Giving From Substance, Not Obligation Or Excess

Yesterday morning Brooklyn celebrated five extraordinary social justice organizations, incidentally all led by incredible women, and their work right here, in our borough.

The second-floor lobby at the Brooklyn Academy of Music was bursting at the seams as over 300 attendees filed in for the third annual SPARK breakfast, hosted by the Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF).

The sun shined brightly, a natural spotlight for those who are doing so much to make our Brooklyn a more just, fair, equitable and plain livable place. Our borough, where the top 1% make on average $900,029 a year, while the other 99% average $34,027, according to the 2016 American Community Survey’s census numbers.  Our borough, which ranks 1st in the city for the number of children living in poverty, while their parents struggle to pay rent.

Brooklyn is home to more than 2,000 non-profit organizations, and Brooklyn Community Foundation has been focused on supporting the best of them. This year was its biggest year of giving yet – over $7 million were distributed by BCF in grants – more than any other year since it was established in 2009 – Cecilia Clarke, President and CEO of BCF said in her opening remarks. “Less than 5% of NYC’s charitable dollars make it to Brooklyn,” she said – that is what they are trying to change.

This year’s winners of the five SPARK prizes – a $100,000 grant each to support the operations of the non-profits – went to community organizations serving those trying to make it here, while the cards are stacked against them. The awards were presented in alphabetical order to Campaign Against Hunger, Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation, Girls For Gender Equity, Red Hook Community Justice Center, and Vocal New York. 15 runners up received $5,000 each.

But before the prizes were awarded, Alan Fishman, Chairman of the Brooklyn Community Foundation and Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO and Executive Director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies introduced Reverend Emma Jordan-Simpson – the morning’s honoree, who received a standing ovation for her work helping, fighting for, and uplifting others.

Reverend Jordan-Simpson, a founding member of Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Board of Directors, is currently the Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR-USA), the oldest interfaith peace and justice organization in North America, as well as a leader at the historic Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Rev. Jordan Simpson spoke of all the morning’s honorees “subverting the world order” in Brooklyn, the deep necessity to make a difference, and of how some years ago the Chronicle of Philanthropy did a study of which zip codes give most to charity, and discovered that folks living in zip code 11216, Bed Stuy, gave greater percentage of their income to charity than those living in zip code 10024 in Manhattan.

In Bed Stuy, folks give not from their excess, rev. Jordan-Simpson recounted, but from their substance, even if that means eating less meat that week because these things matter to them. She hoped more of us would give from our substance.

The five SPARK prize winners are fighting hunger, providing childcare, empowering girls, working towards justice and standing up for the rights and needs of those fighting addiction and homelessness.

Here they are:

The Campaign Against Hunger – Founded in 1998 in Bedford Stuyvesant, today TCAH aims to empower its neighbors across Brooklyn to lead healthier, more productive and self-sufficient lives by increasing their access to nutritious food and related resources.

The organization’s food pantry provides 3 million meals annually while acting as a hub for benefits access and food justice programming—including a wellness club for seniors, an intergenerational healthy dining initiative for families, and a free summer kids program. Its youth-led urban farms serve as outdoor community classrooms and infuse the community with nutrient-rich, sustainably grown produce and fresh eggs.

Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation (CHCCC): Serving families in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of northeast Brooklyn since 1990, CHCCC aims to increase the availability of high-quality, affordable child care for low-income families while creating entrepreneurship opportunities for low-income women to capitalize on their child-rearing skills.

CHCCC serves over 500 families through year-round programming and is in the process of opening a brand-new, state-of-the-art child care facility that will serve 88 low-income families in Cypress Hills, which is projected to experience significant population growth over the next few years.

Girls for Gender Equity (GGE): Based in Brooklyn since its founding in 2002, GGE is an intergenerational organization committed to the physical, psychological, social, and economic development of girls and women.

GGE develops the advocacy skills of over 200 young people annually to eradicate structural, state, racial, and sexual violence and criminalization. GGE encourages youth to become agents of change through civic engagement and leadership opportunities, and campaigns focused on improving the systemic and interpersonal rights of trans and cis girls and young women of color, and gender non-conforming youth of color.

Red Hook Community Justice Center: Launched in 2000, the Red Hook Community Justice Center works to strengthen Red Hook and surrounding areas by reducing crime and the use of incarceration, improving public trust in justice, and collaborating with the community to solve local problems.

At the Justice Center, a single judge hears cases that ordinarily would go to three different courts: civil, family, and criminal. Whenever possible, cases are resolved through a restorative, problem-solving approach that seeks to repair harm and address the underlying issues that bring individuals into the justice system.

