{"id":310893,"date":"2026-07-31T17:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310893\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:27:10","slug":"the-social-justice-fund-awards-100k-to-four-brooklyn-youth-mentorship-nonprofits-through-belong-brooklyn-campaign-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310893\/","title":{"rendered":"The Social Justice Fund awards $100K to four Brooklyn youth mentorship nonprofits through Belong Brooklyn campaign \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Social\t\t\t<\/p>\n

(From left to right): PureLegacee\u2019s Naquasia Jones, Pratt Young Scholar\u2019s Frances Bonet, Brooklyn Youth Sports Club\u2019s Damon Lawrence and New Leaders Hoops\u2019 Andre Richey will be honored at a New York Liberty game with 25K each in grant funding. <\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Viney Group \/ Shaheen Peterson<\/p>\n

Four Brooklyn organizations dedicated to mentoring young people will each receive a $25,000 grant through the Social Justice Fund\u2019s<\/a> fifth annual Belong Brooklyn campaign, which spotlights community groups working to strengthen neighborhoods across the borough. <\/p>\n

The 2026 campaign focuses on youth mentorship, recognizing organizations that provide educational opportunities, leadership development, career pathways and social-emotional support for Brooklyn youth. The four awardees are Pratt Institute\u2019s Pratt Young Scholars, PureLegacee, Brooklyn Youth Sports Club and New Leaders Hoops. <\/p>\n

The organizations will be honored during the New York Liberty game at Barclays Center<\/a> on Aug. 5. They will also be recognized during Angela Yee Day at Ticketmaster Plaza outside Barclays Center on Aug. 23. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery young person deserves to have the tools, opportunities, and support they need to reach their full potential,\u201d Gregg Bishop, Executive Director of The Social Justice Fund, said in a statement. \u201cThrough Belong Brooklyn, we are honored to recognize four organizations that are investing in the next generation of Brooklyn leaders. Their work reminds us that when young people have someone who believes in them and helps them feel they truly belong, entire communities can thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each of the selected organizations serves Brooklyn youth through a different approach.\n<\/p>\n

Pratt Young Scholars<\/a>, a program at Pratt Institute, is a three-year scholarship and mentorship initiative that offers high school students instruction in art and design while preparing them for college. <\/p>\n

PureLegacee<\/a> works with girls and gender-expansive youth who have been impacted by incarceration, foster care and systemic trauma, providing restorative services and programs designed to help participants heal and build brighter futures. <\/p>\n

Brooklyn Youth Sports Club<\/a> offers educational, athletic and developmental programming intended to prepare young people for long-term success both on and off the field. <\/p>\n

Red Hook-based New Leaders Hoops<\/a> uses basketball to connect children ages eight to 15 in underserved communities with educational, financial and leadership opportunities, <\/p>\n

Belong Brooklyn was launched in 2022 by the Social Justice Fund to foster a stronger sense of belonging throughout the borough. Previous campaigns have supported organizations working in community violence intervention, Black maternal health, workforce readiness and re-entry employment services.<\/p>\n

The initiative is anchored by artist Tavares Strachan\u2019s public art installation,\u201dYou Belong Here\/We Belong Here,\u201d which remains on display outside Barclays Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(From left to right): PureLegacee\u2019s Naquasia Jones, Pratt Young Scholar\u2019s Frances Bonet, Brooklyn Youth Sports Club\u2019s Damon Lawrence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[3353,117581,98,6456,100,99,29331,117582,89767,117583,9,24,8915,12,370,63,117584,117585,117586,51173],"class_list":["post-310893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-barclays-center","tag-belong-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-community","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-nonprofits","tag-brooklyn-youth-sports-club","tag-clara-wu-tsai","tag-new-leaders-hoops","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-pratt-young-scholars","tag-purelegacee","tag-social-justice-fund","tag-youth-mentorship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}