Seedco's Second Annual Gala will take place on October 7, 2008, at Cipriani 42nd Street.

This year's honorees are Ken Lowe, President
and C.E.O. of the E.W. Scripps Company and
Linda Gibbs, New York City Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services.

Since its launch in March 2007, Seedco has been hard at work implementing Opportunity NYC, the United States’ first comprehensive conditional cash transfer initiative. Although we don’t yet know the long-term effects, Seedco has already distributed more than $2.5 million dollars to over 1,850 participating families. We are excited to be a part of this innovative and rigorous test of whether financial incentives can make a difference in the lives of low-income families.

In partnership with Mayor Bloomberg’s Center for Economic Opportunity, MDRC, community partners, and various city agencies, Seedco began administering the Family Rewards pilot last year. Through Family Rewards, participating families can earn incentive-based payments for completion of education, health, work and job training activities. Given the innovative nature of the study, the project has received international attention.

In addition, Seedco and its partners recently launched another Opportunity NYC test of financial incentives called Work Rewards. It’s an effort that targets individuals who live in subsidized housing and rewards workforce and training participation. We look forward to charting that progress in the months to come.

Watch more about Seedco’s role in Opportunity NYC.

Read a synopsis of City Limits Investigates’ profile on Opportunity NYC and connect to the full article, “Target of Opportunities.”

More than 100 nonprofit intermediaries were invited to apply for the 2008 Intermediary Summit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Seedco was one of 11 organizations selected to discuss our “promising” use of data to facilitate and manage large-scale partnerships with various faith-and community-based organizations countrywide.

Read about Seedco’s work on Faith-Based Community initiatives.

As the housing bubble continues to deflate and the credit crunch closes in, Seedco continues to reach households near its 43 national sites through its Housing Counseling. Acting as a US Department of Housing and Urban Development intermediary, Seedco’s efforts were recently bolstered by a recent $1.1 million grant from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program through NeighborWorks® America.

Read how Seedco is reaching more households than ever.

Two years after Hurricane Katrina hit, businesses are finding nontraditional ways to access lending in New Orleans and rural southeast Louisiana. Hear about Seedco Financial’s work in the area on this NPR Weekend Edition segment, featuring senior vice president Robin Barnes and four borrowers.

Listen to the audio clip here and click here to see more of Seedco in the News.