The Justice Center also serves as a hub for an array of unconventional programs that are available to litigants as a means of resolving their cases, as well as to the community at large.

Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY):  VOCAL-NY is a Brooklyn-based, statewide network building a movement led by low-income people of color to end the AIDS epidemic, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness.

Founded in 1999 as a progressive AIDS housing network at a time when the epidemic was increasingly concentrated in low-income communities of color, VOCAL-NY was formed to shift attention toward root causes, like homelessness and incarceration.

Today, VOCAL-NY operates a syringe exchange that distributes over 50,000 clean syringes annually, provides overdose prevention training and other services to hundreds of New Yorkers, and has worked to pass 15 pieces of legislation since 2013.

What do they plan to do with the prize money?

Dr. Melony Samuels, Executive Director and Founder of The Campaign Against Hunger:

“While the Campaign Against Hunger is providing food to over 300,000 annually to meet our mission of increasing access to healthy food, it is our urban farming programs, cooking demonstrations, fun and engaging nutrition classes for seniors and SNAP enrollment support services that really make a difference in the lives of our clients.

This funding means so much to us and will enable us to furnish a brand new community meeting space, hire a part-time nutritionist to work in our food pantry, fully build out Aquaponics in our farm so that our Teens have a new learning opportunity and enable important conversations about climate and food justice.

The Spark Prize makes it possible for us to invest in these long-term solutions that address systemic inequities and take us out of our comfort zone. With the new growing systems, we will spark important conversations about climate and food justice in the Brownsville-Bed-Stuy communities as we give our clients a hands-on way to shop locally grown foods.”

Maria Contreras Collier, Executive Director of Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation:

“It’s hard to find adequate words to describe what we felt when we learned that we were selected from a group of Brooklyn’s outstanding nonprofit organizations as one of the Spark Prize winners. This prize not only demonstrates that our efforts have been recognized but that we will now be in a position to enhance and expand our much-needed programs and services.

I can only say that we at CHCCC, and the Cypress Hills community, are exceedingly grateful, excited beyond belief and energized to face future challenges.”

Joanne N. Smith, President and CEO of Girls for Gender Equity:

“Girls for Gender Equity’s work began in 2001, in response to an incident of sexual violence experienced by an eight-year-old girl in Bed Stuy and has centered Black women and girls in the movement to end sexual and gender-based violence ever since.

Spark Prize support from the Brooklyn Community Foundation means that GGE will increase our local impact by supporting, centering and training youth to be active participants in changing the policies that cause them harm. The same young people that GGE invests in will work to transform their own communities.

We can’t thank the Brooklyn Community Foundation enough for their continued belief in the leadership power of girls and women.”

Amanda Berman, Project Director of the Red Hook Community Justice Center:

“This support comes at a critical time when we are presented with unique challenges as well as opportunities in the justice field. The Spark Prize will fund more home visits for our seniors and homebound neighbors; more outreach workshops to educate residents on health hazards in their homes; and more resources to guide tenants through the process of accessing those much-needed repairs.

Leveraging support from the Spark Prize, we can commit to at least three more years of our work in local schools, where we have implemented restorative responses in lieu of suspension and expulsion, keeping students engaged in their education instead of funneled into the justice system. Thanks to Brooklyn Community Foundation and the Spark Prize, we are one step closer to achieving our vision of safer, stronger communities with equal access to justice for all.”

Alyssa Aguilera, Co-Executive Director of VOCAL-NY:

“Winning the Spark Prize as VOCAL-NY celebrates its 20th anniversary is a very special show of support for our work uplifting, supporting, and building power among low-income New Yorkers here in Brooklyn.

As we look forward to the future and the next 20 years, it is amazing to think about how much progress we will make in the fight to end AIDS, homelessness, mass incarceration, and the war on drugs. The Spark Prize will cement our presence in Brooklyn for years to come, and jumpstarts us on the way to a New York that tears down injustice and builds a city and state that is equitable and healthy.”

Brooklyn Borough President stopped by to congratulate and thank everyone for the good work and hinted at his Mayoral run: “Good morning, as the Mayor of the … Borough President”, Adams started.

Spark prize was made possible through the generosity of Diane and Joseph Steinberg, Cleary Gottlieb, Santander Bank, National Grid, Kirkland & Ellis, Sugar In The Raw, Sitex, and Industry City. Ana Gasteyer was the Master of Ceremonies.