From rebuilding homes to teaching children how to box: Meet some recipients of NBCUniversal Local Impact Grants

Giuseppe Caccamo was born at 29 weeks, weighing only one pound eight ounces, and after being hospitalized for nearly a year, he was on his way home to New York. But he needed a ventilator and a sterile house and the family’s was not.

“We were scared out of our brains because we were bringing home an infant attached to a ventilator," his mother, Katie Caccamo, said. "And then we were going to have nursing in the home for 24 hours a day to help keep him safe on the ventilator and we didn't have the home set up for that."

Enter Rebuilding Together Long Island, a nonprofit organization whose volunteers renovated the house for the baby, nicknamed JoJo. They pulled out old carpeting, installed new floors, took down a wall, added a sink in his bedroom and painted throughout.

“He didn't leave that room for almost a year and a half because of his medical needs," Caccamo said. "They saved his life."

This year the organization was chosen for an NBCUniversal Local Impact Grant, one of 76 nonprofits that received a total of $2.5 million in awards that were announced on Tuesday. They all serve communities in the 11 markets with both NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations. 

“Our mission is repairing homes, revitalizing communities and rebuilding lives,” said Rebuilding Together Long Island’s president, Stella Hendrickson. “But I always like to take that a step further and say we also touch hearts.”

NBCUniversal’s competitive grant program, now in its seventh year, is open to tax-exempt nonprofits known as 501(c)(3)s that have operating budgets of between $100,000 and $1 million and that focus on one of the following categories — youth education and empowerment, next-generation storytellers and community engagement. The grants are not restricted to any particular use. 

“We wanted to get some of those smaller, more grassroots organizations that don't normally get the big funds from, for example, a Gates Foundation-type of place,” said Hilary Smith, NBCUniversal’s executive vice president for corporate social responsibility. 

This year's winners are a diverse group of organizations with a variety of missions, from welcoming refugees and immigrants to offering after-school programs. One goal is to support groups that will have longevity.

“We hope that we’re giving grants that are providing building blocks for programs that are here to stay for the long term,” Smith said. 

Here are some of this year's other winners.

• In Los Angeles, Miry’s List connects refugees families with their new neighbors. 
• Devices 4 the Disabled in Chicago provides essential medical equipment and specialized support to help foster mobility, independence and dignity for those they serve.
• Project Libertad in Philadelphia offers youth-led legal and social services for young immigrants.
• Abide Women’s Health Services in Dallas focuses on maternal and infant health, particularly for black, indigenous and people of color communities. The clinic aims for healthier pregnancies, births and postpartum experiences through prenatal care, postnatal care, childbirth education and lactation support services.
• Innovators for Purpose in Boston centers on underrepresented young people in STEM education or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, among them children of first-generation immigrants and those from low-income families. 
• The mission of Arts for the Aging in the Greater Washington, D.C., area is to engage older adults and caregivers in the multidisciplinary arts with the goal of improving health and enhancing life. 
• Scientific Adventures for Girls in Oakland, California, works to remove systemic barriers to all girls' participation in STEM courses.
• Buddy System MIA in Miami improves food security across Miami-Dade County through a network of 75 local community partnerships and over 1,400 local volunteers.
• The Samuel Lawrence Foundation in San Diego County, California, brings together nonprofits, businesses, civic groups, and community members to create infrastructure for green spaces on school campuses.
• Charter Oak Amateur Boxing Academy & Youth Development Program in Hartford, Connecticut, whose mission is to keep at-risk boys and girls out of gangs, away from drugs and in school through amateur boxing supported by tutoring and mentoring.

“Our local grants program invests in our communities, supporting organizations that have a meaningful impact to our viewers,” said Valari Staab, chairman of NBCUniversal Local. “We’re proud to provide assistance to these outstanding nonprofits and help further their important missions, and thankful for the partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal that makes the program possible.”

Created in 2018, NBCUniversal’s grant program now has awarded $18.5 million to 546 nonprofit organizations. A full list of this year's recipients can be found here.

Rebuilding Together Long Island was founded 32 years ago by four men who had volunteered to build a house with Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit that emphasizes affordable housing. They wanted to be able to assist residents throughout the year. 

Today, 80 to 100 volunteers weatherize windows, renovate bathrooms and make other improvements to ensure that homes are safe. For a woman with cerebral palsy, they installed an air conditioner. For a man who had been on a ventilator during the COVID pandemic, they added a wheelchair ramp that allowed him to resume his physical and occupational therapy.

"And also just the fact that he could sit outside and feel the sunshine of his face," Hendrickson said.

Last year, the nonprofit completed 210 projects that helped 176 seniors, 30 veterans and 149 people with some sort of disability, she said. Homeowners must meet income guidelines to qualify and the work is free.

JoJo is now six, with two younger brothers, Chip and Luke. He is able to walk and run and is about to enter the first grade, this after Katie and her husband, Phil Caccamo, had been told at various times that he might be unable to leave his bed or would need a wheelchair.

"He is autistic and he has his challenges but he's improving every day," Katie Caccamo said. "He uses his talking device to communicate and he's exceeding everybody's expectations."

Had it not been for Rebuilding Together Long Island, she is not sure he would have survived. After a stay at what is now NYU Langone Hospital - Long Island and then months at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, he was still exceptionally fragile when he arrived home. Even a cold could have landed him back in the hospital or been deadly, she said.

"They have been doing this with small thank-you's for years and years and years," Katie Caccamo said. "They don't do it for the applause. They do it because they can put their heads on a pillow at night and know that that ramp or that wall was life-changing. This award recognizes how incredible they have been to the community."