Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso announced the establishment of a $50,000 Community Baby Shower Fund, where nonprofits can apply to get money to serve and help new and expecting parents.
Through the initiative, Brooklyn nonprofits that are hosting community baby showers can request up to $5,000 in reimbursed funding for non-personnel expenses, according to a press release.
The Community Baby Shower Fund will prioritize Brooklyn neighborhoods with histories of high maternal mortality and morbidity rates, including Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Midwood and Sunset Park.
“No Brooklynite should have to experience the joys and anxieties of pregnancy and parenthood alone, and community baby showers offer a powerful venue for neighbors to come together in celebration and in support of one another,” said Reynoso. “It’s my honor to support the nonprofits who are doing the work of caring for our neighbors and plugging the holes left by decades of disinvestment in largely Black and Brown and low-income neighborhoods.”
The fund is the latest in a number of maternal health-focused initiatives erected by Reynoso.
In addition to giving the entirety of his first-year capital funding to Brooklyn’s three public hospitals for maternal health improvements, Reynoso also launched the Maternal Health Taskforce, a coalition tasked with reducing maternal mortality and morbidity disparities between birthing people of color and their White counterparts, and “Born in Brooklyn” baby boxes, which are packages filled with baby and postpartum supplies.
“Black women in New York City are about eight times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than their White counterparts. It’s alarming, it’s unconscionable, and it’s a crisis that requires all hands on deck,” said Reynoso.
Nonprofits interested in applying for the Community Baby Shower Fund can do so here.
