Our 2026 Impact Report

Dear Friends and Community,

Brooklyn has always known that the strongest safety net is the one we weave for each other. It’s the person who checks on their older neighbor down the hall, the block association that ensures the stoops are shoveled and the trees are watered, and the local nonprofit that gives young people a place to go after school while opening their eyes to a future they didn’t know was possible.

This is not nostalgia, it is the living, breathing reality of who we are as Brooklynites. And in a year that brought real hardship to our neighbors, it is exactly what carried us through.

We’ve seen the strain at food pantries stretched beyond capacity, cultural centers whose federal funding has been cut, at houses of worship sheltering immigrant families, and in the daily work of the nonprofits that hold this borough together.

But we also saw how Brooklyn backs Brooklyn: donors giving generously; neighbors volunteering; nonprofits extending their reach. Together, we launched our Brooklyn Backs Brooklyn campaign to stand in the gap for our communities. Our rallying cry is based on the conviction that when larger systems fall short, local action becomes our most powerful tool. The help we need is found in each other.

This report, Meeting the Moment, is the story of how 2.7 million people from Bed-Stuy to Bensonhurst, Greenpoint to Gravesend, are coming together to not just respond, but to build.

The road ahead is not easy. But alongside the challenges in these pages, you’ll find the ingenuity and community-found solutions that run through our borough. Block by block, together we are building a more fair and just Brooklyn where everyone can thrive.

Every one of us has a part in that. There is no contribution too small. What this moment asks is not perfection—it asks for presence. Keep showing up, in whatever way you can.

With deepest gratitude and partnership,

Dr. Jocelynne Rainey, President & CEO
Michael Gillespie, Board Co-Chair
Tim Simons, Board Co-Chair

2026 Impact Report

Download The Report [PDF]