Healthy Communities
Helping Residents Make Red Hook, Fort Greene and Brownsville Healthier Places to Live
Many Brooklynites, especially residents of public housing, have limited access to affordable healthy food and safe open spaces to play and be active. This is a growing concern as communities with high poverty rates also face soaring health challenges including obesity, asthma, and diabetes.
Through the Healthy Communities initiative, Brooklyn Community Foundation is connecting innovative efforts around food, open space, and fitness in three neighborhoods with high concentrations of public housing developments—Red Hook, Fort Greene, and Brownsville—to share resources and empower residents to enrich their environments and strengthen their communities, while developing new ways for nonprofits and city agencies to work together to improve public health.
This three year initiative brings together three nonprofits—Added Value, Myrtle Ave Revitalization Project, and Brownsville Partnership—with the New York City Housing Authority and Brooklyn District Public Health Office to promote the development of new urban farms and gardens, affordable produce markets, healthier school food menus, fitness groups, and more. The project also focuses on revealing new resident voices committed to the health of their communities through policy, advocacy, and outreach.
Community Grant Program
The Healthy Communities Initiative Community Grant Program supports healthy eating and active living activities in Red Hook, Brownsville and Fort Greene by providing grants to nonprofit organizations or fiscally funded organizations that engage in community-led healthy eating and active living activities.
Funding decisions are recommended to Brooklyn Community Foundation by Community Grant Committees located in each of the three neighborhoods. Technical assistance and support are coordinated by Brooklyn Community Foundation and provided by Added Value in Red Hook, Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project in Fort Greene, and the Brownsville Partnership in Brownsville.
2015 Grant Recipients
|
Organization Name |
Project Name |
Grant Amount |
Neighborhood |
|
Nahisha McCoy-Freeman |
Youth Fun Day |
$1,000 |
Red Hook |
|
Nrichment Zone LLC |
DANCE FIT SPORT FIT |
$3,000 |
Red Hook |
|
Good Shepherd Services |
South Brooklyn Community |
$2,000 |
Red Hook |
|
Space Age Productions |
"Digital Divide" Cartoon Series |
$2,000 |
Red Hook |
|
The Sylvia Center |
Red Hook Harvest Dinner |
$2,000 |
Red Hook |
|
Child Development Support Corporation |
Healthy Childcare Healthy Children |
$1,900 |
Fort Greene |
|
The Neighborhood Work Play Kids Theater |
Nutrition & Fitness |
$1,100 |
Fort Greene |
|
Fort Greene Strategic Neighborhood Action Partnership |
Be Heart Healthy |
$1,000 |
Fort Greene |
|
Keep Your Pearls Girls |
Keep Your Pearls |
$850 |
Fort Greene |
|
Youth Beyond Basketball |
Main Event |
$2,500 |
Fort Greene |
|
Willoughby Neighborhood Senior Center |
Senior Herbal Spice Garden & Kitchen |
$2,300 |
Fort Greene |
|
Ten Neighbors Community Garden |
Building Community Garden |
$2,092 |
Brownsville |
|
Mt. Ollie Baptist Church |
MOBC Family and Friends 5K Walk |
$1,500 |
Brownsville |
|
A Yogi Grows in Brooklyn |
A Yogi Grows in Brooklyn |
$2,454 |
Brownsville |
|
We Run Brownsville |
Sofa to Success |
$2,454 |
Brownsville |
|
Mary's Creations |
Mary's Creations |
$1,500 |
Brownsville |