Community Fund Grants

Filter the grants using the options below:

Organization Year Amountsort descending Initiative Program Project Description Neighborhoods
Sweet River Consulting 2015 $100,000 Invest in Youth Brooklyn Restorative Justice Project Sweet River Consulting will provide restorative justice practices and coordination at Science Skills Center High School in Downtown Brooklyn. The founders of Sweet River Consulting have over 10 years’ experience implementing school-wide restorative justice policies and programs, and providing youth programming and leadership development. Sweet River Consulting is supported by the Center for Nu Leadership, a criminal justice advocacy organization in Central Brooklyn. Downtown
Audre Lorde Project 2017 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize An inter-generational organizing center for LGBT people of color that promotes community wellness and progressive social and economic justice in New York City. Founded in Brooklyn in 1996, ALP works with over 8,000 members on issues including creating safety models against police brutality and hate crimes, as well as training small businesses, community organizations, and neighborhood leaders on de-escalation and safety strategies. Boroughwide
Arab-American Family Support Center 2023 $100,000 Brooklyn Accelerator Spark Prize Arab-American Family Support Center (AAFSC) has provided culturally and linguistically competent, trauma-informed social services to low-income immigrants and refugees in New York City since 1994. AAFSC's services promote mental and physical well-being, prevent child abuse and work to end gender-based violence, provide the tools for learners of every age to succeed, and uplift the voices and needs of under-represented communities. Their programs include adult education, youth enrichment, mental health counseling, domestic violence support, health insurance enrollment and education, legal services, and more. In addition to offering direct services, the AAFSC Research Institute is a trusted source for information and publications on the voices and experiences of Arab, Middle Eastern, North African, Muslim, and South Asian (AMENAMSA) communities. Their staff speak over 30 languages, enabling them to serve populations that mainstream providers struggle to reach.  Boroughwide, Cobble Hill, Downtown
Common Justice 2017 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize A restorative justice program of the Vera Institute of Justice that works with responsible parties and those harmed by violent crime in Brooklyn. Founded in 2008, Common Justice is the first and only alternative to incarceration program for violent crimes in the adult courts in the United States. It works with 16 to 24-year-olds to address the criminal justice system’s over-reliance on incarceration, to halt cycles of violence, and to meet the needs of victims of crime. To date, fewer than 8% of its participants have been terminated from the program for committing a new crime. Boroughwide
Brownsville Community Justice Center 2020 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize For a multi-faceted initiative that seeks to re-engineer how the justice system works in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The Justice Center addresses systemic inequities by helping young people disengage from the justice system and discover routes to economic security, so they can, in turn, reinvest in their community. Brownsville
Kings Against Violence Initiative 2023 $100,000 Brooklyn Accelerator Spark Prize Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI) was founded in 2009 by Dr. Robert Gore, an Emergency Room physician who felt compelled to address the rising incidence of violence among youth in Central Brooklyn. KAVI works to prevent and eliminate interpersonal violence from the lives of young people through social justice advocacy, peer leadership, and community mobilization in hospitals, schools, and community settings. Through community and school programs, they serve over 300 youth annually, and have helped hundreds of youth overcome a history of violence and behavioral issues to graduate from high school and attend college. Through their hospital program, they engage and support over 750 patients each year and have reduced hospital recidivism rates by over 75% percent by providing up to a year of follow-up support and care for youth patients admitted with assault-related injuries. Bedford Stuyvesant, East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Brownsville
The Campaign Against Hunger 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Founded in 1998 in Bedford Stuyvesant, today (TCAH) aims to empower its neighbors across Brooklyn to lead healthier, more productive and self-sufficient lives by increasing their access to nutritious food and related resources. The organization’s food pantry provides 3 million meals annually while acting as a hub for benefits access and food justice programming—including a wellness club for seniors, an intergenerational healthy dining initiative for families, and a free summer kids program. Its youth-led urban farms serve as outdoor community classrooms and infuse the community with nutrient-rich, sustainably grown produce and fresh eggs. Bedford Stuyvesant
Make the Road New York 2017 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize An immigrant-led organization that develops grassroots leadership to mobilize Latino and working class communities. It provides legal services, education, and employment access to achieve policy change. MRNY is dedicated to building community power and racial equity in Bushwick, where it was founded in 1997. It now has over 20,000 members and 200 staff working across New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Boroughwide
Children of Promise, NYC 2020 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize To empower children of incarcerated parents to break the cycle of intergenerational involvement in the criminal justice system. CPNYC offers a broad array of services in a safe supportive space where young people, ages 6-18, can share similar experiences. Boroughwide
