Stories of Impact

Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of NYIC. Courtesy of NYIC.
Brooklyn Org has been a strong supporter of our efforts to ensure that Brooklyn immigrant communities have the support that they need, and are able to unite and demand justice, equity, and fairness from the city as well as the state. Murad Awawdeh
Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition

The Alex House Project

The Alex House Project

When Samora Coles’ boss at the Red Hook Initiative (RHI) first asked her to create a program for the community’s youth, she had no idea where to start.

America on Tech
A group of six diverse individuals, some holding laptops, sit and pose together in front of indoor plants, smiling at the camera.

America on Tech

Given its success today—shaping the futures of over 5,000 young people, including 1,000 Brooklynites to date—you might not believe that America on Tech (AOT) was born from big dreams scrawled on the back of coffee shop napkins.

Asian American Federation

Asian American Federation

Almost 16% of U.S.-born Asian American women have contemplated suicide in their lifetimes, illustrating just one of the many the critical issues facing Asian and Asian American communities today.

The Black Institute
A crowd of people wearing black "The Black Institute" tshirts stand together smiling at the camera. A The Black Institute flag waves in the background.

The Black Institute

In 2009, Bertha Lewis had been working at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) for 20 years.

The Brave House
A group of young women and a small boy child walk in a line in front of city buildings, smiling and looking at each other.

The Brave House

In her work as an immigration attorney for girls and young women who are survivors of gender based violence, Lauren Blodgett started to notice a pattern.

Bridge Street Development Corporation

Bridge Street Development Corporation

Brooklyn’s lack of affordable housing and economic insecurity is a source of hardship for everyone in the borough, from young families to older adults.

Brooklyn Community Pride Center
A group of people wearing matching shirts and holding a banner that reads "Brooklyn Community Pride Center" walk in a pride parade down a street lined with buildings and trees.

Brooklyn Community Pride Center

Walk through the Brooklyn Community Pride Center (BCPC) space in the Crown Heights Armory – known formally as the Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center – and you’ll be welcomed with a bustle of activity.

Churches United For Fair Housing

Churches United For Fair Housing

In 2009, when a private developer attempted to rezone a portion of Brooklyn’s Broadway Triangle, those living there knew that this would only deepen the racial disparities and segregation already present in the area.

Documented
A park on top of a hill shows a path cutting through grass, where a person walks and others sit in the grass. In the background there are trees as a skyline of lower Manhattan.

Documented

The years following the 2016 election antagonized our country’s immigrants in unprecedented ways.

Drive Change

Drive Change

With the highest rate of incarcerated people in the world, our nation’s prison industrial complex generates billions of dollars in government expenditures.

First Tech Fund

First Tech Fund

New York’s digital divide was one of the many harsh realities that became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Girls for Gender Equity

Girls for Gender Equity

For over twenty years, Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) has been advancing the liberation of Black girls and gender-expansive youth of color through a Black feminist intergenerational lens.

Global Trauma Research
A group of Black mental health practitioners posing for a photo. Some people are standing while others are sitting on couches.

Global Trauma Research

Brooklyn is a kaleidoscope of cultures, with neighborhoods changing with each new wave of immigrants.

Green City Force

Green City Force

Green City Force (GCF) co-founder Lisbeth Shepherd started her career launching what is now the national service model of France.

Heights and Hills
Several adults and children sit at tables in a classroom, engaging in various arts and crafts activities. A bulletin board with colorful papers is visible in the background.

Heights and Hills

Brooklyn boasts the second-largest population of seniors in the entire state of New York. But many need help meeting basic needs—including access to healthcare, financial and food security, safe and affordable housing, and social support services.

JMACforFamilies
A group of people stands together inside a large hall with arched ceilings, holding signs that read "Protect the TPS & DED Family Migration Rights." A woman is speaking at a podium marked with the New York State Seal.

JMACforFamilies

Through Just Making a Change for Families (JMACforFamilies), McMillan equips parents with the knowledge they need if and when they come face to face with Child Protective Services (CPS), police officers, and other government agencies.

Lantern Community Services
Three people are assembling hygiene kits at a table, organizing items like bottles and plastic bags in a room with stacked boxes and electronic equipment.

Lantern Community Services

As one of the largest providers of supportive youth housing in New York City, Lantern Community Services helps its community with the idea that stable housing is the first step towards a better life.

Muslim Community Network
A group of people standing in front of a building.

