Across the country, it has become undeniably apparent that the coronavirus pandemic is taking a vastly disproportionate toll on communities of color. Here in New York City, Latinx and Black residents are dying at twice the rate of whites.

People of color make up almost 70% of Brooklyn’s population, with economic, social, and health inequities deeply rooted along racial lines. So from the start, we knew that our Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund would need to prioritize the impact on communities of color. 

We also knew this: in times of need, Brooklyn steps up for its most vulnerable neighbors. As of today, we have raised $1.8M (with almost 80% coming from individual donors—thank you!). In addition, our Board of Directors has pledged an additional $700,000 from the Foundation's endowment to address this crisis for our borough.  

Your support is saving lives. Please give to the Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund today to continue helping our neighbors in need.

We are working hard to get funds to our communities as quickly as possible. This week’s 25 new grants brings our total to $625,500 for 64 frontline organizations.

Each of these groups is playing a critical role in curbing disease spread while ensuring that our most vulnerable neighbors have access to food, financial assistance, healthcare, social services, and more.

In hardest hit Central Brooklyn, we are seeing local nonprofits respond in unprecedented ways. BK Reader, a news site based in Bed-Stuy, has become a trusted source for emergency information and resources in the community. JACK, a theater in Clinton Hill, has turned its space into a food distribution hub in partnership with a local mutual aid group. And Repair the World NYC, a Crown Heights community service organization, will reopen its storefront as a supplies pick-up/drop-off space and blood donation center. 

Other examples of support this week include:

• Heights and Hills to on-board over 300 new volunteers who will be providing meal delivery and cleaning supplies to home-bound elders
   
• Center for Family Life to provide immediate cash assistance to members of its worker cooperative cleaning services who are experiencing total income loss
   
• Community Options Inc., an in-home and residential care program for persons with disabilities, to provide desperately needed cleaning to stop the spread of disease among the most vulnerable and to support its essential health care workers
   
• Betances Health Center, a primary care facility in Bedford Stuyvesant, to ensure continuous operation, offset substantial revenue losses, retain staff, and purchase critical telehealth equipment
   
• Alex House Project to provide continuous support to pregnant young women and new young parents navigating an especially fearful time as they care for their children and face increasing housing, food, and financial insecurity
   
• Community Food Advocates to ensure that the Department of Education’s food distribution program reaches families in need and adequately adapts to emerging challenges
   
• St. Nicks Alliance to hire a full-time delivery driver to bring food from local pantries to residents of two NYCHA developments with high concentrations of older adults.

Other grants this week are funding support for vulnerable youth, immigrants, survivors of domestic violence, small businesses, and more.

View All COVID-19 Grants to Date

Want to learn more? Stream this important conversation about the impact of this crisis on undocumented immigrants with Foundation President and CEO Cecilia Clarke, Program Officer Sabrina Hargrave, and Lorena Kourousias, Executive Director of Mixteca Organization.

Thank you for your partnership and support. Please donate  today—or pledge a monthly recurring gift—to fund these community-based organizations who are lifelines during this crisis. 100% of your donation will go directly to high-impact nonprofits on the frontlines.