Mixteca 2023 $100,000 Brooklyn Accelerator Spark Prize Mixteca Organization was established in 2000 in Sunset Park to address critical needs in health care, mental health, education, social and legal issues facing the growing Mexican and Latin American immigrant community in Brooklyn. In 2016, in response to the increasingly hostile, anti-immigrant political climate, Mixteca increased efforts to provide information, support, and build a grassroots advocacy group led by staff, volunteers, and Promotoras (community advocates). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mixteca was among the first to respond and provide emergency relief to the Latinx and Indigenous immigrant community, providing a lifeline to the disproportionately impacted undocumented immigrant community who were largely excluded from federal and state aid. Sunset Park
Arab American Association of New York (AAANY) 2022 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Arab American Association of New York (AAANY) was founded in 2001 by Arab immigrant and Arab American leaders in Bay Ridge to advocate for the community in the wake of the September 11th attacks. Today, AAANY serves Brooklyn’s Arab immigrant, refugee, and Muslim communities, helping over 6,000 beneficiaries annually through its women’s empowerment and adult literacy programs, immigration legal assistance, mental health and domestic violence support services, and youth programming. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AAANY has transitioned to virtual programming and has transformed its office into a direct relief hub, distributing 22,000+ food boxes and $450,000 in direct cash for clients in crisis, creating a laptop lending program, and working with community partners to provide relief to domestic violence survivors. Boroughwide
Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Serving families in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of northeast Brooklyn since 1990, Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation (CHCCC) aims to increase the availability of high-quality, affordable child care for low-income families while creating entrepreneurship opportunities for low-income women to capitalize on their child rearing skills. CHCCC serves over 500 families through year-round programming, and is in the process of opening a brand-new, state-of-the-art child care facility that will serve 88 low-income families in Cypress Hills, which is projected to experience significant population growth over the next few years. Cypress Hills
MoCADA 2017 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize A “museum without walls” that serves the African Diasporan community through art exhibitions, education, and community programs to promote African diasporan art, racial equity, and social justice in Brooklyn. Founded in 1999, this year it is expanding from 2,000 sq. ft. to a new 20,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Fort Greene. Boroughwide
The Noel Pointer Foundation 2020 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize To enrich the lives of children of color in under-served communities by connecting them with music education and performance opportunities. Boroughwide
STEM From Dance 2023 $100,000 Brooklyn Accelerator Spark Prize STEM From Dance was founded in Brooklyn in 2012 to empower girls of color with the know-how, experience, and confidence to dream big in STEM—all through the power of dance. STEM from Dance offers programs for girls of color ages 10-18: afterschool residencies in partnership with NYC Title I schools, and Girls Rise Up, an intensive three-week summer program. Through both programs, girls learn the fundamentals of dance and technology and use technology to create unique, engaging choreographed dances. Participants learn how to use circuits to create outfits that light up with their dancing, code drones to dance alongside them, code a brand-new song to dance to, and more. Boroughwide
Black Women's Blueprint 2022 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Black Women's Blueprint was founded in Brooklyn in 2008, and is a lifeline for survivors of gender-based violence, and provides birth education and maternal health support. The organization’s Sexual Abuse to Maternal Mortality Pipeline report and institute has pioneered a campaign to desilo these movements and affirm the link between trauma healing and maternal health. Each year, it engages doulas, midwives, birth-workers, and sexual assault advocates to reach 5,000 survivors at 50 different locations through its Sistas Van mobile health unit, and trains 800 clinicians and medical personnel. In addition, it is building a Reconciliation Center in Upstate New York to offer Brooklyn women space to heal and give birth safely. Boroughwide
Girls for Gender Equity 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Brooklyn Accelerator Based in Brooklyn since its founding in 2002, Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) is an intergenerational organization committed to the physical, psychological, social, and economic development of girls and women. GGE develops the advocacy skills of over 200 young people annually to eradicate structural, state, racial, and sexual violence and criminalization. GGE encourages youth to become agents of change through civic engagement and leadership opportunities, and campaigns focused on improving the systemic and interpersonal rights of trans and cis girls and young women of color, and gender non-conforming youth of color. Boroughwide
Neighbors Together 2017 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize A dynamic soup kitchen, social service provider, and community center committed to ending hunger and poverty in Ocean Hill, Brownsville, and Bedford Stuyvesant since 1982. It provides empowerment and community action programming to organize community members to advocate for policy change, in addition to serving 80,000 meals annually out of its community café. Ocean Hill, Brownsville, Bedford Stuyvesant
North Brooklyn Coalition 2020 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize To address systemic racism, institutional injustice, and cultural barriers facing survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault by creating a community-based support network. Williamsburg, Bushwick, Greenpoint
