Brooklyn Communities Collaborative, a nonprofit that addresses health inequities in Brooklyn, has hit $3 million in donations to local groups serving the communities most impacted by COVID-19.
Throughout the pandemic, the organization has awarded grants to more than 44 Brooklyn nonprofits, and its latest round of grants — whereby $700,000 was given to 14 organizations — has brought its total donations to $3 million.
BCC Board Member and Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health CEO Marilyn Fraser said the organization began the journey to give $3 million to Brooklyn's nonprofits, knowing the "incredible organizations would continue to work every day to make this borough and our residents better."
She said that while there was much more to be done, the organization was encouraged that they were able to assist in some way and feel the generosity of Brooklyn's community-based organizations.
"We have all lived through one of the most challenging periods in recent history, with social injustices and the pandemic. With the devastating impact of COVID on Black and brown communities, at two times the rate of their white counterparts, we knew we had to act and act quickly," she said.
The latest round of nonprofits awarded a grant include Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, Sadie Nash Leadership Project, Qualitas of Life Foundation, Kings County Tennis League and Brooklyn Book Bodega.
Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled Executive Director Joe Rappaport said the grant received by his organization would cover the next six months of operation for its Community Health Worker program, which connects peer counselors to other disabled people in Brooklyn.
"It comes at the exact right time since we had exhausted other funding for the program. With the Fund's support, we'll help our participants emerge from the pandemic with a better quality of life so they can continue to live independently," he said.
