UsaNewsonline.com Desk : Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, along with Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Brooklyn members of the House of Representatives, today announced they secured over $24 million in funds for Brooklyn as part of the final omnibus funding package for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023.

 The senators secured a total of $24,394,000 for projects across the borough, including affordable housing services provided by Churches United for Fair Housing, improvements to health care facilities and access at Kings County Hospital Center and Maimonides Medical Center, and anti-violence initiatives launched by St. Nicks Alliance.

 “I’m proud to bring these investments that I fought to secure to our Brooklyn communities,” said U.S. Senator Gillibrand. “These funds will not only bolster anti-violence programs like the ones offered by St. Nick’s Alliance and cybersecurity programs at St. Joseph's College, but will also go toward upgrading the borough’s health care facilities to help provide affordable and accessible quality health care to Brooklyn residents.”

 “From increasing economic opportunity, and expanding health care services, to delivering small business support and enhancing anti-violence programs, these local Brooklyn organizations are making a huge impact on our fellow Brooklynites and our communities,” said U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer. “I’m proud to bring this substantial federal funding to our communities and I’ll keep fighting to help these organizations continue their great work across the borough.”

 “I was proud to work with Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Representatives Velázquez and Clarke to secure over $24 million in community project funding for Brooklyn neighborhoods,” said Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “The transformational money will help provide food for the hungry, assist veterans, fund overdue improvements to medical centers and schools, support organizations working to uplift our neighborhoods and deepen our cultural understanding, back those building a sustainable future and more. We will continue to work hard to make life better for everyday New Yorkers back home in Brooklyn.”

 “The funding we passed is critical to the success of the Brooklyn community – from educating our youth, and providing after-school care, to improving the local environment and meeting the healthcare needs of our residents,” said Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez. “This $24 million in federal funding will help to meet the crucial community needs across Brooklyn. I look forward to seeing these funds being put to use to help grow and strengthen our neighborhoods.”

 "Time and time again, the good people of Brooklyn have proven that, when they are provided the tools for success and the resources to reach it, they always will. I am beyond proud to see significant funding for the continued growth and development of Brooklyn come with the passage of our FY23 appropriations bill," said Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. "Brooklyn is a special family, and it is on an inexorable trajectory towards something bigger. I consider it the blessing and privilege of my career to fight to get it there."

 Organizations receiving funds include:

        CAMBA Inc. ($3,590,000)

 Funding for this initiative will go toward the Career Navigation Initiative, which will create meaningful career paths that lead to economic stability and mobility for disaffected young adults, and capital improvements at their headquarters.

CAMBA’s program services will be housed in five nearby community centers, four of which are in NYCHA developments, making the Career Navigation Initiative immediately available to NYCHA residents, who experience four times the unemployment rate of the city-wide average.

   Interfaith Medical Center Campus/One Brooklyn Health System ($3,000,000)

 One Brooklyn Health System member hospital Interfaith Medical Center (IMC) is expanding its currently constrained emergency department (ED) that was last renovated more than 30 years ago. These funds will help IMC renovate its ED with a modern, improved layout that will enhance patient care and improve patient satisfaction as well as patient safety. At project completion, the medical and psychiatric emergency departments of Interfaith Medical Center will be fully renovated to provide improved health care to the entire One Brooklyn Health service area, including Brooklyn and NYC residents.

 The upgraded infrastructure, equipment and technology will enable the system to provide even better care to patients with some of the worst health outcomes in the NYC. The system will also be better prepared to be nimble and responsive to another surge or pandemic-level event.

     New York Community Hospital ($2,200,000)

  As part of a system-wide strategic partnership between New York Community Hospital and Maimonides Medical Center, both parties agreed to work collaboratively to enable New York Community Hospital to provide state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology services. The requested funds will be used for construction required within New York Community Hospital and the purchase of necessary equipment to allow the cardiac catheterization lab to function and provide cardiac services to the residents of Southern Brooklyn.

   Kings County Hospital Center ($2,200,000)

  Funding will be used for the construction of a new ambulatory cancer center to improve ease of access to patients and consolidate cancer services in one location for a comprehensive “one-stop” service for care. These improvements will address demand for cancer care—which is greater than current capacity.

     Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School ($2,000,000)

  Funds will be used to renovate a 20,000-square foot building on 1,300 acres of National Park Service land in the middle of Brooklyn. This building will serve as a high school and is the first phase of building out one of the most innovative education campuses in the country, which will ultimately serve 1,000 students daily as well as up to an additional 200 public schools and members of the public.

     Ohel Children's Home and Family Services ($2,000,000)

  This capital project will construct classrooms, conference rooms, reception locker rooms, computer training rooms, kitchen and dining areas (to teach self-sufficiency), a simulated office, and storage facilities for the PROS Day Program and the Prevocational and Supported Employment Program. The funding will enhance Ohel’s capacity to provide services for adults with psychiatric disabilities as well as those with developmental disabilities.

 Maimonides Medical Center ($1,650,000)

The requested funds will support the expansion of the Community Care of Brooklyn (CCB) Navigator, a one-stop shop for all care management and social service referrals in Brooklyn.

   St. Francis College, Brooklyn ($1,500,000)

St. Francis College (SFC) will utilize this funding to upgrade technology in its nursing simulation lab, which is used by both SFC's nursing students as well as community partners in health care and K-12 education. Aligned with the goals of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the simulation lab improves the quality of SFC's nursing education program and prepares future nurses to offer exceptional, compassionate care across NYC.

 St. Nicks Alliance Corporation – North Brooklyn Anti-Violence Initiative ($1,000,000)  A coalition of local organizations has created the North Brooklyn Anti-Violence Initiative, which aims to provide activities addressing the underlying conditions that foster violence. St. Nicks Alliance will use this funding to establish positive options for children, youth and families facing increased violence; create employment, training and education opportunities; and address the threat of eviction from housing while enabling those vulnerable to violence to secure housing.

 Hispanic Federation ($1,000,000)

  The funding will go toward the Hispanic Federation’s Crear y Crecer Su Negocio Small Business Support Initiative, which will provide a wide range of technical assistance programming and tools to strengthen the growing Latino small business community.

  St. Joseph's College New York ($754,000)

 The Cybersecurity and Science Technology Initiative at SJC Brooklyn will address an urgent need for digital fluency and security among our future workforce and in our community, including seniors and immigrants.

     Evergreen Inc. ($750,000)

 The funding will go toward the Resilient Recovery program, which provides technical assistance and education to small businesses in the industrial and manufacturing sector in Brooklyn to help them grow and provide family-supporting jobs to working-class New Yorkers.

    Churches United for Fair Housing, Inc. ($750,000)

   This funding will support Churches United For Fair Housing's housing-related services that help families find and maintain affordable housing, combat landlord harassment and displacement, and access resources that help prevent and fight back against other threats to housing.

  Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc. ($750,000)

Funding for this project will go toward the Fifth Avenue Committee’s Affordable Solar program, which connects low- and moderate-income New Yorkers to solar power resources. This includes a collaborative pilot project that helps homeowners access solar by providing incentives, information, resources and tools to enable them to install solar on their homes or access community shared solar if their homes are not solar ready.

It also includes on-the-job solar installation training for residents with barriers to employment and solar installation on Fifth Avenue Committee’s non-profit affordable housing buildings that are home to over 800 low- and moderate-income residents. (Press Release)