Workers Justice Project 2023 $100,000 Brooklyn Accelerator Spark Prize Workers Justice Project (WJP) is a New York City workers’ rights hub that has been spearheading new ways of labor organizing and empowering workers to gain a voice in the workplace since 2010. WJP is building a diverse membership base and developing the skills of worker leaders who understand the connection between the barriers they face and systemic racism, while providing Spanish-language services, training and organizing. WJP has created over 5,000 construction and house cleaning jobs in the past five years that have resulted in $4.9 million in salaries. Additional achievements include securing six landmark policies to “Deliver Justice'' for 65,000 app-based delivery workers in 2021, and distributing $2.5 million in cash relief to essential workers and excluded workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Williamsburg, Bushwick, Sunset Park
Brooklyn Movement Center (BMC) 2022 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Brooklyn Movement Center (BMC) is a Black-led, membership-based organization of primarily low-to-moderate income Central Brooklyn residents founded in 2011. BMC builds power and self-determination in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights’ Black communities by nurturing local leadership, waging campaigns, and winning concrete improvements in people’s lives. Through intersectional organizing, BMC addresses a range of issues that define a whole community, including police accountability and community safety, food sovereignty, environmental justice, anti-gentrification media production, electoral justice, and tenant organizing. Boroughwide
Red Hook Community Justice Center 2022 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Launched in 2000, the Red Hook Community Justice Center works to strengthen Red Hook and surrounding areas by reducing crime and the use of incarceration, improving public trust in justice, and collaborating with the community to solve local problems. At the Justice Center, a single judge hears cases that ordinarily would go to three different courts: civil, family, and criminal. Whenever possible, cases are resolved through a restorative, problem-solving approach that seeks to repair harm and address the underlying issues that bring individuals into the justice system. The Justice Center also serves as a hub for an array of unconventional programs that are available to litigants as a means of resolving their cases, as well as to the community at large. Red Hook
Sadie Nash Leadership Project 2020 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize To equip, strengthens, and supports young women and gender-expansive youth of color to be agents of change in their lives and in the world. Citywide
Cave Canem 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Founded in 1996 to remedy the under-representation and isolation of black poets, Cave Canem has grown from a gathering of 26 poets to become an influential movement and artistic incubator based in Brooklyn with a high-achieving international fellowship of over 425, and a local workshop community of over 900 poets. Boroughwide
Groundswell Community Mural Project 2022 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Groundswell Community Mural Project was founded in 1996 to bring together artists, youth, and community organizations to use art as a tool for social change. Its projects beautify neighborhoods, engage youth in societal and personal transformation, and give expression to ideas and perspectives that are underrepresented in the public dialogue. Each year, Groundswell engages over 450 youth, led by trained teaching artists, and in partnership with community partner organizations and city agencies, in the presentation of afterschool, summer, school-based, and community commissioned programs. In addition, Groundswell hosts free, often youth-led, events and programs for the general public. Boroughwide
VOCAL-NY 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY) is a Brooklyn-based, statewide network building a movement led by low-income people of color to end the AIDS epidemic, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness. Founded in 1999 as a progressive AIDS housing network at a time when the epidemic was increasingly concentrated in low-income communities of color, VOCAL-NY was formed to shift attention toward root causes, like homelessness and incarceration. Today, VOCAL-NY operates a syringe exchange that distributes over 50,000 clean syringes annually, provides overdose prevention training and other services to hundreds of New Yorkers, and has worked to pass 15 pieces of legislation since 2013. Boroughwide
Center for Law and Social Justice 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Founded in Brooklyn in 1985 as a community service unit of Medgar Evers College to serve as an institutional response to pervasive racial injustices, the Center for Law and Social Justice continues pushing for meaningful policy changes to stem the institutionalization of police brutality and systemic racism across New York City. In addition to promoting alternative community policing solutions, it is a leading advocate for the protection and integrity of voting rights and for racial equity in public education. Boroughwide, Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Brownsville
Weeksville Heritage Center 2022 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Weeksville Heritage Center upholds the legacy of one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, using historic preservation, education, the arts, and a social justice lens to keep this unique chapter of American history relevant and resonant for contemporary audiences, particularly Black residents in Central Brooklyn. The Weeksville Heritage Center is the steward of the historic Hunterfly Road Houses, and serves as an education space, community hub, and presenter of free or low-cost recreational and artistic programming—all with a nexus to the Weeksville legacy of self-determination. Having emerged from a crippling financial crisis in 2019, Weeksville reestablished a record of fiscal accountability under a new strategic plan, and was included in New York City’s esteemed Cultural Institutions Group in 2020. Boroughwide

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