Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund

Launched in March 2020, the Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund provides immediate and longer-term resources to vulnerable residents across our borough. To date, we have raised $3.7 million from over 1,600 individuals, families, and businesses uniting to help Brooklynites in need—making it the single largest community-funded effort in the Foundation’s 10-year history. We hope that you will join us and make a donation today.

From the start, we recognized that the coronavirus pandemic would have vastly disproportionate health, economic, and social impacts on communities of color—especially older adults, people with compromised immune systems, low-wage workers, and people who are unhoused.

We designed the Fund's strategy in consultation with our community partners, who offered insights about how to most effectively deploy immediate support across Brooklyn, with the understanding that the impacts of COVID-19 will be long-lasting and recovery for many will be a difficult process.        

In the Fund's first phase, we distributed more than $3.3 million, including 214 grants to front-line service and advocacy organizations that have provided lifelines for vulnerable populations, meal delivery and daily living needs for homebound neighbors, support for low-wage workers experiencing food insecurity, loss of wages, and limited access to healthcare and paid sick leave, as well as other deep and pervasive needs.

As we enter the next phase of the Fund, we will focus on addressing the profound economic impacts of this crisis and work towards dismantling and reimagining unjust systems and policies that have so clearly failed us.

We hope that you will join us and make a contribution today or pledge a monthly recurring donation to sustain this ongoing work. 100% of your donation will go organizations on the frontline of the fight for justice and equity in Brooklyn. Thank you for all that you are doing for Brooklyn during this time. 

Read Our Op-Ed:
Combat racial disparities like never before: A post-coronavirus imperative

By Cecilia Clarke, President & CEO