Community Fund Grants

Filter the grants using the options below:

Organization Year Amountsort descending Initiative Program Project Description Neighborhoods
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
exalt 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Since its founding in 2006 in Brooklyn, exalt has worked with over 1200 youth ages 15-19 who have been involved in the criminal justice system. exalt equips youth with tools and experiences to avoid further criminal justice system involvement through structured classes for tangible skill development, individualized support to navigate the education and justice systems, placement in paid internships, and an alumni network of resources. Boroughwide
Griot Circle 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Founded in 1996 by a group of LGBTQ elders of color living in Brooklyn to address the systemic racial, social, and economic injustices that LGBTQ elders of color experience, GRIOT Circle now offers culturally-sensitive, innovative programming to over 400 members throughout the year, Boroughwide
Red Hook Initiative 2018 $100,000 Spark Prize Spark Prize Founded in 2002 as a program of a local hospital in response to the severity of health and social issues in Red Hook, RHI has become a neighborhood stronghold and nationally recognized model for youth and community development, providing safe and enriching opportunities for young people ages 11- 24 primarily living in the Red Hook Houses—New York City’s largest NYCHA housing development. Red Hook
New York Peace Institute 2015 $100,000 Invest in Youth Brooklyn Restorative Justice Project New York Peace Institute will provide restorative justice practices and coordination at the Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies in Coney Island. New York Peace Institute is one of the nation’s largest community mediation services, with expertise in special education mediation. They have previously partnered with the Department of Probation, the New York City Department of Education, NYPD and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s offices. Coney Island
Good Shepherd Services 2015 $100,000 Invest in Youth Brooklyn Restorative Justice Project Good Shepherd Services (GSS) will provide restorative justice practices and coordination at the School for Democracy and Leadership in East Flatbush. GSS is a leading New York City youth and family development agency with over 85 programs serving more than 30,000 children, youth, and families in under-resourced communities. East Flatbush
Partnership with Children 2015 $100,000 Invest in Youth Brooklyn Restorative Justice Project Partnership with Children will provide restorative justice practices and coordination at Ebbets Field Middle School in Crown Heights. Partnership with Children provides critical social and emotional support for the hardest-to-reach students and engages families in the school community so they can succeed in school, society and life. They have social workers in 32 public schools in all five boroughs and manage all community resources and support services in 12 community schools. Crown Heights
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

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