KINGSTON, N.Y. — Visitors and residents of Kingston have probably seen the brightly decorated building at 65 St. James St., paused to admire it, and moved on, wondering what could be happening there.
Behind the washes of pink, blue, and green is the Good Work Institute’s “Greenhouse,” the home base for an organization determined to connect and uplift the local community through workshops, networking, and financial support.
Through just its fiscal sponsorship programs alone, the organization has helped numerous programs and non-profits take root in the Mid-Hudson area, from the video platform, HUDSY TV, to Rock Steady Farm in Millerton, by facilitating access to grants at their earliest stages.
Good Work Institute is partially funded by the NoVo Foundation, receiving support for itself as well as other organizations. In 2022, the organization received $1,280,750 from NoVo funding, with portions designated for fiscal sponsorship to other organizations and groups.
Portions of funding to Good Work Institute by NoVo in 2022 were designated for organizations including the Kingston Food Co-op, Thrive On, and Hummingbird Healing Arts.
In addition to fiscal sponsorship, the Good Work Institute hosts workshops in the Greenhouse and with partner groups, providing training to non-profits and individuals across a range of topics including social equity and the practices of sharing power. They also host a radio show on Radio Kingston broadcast Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Greenhouse is a free or at-cost space for people and projects that are fostering grassroots movements, providing a central location for meetings, workshops, community groups, and events.
![Good Work Institute. Photo taken April 26, 2024. (Tania Barricklo/Daily Freeman)](https://i0.wp.com/www.dailyfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DFN-L-042624-26.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
Hélène Lesterlin, worker trustee and co-executive director at Good Work Institute, is proud of the work the organization has done in the community since its inception in 2015 as a non-profit co-founded by Matt Stinchcomb, who had been an early employee at Etsy, the large e-commerce platform focused on connecting small businesses and artisans with consumers. The original vision was to support social impact entrepreneurs as they launched local businesses in New York City.
“Pretty quickly, it shifted,” Lesterlin said. “It moved to the Hudson Valley, we ran a fellowship program. Over time, it moved from supporting entrepreneurs and business owners to supporting a broader array of people who were working for change.”
According to Lesterlin, the organization pivoted in 2019, shifting away from a fellowship to a broader array of community-based programming based on a movement-building approach. The organization also moved towards a shared leadership structure internally. “There are six of us as co-executive directors,” she said.
Another one of the organization’s changes was adopting the “Just Transition” framework, which Lesterlin says forms the basis of the Good Work Institute’s work. “Just Transition,” according to the organization’s website, features five main principles: advancing ecological repair, democratizing communities, wealth, and work, driving racial justice and social equity, retaining and restoring cultural diversity, and re-localizing economic power.
Lesterlin said she and her team are currently focused on the principle of democratizing communities, wealth, and work, which inspired their community fund project, designed to be a democratically controlled fund for the benefit of the people of Kingston.
The community fund, still in its early stages, began conceptualization in 2022. The fund is being designed as a way for members of the Kingston community to decide what programs and projects merit investment, as a cooperative effort.
“We asked ourselves: what would a fund look like that was for the benefit of Kingston if it were designed by the people of Kingston,” Lesterlin said.
The Good Work Institute’s community fund is unique in its conception, according to Lesterlin. “We were looking for other communities that have designed funds using community input and there are very few,” she said.
“We had the good fortune to be able to take the time and do it with intention, to build a really strong cohort,” she said.
Lesterlin said 18 residents of Kingston committed to a six-month program, receiving a stipend, to learn and collaborate on how to develop the fund with the interests of the community at heart.
“We’re really proud of this project,” she said. “It’s an example of what we want to see more of in the world.”
The organization’s colorful Greenhouse, a hub for “Just Transition,” was forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic, but is flourishing in 2024, according to Lesterlin. “A lot of people are using the space,” she said. “We have resident organizations that have their offices upstairs, and community initiatives, meetings, and workshops happening downstairs.”
The Greenhouse, according to Lesterlin, is a center for collective growth and collaboration. “It’s this idea of working to create connection at a time when there’s a lot of pressure to create, in our culture, alienation and isolation.”
Lesterlin said this collective mentality is what drives much of the work at Good Work Institute, from supporting smaller organizations in Kingston to the many workshops and programs offered.
“It’s feeling like you’re a part of something, and that your voice matters, and that you care about it not only for your benefit but for a greater, common good,” she said.
For more information, visit goodworkinstitute.org.