PIX11 News: What would you do if someone gave you $20,000? Prize winners weigh in

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Published in: PIX11 News

What would you do if someone gave you $20,000? It’s a question that the leaders of five different Brooklyn community organizations are asking now after being named the recipients of the five-figure award amount that they can spend as they wish.

They were named on Wednesday as the winners of the Just Brooklyn Prize, a cash award bestowed on individuals and groups selected from among over 900 nominees from across the borough.

On Wednesday, one of the five recipients was assessing how her organization’s many needs can be eased by the prize money, which in turn can help meet the even more numerous needs of the community.

Ninaj Raoul is the founder and executive director of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees. The 32-year-old organization works out of a space that’s about 7 feet by 21 feet, with at least three people occupying it at any given time. They serve thousands of Brooklyn residents, trying to ensure that they have resources to help them find work, decent healthcare, housing, and other needs.

“Those needs in the refugee community are growing,” said Raoul, the founder. “Our organization is growing, so we’re looking for a new office.”

That is easier said than done, she said, on her non-profit’s very limited budget.

“With the gentrification,” she said, “things are getting so expensive in East Flatbush, where we are.”

The funding to help them get more square footage comes from a place with quite a lot of square footage, among other resources, as it turns out. Barclays Center is one of the largest, and highest-grossing arenas in the world. Its owners, who also own the Brooklyn Nets, and New York Liberty, are Joe and Clara Tsai. Their foundation’s Social Justice Fund is funding the prize.

Gregg Bishop is the Tsai Foundation Social Justice Fund executive director. He said that he and the Tsai Family understand that community work is very difficult and often thankless. The Just Brooklyn Prize, Bishop said, is meant to acknowledge those realities.

“Most of these individuals [receiving the prize], this is not their full-time jobs,” said Bishop. “They’re doing this because they’re passionate about the work that they’re focused on, so we want to be here as a partner to say that we see you, we support you.”

Bishop went on to say that at a time when the outright falsehood about Haitian immigrants catching and eating domesticated animals has become part of the political discourse, the need to support the Haitian community is great.

His fund is also supporting four other community groups and their leaders through Just Brooklyn Prize awards.

The new class of recipients are:

-Carolyn Butts, the founder and director of African Voices Communications and Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and Lecture Series

-Christine Yvette Lewis, the organizer, culture outreach coordinator, and secretary of the Domestic Workers United

-Derrick Hamilton, co-founder of Family and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted

-Chino Hardin, co-executive director of the Center for NuLeadership on Human Justice and Healing

Raoul, the founder and leader of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, said that the funding is a big help. However, she added, “To have our voices lifted at this time is even more important than the money.”

The recipients will be presented with their $20,000 checks on October 30 at a ceremony at Barclays Center.