Two Brooklyn-based organizations are among eight New York City nonprofits receiving grant funding from the Association for a Better New York Foundation to expand programs focused on economic opportunity and civic engagement.
United for Brownsville and the Red Hook Initiative will receive $10,000 each to support initiatives ranging from workforce development and entrepreneur advising to voter education and leadership training.
United for Brownsville received funding for its Brownsville Family Civic Leadership Fellowship, a program designed to build the capacity of resident leaders who help encourage civic participation and community engagement among parents and caregivers in the neighborhood.
The organization is a “community-driven nonprofit helping the predominantly Black and brown children and families of Brownsville flourish.” Their vision, with plans to be accomplished by 2034, includes access to stable housing, public benefit enrollment, childhood educational programs and access to sufficient pediatric healthcare.
United for Brownsville aims to close disparities between the neighborhood’s Black and brown children and families. Photo courtesy of United to Brownsville
A few miles away, the Red Hook Initiative works to “prioritize the needs” of the 6,500 residents of the neighborhood’s public housing community through “confronting the impacts of racial inequity and decades of disinvestment.”
The org will use its grant to support its Green Future Pre-Vocational Training Program, which prepares young adults for careers in green energy and agricultural technology through workforce-readiness training, paid internships and wraparound support services.
Emma Pfohman, CEO of ABNY, said that the grants will “help new Yorkers build a stake in our city’s future.”
“New York City’s strength has always come from the people and organizations working every day to create opportunity, solve problems, and strengthen their communities,” she said. “Through these grants, the ABNY Foundation is proud to invest in programs that are expanding economic opportunity and fostering civic participation.”
According to the foundation, grants were awarded in two focus areas: economic opportunity and civic engagement. Economic opportunity grants support career training programs that provide workforce skills or professional credentials, as well as initiatives that help entrepreneurs, small businesses and neighborhood commercial corridors. Civic engagement grants are intended to increase civic literacy, encourage public participation and develop future civic leaders.
In addition to the Brooklyn organizations, grants were awarded to Design Trust for Public Space, F.Y. Eye, Getting Out and Staying Out, Grace Institute of New York, New York Professional Advisors for Community Entrepreneurs (NYPACE) and Welcome to Chinatown.
Beyond the $10,000 awards, each recipient will receive ABNY membership benefits, including access to the organization’s Power Breakfasts, ABNY Talks and the annual Spirit of ABNY Awards reception.
The grants were available to small and mid-sized nonprofit organizations providing direct services throughout NYC’s five boroughs.