Muslim Community Network

In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attack here in New York City, Muslim communities endured a rise in hate crimes, while nationally, the complexity of Muslim America was often reduced to harmful stereotypes.

Neighbors in Action
A man stands in the foreground wearing a teal t-shirt with the phrase "stop shooting start living" printed on it, while other individuals appear in the background.

Neighbors in Action

Using data to identify individuals at the highest risk of gun violence and in case management, outreach, community mobilization, and public education, Neighbors in Action engages in coalition-building to change community norms and reduce shootings.

New York Immigration Coalition

New York Immigration Coalition

With immigrants from all over the world making up almost 40% of Brooklyn residents, it’s impossible to talk about the need for equity and justice in our borough without talking about immigrants’ rights.

¡Oye! Group
A group of students standing on stage and holding up signs.

¡Oye! Group

When Modesto ‘Flako’ Jimenez hosted a party to celebrate the launch of his debut poetry collection in 2012, his worlds collided for the first time.

Parent-Child Relationship Association
A group of people holding signs that say volunteer pcrc.

Parent-Child Relationship Association

When Nicole Huang immigrated to Sunset Park from China with her family, she had little childcare and community support.

Power of Two
A Black man hugs his daughter in the park.

Power of Two

Power of Two strives to reverse intergenerational trauma and adverse childhood experiences through parenting programs that help caregivers tap into their inherent potential to parent sensitively and nurture their children’s developing brain during the first 1,000 days of life.

PureLegacee

PureLegacee

There’s an African proverb: “A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth,” which speaks to the role that community care plays in influencing young people’s future actions.

Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP)

Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP)

Since its inception in January of 2014, the Queer Detainee Empowerment project (QDEP) has evolved its reach to go beyond addressing the lack of services that caused its creation

RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison)

RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison)

In 2019, for the first time in the history of New York State, the State Senate did not confirm a government-appointed Parole Commissioner

Red Hook Initiative
A group of people stand under a bridge holding various signs with messages. A child is in the foreground holding a sign with a clock drawn on it.

Red Hook Initiative

Red Hook Initiative (RHI) started in 2002 with a focus on improving the health of neighborhood residents, but it quickly became apparent that outcomes weren’t just impacted by behavioral changes, but by social determinants.

Sakhi for South Asian Survivors
A group of people standing on a stage in front of NYSE and Sakhi for South Asian Women branded screens, posing for a photo, some with hands raised and smiling.

Sakhi for South Asian Survivors

Over the last year, the organization formerly known as Sakhi for South Asian Women underwent a rebrand process that resulted in a new identity: Sakhi for South Asian Survivors.

STEM From Dance
A young woman wearing a gray sweatsuit leads a group of younger girls in a dance routine in a classroom, with their arms in the air.

STEM From Dance

Growing up with a mechanical engineer as a father, Yamilée Toussaint always felt like a career in STEM was within reach.

Street Vendor Project

Street Vendor Project

From the Statue of Liberty to the yellow taxi cab, The Big Apple is rife with symbols that make our city instantly recognizable.

Sure We Can
A man wearing a cap and a black jacket stands in front of large bags of recyclable materials.

Sure We Can

Fusing community building and economic development with culture and social justice, Sure We Can is a safe space and hub for canners to redeem their collections and make social connections.

Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
Four individuals, one woman and three men, sit on a panel discussion on a small black stage.

Surveillance Technology Oversight Project

From the way we communicate to the way we fight diseases, technological developments over the past century have made our lives easier, faster, and more convenient.

UHAB (Urban Homesteading Assistance Board)
A group of people holding signs in front of a building.

UHAB (Urban Homesteading Assistance Board)

In the early 70s, NYC pulled back on affordable housing as private landlords began to abandon their properties, intensifying the impact on low-income communities of color already dealing with racist housing policies.

VOCAL-NY
A diverse group of people pose for a photo outside of VOCAL New York's office in Brooklyn.

VOCAL-NY

Though legislation and policy is meant to protect civilians’ rights and interests, they often fail the most vulnerable people in our communities.

Youth Design Center
Two young Black men sit at a table in a computer lab, one with attentive focus towards the front, the other appears more relaxed, with computers in the background.

Youth Design Center

Youth Design Center's journey began with a simple and powerful mission: to close the racial wealth gap for young creatives in Brownsville and beyond.

YVote

YVote

To say that the political landscape has been shifting under our feet would be woefully inadequate.

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