaging 166,000 full-time employees.
Annual Impact of NYC Churches vs. Amazon’s Proposed NYC HQ
$46.2 Million in Annual Services Provided to Churches in 1 ZIP Code
$8.13 Billion Estimated in Annual Services by the Collective Church of NYC
$1.5-2.5 Billion in Estimated Annual Impact by the Proposed Amazon NYC HQ
Approach
By collaborating with the Cinnamon Network we were able to tap into an implementation and measurement system that tracks and reports the collective social impact of the church in local communities. Working with church, community, civic, and marketplace leaders, we began implementing this system to track two communities, Washington Heights and East New York.
Washington Heights & Inwood
Population: 195,830+
(U.S. Census Bureau 2016)
East New York
Population: 181,300+
(U.S. Census Bureau 2016)
We began the project by mapping out faith-based organizations in the two communities. We then reached out – calling, sending emails, holding open meetings in each ZIP code, and doing on-the-ground canvassing to acquire information about the services being provided by each organization. The data gathered was eye-opening! In each ZIP code, we saw an average of 770,000 hours of service provided by paid staff (representing around 371 full-time employees per ZIP code) and an average of 1.14 million hours of service provided by volunteers (equivalent to around 549 full-time employees per ZIP code).
If we multiply these hours by a living wage in East New York of $24.19 this amounts to $46.2 million in annual services being provided for the church in the community – and that’s in one ZIP code. There are 176 ZIP codes in New York City and other focused communities. If we take this average and multiply it across the city, the church of New York City is providing $8.13 billion in annual services, averaging 166,000 full-time employees.
Annual Impact of NYC Churches vs. Amazon’s Proposed NYC HQ
$46.2 Million in Annual Services Provided to Churches in 1 ZIP Code
$8.13 Billion Estimated in Annual Services by the Collective Church of NYC
$1.5-2.5 Billion in Estimated Annual Impact by the Proposed Amazon NYC HQ
