‘Community Baby Shower Fund’ for new, expecting parents in Brooklyn

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso on Tuesday announced the creation of a $50,000 “Community Baby Shower Fund” to support community-led baby showers for Brooklyn’s new and expecting parents.

Reynoso said Brooklyn nonprofits hosting community baby showers in Brooklyn can request up to $5,000 in reimbursed funding from the Community Baby Shower Fund for non-personnel expenses. 

The borough president said Black women in New York City are eight times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than their White counterparts. 

He said this initiative is the latest installment in his historic maternal health agenda aimed at addressing this “staggering disparity.” 

“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,” Reynoso said. “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. 

“By celebrating the exciting journey of parenthood for new parents and providing resources to raise our newest Brooklynites, we’re proving that we can help close the gaps in maternal healthcare through community, celebration, and love – the Brooklyn way,” he added. 

Reynoso recalled that, in April, he hosted a “Brooklyn Community Baby Shower” for 100 new and expecting mothers. 

He said the day-long celebration took place at NYCHA’s Van Dyke Community Center in Brownsville and was “chock-full of games, arts & crafts, giveaways, and information about pregnancy and postpartum care.”

Since the beginning of his administration, Reynoso said he has advanced an historic maternal health agenda, giving the entirety of his first-year capital funding to Brooklyn’s three public hospitals for maternal health improvements and launching a variety of initiatives, including his Maternal Health Taskforce, “Born in Brooklyn” baby boxes, and a multilingual, multimedia public health education campaign. 

“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,” Reynoso said. 

“I made a promise to do everything I can as borough president to make this borough the safest place to have a baby, and I have been so proud of Brooklyn for rallying around this cause,” he added. 

To be eligible for the Community Baby Shower Fund, Reynoso said applicants must: Have a current 501(c)3 status; be able to match requested funding amount by submitting a description of where matching funds are coming from, whether internal to the organization, in-kind sponsorship, etc.; have a history of service in at least one of the initiative’s target neighborhoods; have a history of serving prenatal and postnatal/postpartum individuals and their families; have a history of planning community baby showers or similar resource events; and host their event between July 31, 2024 and May 30, 2025.

Reynoso said he will prioritize funding to applicants holding community baby showers in neighborhoods with historically high maternal mortality and morbidity rates, including: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, Canarsie, Coney Island, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, East New York, Flatbush/Midwood and Sunset Park. 

The Brooklyn Borough President said applications are accepted on a rolling basis until funds are no longer available, and that submission of an application does not guarantee funding.

The Community Baby Shower Fund request form is available at www.brooklynbp.nyc.gov/babyshowerfund/