What We Fund

We fund resident-led projects that involve neighbors and creatively address community issues. All projects must be carried out within a six month time period and must have a clear community-wide benefit. Grants generally begin at $500 and do not exceed $3,000. We do not award grants to individuals, agencies with paid staff, religious, fraternal, or partisan organizations.

Some examples of our favorite projects:

In Claremont Village, Bronx, seniors and youth worked together to plant flowers and trees in order to help clean the air for asthma sufferers, and create shade to manage the summer heat.
 
In East Harlem, Manhattan, a group of new immigrants hosted a citywide meeting of tenants groups to develop a strategy to manage gentrification in that neighborhood.
 
In Inwood, Manhattan, a group of youth formed a council to get involved in their community board. Their goals were to engage the political process, ensure that youth concerns were addressed, and form better relations with adults in the community.      
 
In Far Rockaway, Queens, residents cleaned up an area of waterfront that had become an illegal dumping site for developers, adding plants, park benches, and trash receptacles. They also offered environmental education opportunities to increase awareness about the importance of the waterfront and open space to reduce pollution and build a stronger community.

In East New York, Brooklyn, neighbors transformed an abandoned lot into a working herb, vegetable, fruit and flower garden. The garden has become a community gathering space, especially for youth and seniors. Teenagers help tend the garden, and retirees gather to make crafts, like quilts and pillows.
 
In Jamaica, Queens, local community gardeners took objects that had been dumped on streets and in vacant lots, like old bathtubs and fan covers, and recycled them by incorporating the objects into the garden as planters.

Thank you to our New Yorkers for Better Neighborhoods Sponsors:

The Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation

The Reisenbach Foundation

New York Community Trust

Wachovia Foundation