Community Corner

BCF Grants Announced: Bed-Stuy Wins Big!

Bed-Stuy orgs received 16 awards totaling $273,600

Brooklyn Community Foundation, the first and only philanthropy organization dedicated solely to giving in Brooklyn, has announced its 2012 grants, and Bedford Stuyvesant nonprofits received the highest number of neighborhood-directed grants in the borough!

A total of 138 small to medium-sized grants totalling $2.3 million will boost Brooklyn's non-profit sector through the foundation's five donor-supported funds: Education & Youth Achievement, Arts for All, Community Development, Caring Neighbors and Green Communities. 

More than 30 organizations that service Bedford-Stuyvesant will receive support, including 16 Bed-Stuy-specific awards totaling $273,600.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Our strategy is to invest in Brooklyn’s neighborhoods and the non-profit leaders who have demonstrated a deep knowledge of the community and the challenges residents face,” said Marilyn Gelber, president of the Brooklyn Community Foundation. “In Bedford-Stuyvesant, a place that’s seen a great deal of change over the past few years, our goal is to invest in locally sourced ideas and programs that are embraced by the community.”

Of the borough’s 2.5 million residents, one in four lives in poverty. Now, with the current changes taking place in Brooklyn at record pace, including multi million-dollar real estate developments, a surging tech industry and a fast-shifting demographic, the economic gap between the have’s and have-not’s will widen further.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

BCF grantmaking is focused on providing financial support for initiatives that address the contributing causes of poverty, such as education deficits, unemployment, foreclosures, and access to affordable and healthy food.

“Much of our grantmaking in Bed-Stuy focuses on education and youth achievement, workforce and economic development, emergency food, open space and public health, affordable housing and support for cultural enrichment,” said Gelber.

“Our grantees in Bed-Stuy are doing some of the most effective and innovative work in addressing these needs, and our hope is that more people in the neighborhood become supporters of their efforts and join us in helping to expand their impact.”

The following organizations servicing the Bed-Stuy community were the recipients of this year 2012 Brooklyn Community Foundation Grants:

651 ARTS: $15,000 to engage artists and audiences in Bedford Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill, Ft. Greene Brooklyn and beyond to participate in a series of public performances and residencies, as well as a challenge to increase individual giving, led by the Board of Directors.

Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts: $20,000 for MoCADA City, a new outreach effort comprised of three initiatives: KIDflix Film Fest of Bedford Stuyvesant, monthly arts programs in two NYCHA complexes, and a pre-college art program at LIU.

The Noel Pointer Foundation: $15,000 in scholarship and operating support for the Saturday and Summer Strings programs serving youth from Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights.

Extreme Kids and Crew: $10,000 for a full-time Program Coordinator to staff and ensure access to, train and manage parent volunteers, maintain a database, and ensure the effective delivery of music, arts and supportive programming for families with disabled children at Space No. 1.

Groundswell Community Mural Project: $15,000 for community art making opportunities for youth.
Urban Word NYC: $15,000 for programs that enhance the artistic expression and literacy of participating low-income public high school students through spoken word and hip-hop

Diaspora Community Services: $20,000 for new Director of Operations to strengthen programs and services and develop new initiatives that support short- and long-term client needs in Bedford Stuyvesant, East Flatbush, and Flatbush.

Brooklyn Community Services: $25,000 for Complementary Family Support Services, a series of workshops that address stressors impacting family cohesion in Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, and East New York, led by MSWs.

Housing + Solutions: $25,000 for long term and transitional supportive housing services for formerly homeless women and their families in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Bushwick

Bed Stuy Campaign Against Hunger: $20,000 for programs that have successfully distributed 1.2 million meals and provided social services to 6,000 individuals in Bedford Stuyvesant.

Neighbors Together Corp.: $20,000 to provide comprehensive care to New Yorkers impacted by the economic downtown in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Ocean Hill, meeting immediate needs while empowering them to grow beyond mere survival.

St. John's Bread and Life, Inc.: $25,000 for the Emergency Food Initiative, expand digital choice food pantry, provide monthly cooking and education classes, and distribute 6,000 additional lbs of food and fresh produce in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Coney Island.

Heights and Hills: $20,000 to strengthen the organization's infrastructure and help it become more financially self sustaining, so that it can better serve the growing needs of the elderly community in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Heights, and Ft. Greene.

Older Adults Technology Services: $15,000 “challenge grant” to implement free technology training programs at five sites in Brooklyn and extend course offerings to seniors in Bedford Stuyvesant, Bensonhurst, and Bay Ridge.

Bridge Street Development Corporation: $10,000 to support fundraising activities, to grow support for organization’s work with residents and businesses in Bedford Stuyvesant and Bushwick.

Bushwick Housing Independence Project: $15,000 for the Housing Court Coalition, a joint project with Make the Road New York and Brooklyn Legal Aid. Advocates accompany tenants from Bedford Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Bushwick to housing court to understand their rights and have a fair hearing.

St. Nick’s Alliance: $25,000 for extensive range of workforce development programs serving residents of Williamsburg, Bedford Stuyvesant, and Bushwick.

Good Shepherd Services: $15,000 for Groundwork for Success, a program in East New York and Bedford Stuyvesant, which provides academic counseling/tutoring, Regents prep, college prep/access, paid internships, and peer groups.

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow: $10,000 for the College Access Program to assist students from Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, and Sunset Park with college applications, school tours, entrance exams, and financial aid forms.

Maura Clarke – Ita Ford Center: $20,000 for ESL program serving Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, and East New York. Students receive intense instruction and can access the Open Arms Project, which addresses health, immigration, housing, safety, and community organizing.

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation: $25,000 for the Bedford Stuyvesant Promise Zone to provide a continuum of community support to shepherd youth from cradle to higher education.

Brooklyn Kindergarten Society: $20,000 to support five early childhood learning centers in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Crown Heights focusing on early language and literacy. In addition, supportive services for families are offered to improve stability and involvement.

Dance Theatre Etcetera: $10,000 for the Arts for At Risk Youth: In-School & Out-of-School-Time program at three Brooklyn transfer high schools in Bedford Stuyvesant, Canarsie, and Red Hook.

Coro New York Leadership Center: $10,000 for the Exploring Leadership Program to build the student leadership community in Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, and Crown Heights to impact change in their schools and the education system.

City Harvest, Inc.: $15,000 for Bedford Stuyvesant Healthy Neighborhoods, which responds to emergency food needs while addressing long-term food security issues. Program links 175 emergency food providers in Brooklyn, while increasing access to fresh, affordable food.

Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford Stuyvesant (CIBS): $20,000 for two projects to improve health outcomes: 2nd Annual Bedford Stuyvesant Food and Family Day, and an interior design improvement matching grant program targeting bodegas in NYC DOH healthy food choices program.

EcoStation: NY /Bushwick Farmers Market: $15,000 to support three farmers markets, a school-based farm program at Bushwick High School campus, and outreach—to improve the health of the Bedford Stuyvesant and Bushwick community by improving access to healthy, locally-grown food.

Just Food: $20,000 to support two CSAs, 18 partnerships between emergency food providers and community gardens, and 11 community-based farmers markets.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation: $3,600 for two teacher stipends for the PS 3 Ambassador School Program in Bedford Stuyvesant.

New York Restoration Project: $15,000 for modest capital improvements and community outreach activities in 21 community gardens in Bedford Stuyvesant, Broadway Junction, and Ft. Greene.


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