About Brooklyn community foundation
Brooklyn Community Foundation: Investing in Racial Justice and Community-Led Change
Brooklyn Community Foundation is a public foundation that is solely dedicated to Brooklyn's charitable community. The foundation works in partnership with generous donors and community leaders to invest in racial justice and community-led change. Since its inception, the foundation has been committed to creating a fairer, more just, and equitable Brooklyn for all.
The foundation was established in 2009 by a group of philanthropists who were passionate about making a difference in their local community. They recognized that there was a need for an organization that could bring together donors, nonprofits, and community leaders to address the most pressing issues facing Brooklyn.
Over the years, the foundation has grown into one of the most respected philanthropic organizations in New York City. It has awarded over $50 million in grants to hundreds of nonprofits working on issues such as education, health care access, affordable housing, immigrant rights, criminal justice reform, environmental sustainability and more.
One of the key areas where Brooklyn Community Foundation focuses its efforts is on racial justice. The foundation believes that systemic racism is one of the biggest challenges facing our society today. It recognizes that communities of color have been historically marginalized and under-resourced due to structural inequalities such as redlining policies or discriminatory lending practices.
To address these issues head-on, Brooklyn Community Foundation launched its Racial Justice Fund which aims at supporting organizations working towards dismantling systemic racism across various sectors including education reform; economic development; criminal justice reform; immigration rights advocacy among others.
The Racial Justice Fund provides grants ranging from $5k-$50k per year for up to three years depending on each organization's needs. In addition to financial support from this fund alone since 2016 over $3 million dollars have been invested into racial equity work through other grantmaking programs at BCF including Immigrant Rights Fund (IRF), Invest In Youth (IIY) initiative which supports youth-led social change projects across NYC schools & communities among others.
Another area where Brooklyn Community Foundation makes significant investments is through its Neighborhood Strength program which seeks out grassroots organizations led by people who live or work within specific neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn - particularly those with high poverty rates or low civic engagement levels - providing them with funding opportunities as well as technical assistance so they can better serve their communities' needs effectively while building stronger relationships between residents & institutions alike.
Through this program alone since 2015 over $4 million dollars have been invested into neighborhood-based initiatives aimed at improving quality-of-life outcomes like increased access-to-healthy food options; expanded educational opportunities for children & adults alike; improved public safety measures like lighting upgrades or increased police presence during peak hours etcetera all while fostering greater sense-of-community pride among residents themselves!
In conclusion:
Brooklyn Community Foundation stands out amongst other foundations because it focuses solely on investing back into local communities within one borough rather than spreading resources thin across multiple regions without any real impact being made anywhere specifically.
By focusing exclusively on addressing root causes behind social inequities like systemic racism through targeted grantmaking programs alongside technical assistance provided directly by staff members themselves BCF ensures maximum impact possible while also building stronger relationships between residents & institutions alike.
If you're looking for an organization committed not only towards making positive changes but also towards ensuring long-term sustainability then look no further than BCF!
brooklyncommunityfoundation.org
