Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso announced on Monday, September 28, that he is renewing his $50,000 Community Baby Shower Fund for a third year, opening applications for Brooklyn nonprofits that host baby showers for new and expecting parents as part of his effort to improve maternal health outcomes in the borough. Eligible 501(c)3 organizations can request up to $5,000 in reimbursed matching funds for non-personnel costs tied to a community baby shower held between July 1, 2026, and May 31, 2027.
Priority goes to showers held in neighborhoods with historically high maternal mortality and morbidity rates: Brownsville, Crown Heights, Red Hook/Gowanus, East New York, East Flatbush, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene/Brooklyn Heights, and Flatlands/Canarsie. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until the funds run out.
The showers funded last year gave away essentials like diapers and baby clothes, offered activities and workshops, and connected parents with clinical and social services in their communities. The fund reimburses non-personnel expenses only, up to $5,000 per organization, and applicants must match the amount they request. Since 2024, the fund has awarded $100,000 to nonprofits serving Brooklyn parents.
“We cannot improve maternal health outcomes solely within the walls of hospitals; new parents need support networks in their own neighborhoods,” Reynoso said. “Community baby showers foster those connections while equipping new parents with essential resources and celebrating the milestone that is starting or growing a family.”
To qualify, an organization must have current 501(c)3 status, be able to match the funding it requests, and have a history of service in at least one of the target neighborhoods, of serving prenatal and postpartum individuals and their families, and of planning baby showers or similar resource events. Submitting an application does not guarantee funding, and all funding is issued on a reimbursement basis.
Ten Brooklyn nonprofits received funding from the second annual round, which was announced in July 2025. Those showers, held between July 2025 and May 2026, served hundreds of parents, according to the Borough President’s Office. The ten were Life Equip Group, Brownsville Community Culinary Center, New Neighbors Partnership Association, Kiwanis Kings Plaza & Canarsie, Holding Hands Ministries, Nuestros Niños Daycare Center, Public Housing Community Fund, Hope Center Development Corporation, For The Better Inc., and Brooklyn Perinatal Network, Inc.
Several awardees described what the funding paid for. Shoshana Barzel, Founder and Executive Director of New Neighbors Partnership Association, said her organization used it to create a space where recently resettled refugee mothers from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Nicaragua and elsewhere could receive supplies and build connections. “Each participating family received a package of baby essentials worth more than $500, including diapers and wipes, clothing, books and educational toys, feeding supplies, swaddles and safe sleep sacks, nursing bras, diaper bags, and hygiene products,” Barzel said, adding that the money also covered transportation for isolated mothers, culturally familiar food, and professional family portraits.
Naomi Lehrer, a member of Kiwanis Kings Plaza & Canarsie, said the group turned P.S. 276 into a health and wellness hub serving more than 300 local families, working with Community Board 18, Senator Roxanne Persaud, Assemblymember Jaime Williams, Millennium Development and more than 25 resource tables. “In an area impacted by high maternal mortality and morbidity rates, this funding enabled us to pair essential baby gear distributions with direct medical access and life-saving health education,” Lehrer said.
Diana Nelson, Executive Director of Hope Center Development Corporation, said her group hosted more than 140 expecting and new mothers at its first community baby shower in Brownsville, with several city agencies and One Brooklyn Health’s Brookdale Campus on hand. Denise West, Chief Program Officer and Deputy Executive Director at Brooklyn Perinatal Network, Inc., said the Borough President’s funding paid for three showers the network held across Brooklyn this spring, which served 55 individuals and their families, with services provided in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and African dialects.
Organizations apply through the Community Baby Shower Fund request form on the Borough President’s website and then email three documents, a 501(c)3 Letter of Determination, their most recent Form 990 or financial statement, and a project budget, to [email protected] with the subject line “Community Baby Shower Fund.” The application and forms are posted on the Brooklyn Borough President’s budget page, which also carries Reynoso’s guide to hosting a community baby shower.
Featured image: Patrick Butler / Brooklyn Borough President's Office
