Brooklyn Org Announces Awards to Neighborhood Collective Impact Projects

Apr 22, 2024

Three projects will receive $25,000 to address key neighborhood issues and provide resources to BIPOC communities

On April 22nd, Brooklyn Org (BKO) announced the recipients of the inaugural Neighborhood Collective Impact Project. Each of the three selected projects will receive $25,000 to support collaborations between community-based nonprofits to address local needs. Projects focus on gun violence in Brownsville, environmental justice in East Flatbush, and creating a cultural hub in Kensington.

Building on a long-term commitment to listening to communities and investing in local solutions, Brooklyn Org created the Neighborhood Collective Impact Project to address concerns raised during the organization’s annual Listening Tours. BKO hosts forums in 10 Brooklyn neighborhoods each year to learn about the community’s most pressing needs. The Neighborhood Collective Impact Project award is open exclusively to Listening Tour attendees whose projects advance racial justice and provide critical resources to BIPOC communities and residents who have been historically disempowered or discriminated against across Brooklyn.

The 2024 Neighborhood Collective Impact Project winners are:

Beyond Memorial

Brownsville and East New York
Nonprofit partners: Liminal SP and Brownsville Community Justice Center

The Beyond Memorial project aims to reclaim public spaces associated with gun violence and community trauma by incorporating thoughtful solutions such as intentional lighting in place of NYPD light towers that cause sound and light pollution; hosting nighttime activations in under-utilized spaces to deter crime; and incorporating creative-environmental strategies to improve safety conditions at the Rockaway Ave. 3 train station.

Cultivate Green

East Flatbush, Flatbush, Flatlands
Nonprofit partners: Brooklyn Level Up and Wyckoff House & Association

Studies found that soil in East Flatbush has the 3rd highest level of lead contamination in NYC, potentially jeopardizing the health of homeowners and community gardeners growing and sharing produce; while asthma-related hospitalization rates in East Flatbush are higher compared to Brooklyn and NYC overall. Cultivate Green will conduct soil testing, air monitoring and remediation, host community workshops to raise awareness of health risks, sustainability, and preliminary remediation tactics.

Kensington Cultural Council

Kensington
Nonprofit partners: Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts NY, Inc., The Singing Winds, Casa Cultural, Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts, Arts & Democracy and ArtBuilt

The Kensington Cultural Council will coordinate a series of multilingual public cultural events including family arts workshops, sewing circles, dance and ESL classes, storytelling, concerts, and forums reflecting the traditional cultures of immigrant families. To address a lack of community space, the group will carry out a planning process for a neighborhood cultural hub that includes office and studio space for local artists and cultural organizations; a large conference room for public workshops, meetings and forums; and storage for shared equipment.

“We want everyone in Brooklyn to have a seat at the table in the work of building up the community,” said Brooklyn Org President and CEO, Dr. Jocelynne Rainey. “The Neighborhood Collective Impact Project is a direct response to the concerns voiced by our Listening Tour participants and gives those stakeholders the resources they need to create and implement solutions.”

About Brooklyn Org

Brooklyn Org is a champion for Brooklyn bringing together community changemakers—the families and businesses, the grassroots leaders and growing companies, and local nonprofits and the communities they serve—to be a new model for local philanthropy, built from the ground up, in pursuit of a more equitable and just borough.

Since its founding in 2009 as Brooklyn Community Foundation, Brooklyn Org has moved over $110 million to nonprofits through its strategic grantmaking and Donor Advised Funds, while driving action to address urgent crises and long-term change in Brooklyn. Each year, Brooklyn Org partners with Brooklyn residents to invest more than $5 million in high-impact nonprofits advancing racial justice at every level across the borough. Brooklyn Org ensures that Brooklyn’s challenges are met with solutions, ideas are met with resources, and inequality is met with justice. Learn more at brooklyn.org.