Endangering the funding of our future
COURIER L 46 IFE, FEB. 22–28, 2019 PS
President Lyndon Johnson’s
War on Poverty led
to the establishment of
Community Services Block
Grants, with a mission to fi ght
poverty, revitalize underserved
communities, and help
uplift low-income families
that would otherwise be left
behind through a multitude of
services and activities at the
local level.
It was local economic empowerment
in action at the
grass-roots level, propelled by
federally funded taxpayer dollars
returning to the state and
city to be invested in making a
difference and correcting historical
disparities. Through
the years, the communitybased
organizations that received
funding through this
program have implemented
countless numbers of projects
that have made a tangible difference
in people’s lives, from
environmental improvement
to refugee services.
Nearly 50 years after this
federal program began, Brooklyn
faces the real danger of
its local extinction. Community
Services Block Grants
are currently funneled from
the nation’s capital to Albany,
after which they land at the
New York City Department
of Youth and Community Development,
which is tasked
with distributing these funds
through Neighborhood Advisory
Boards across Neighborhood
Development Areas —
areas specifi cally designated
as in-need — across the fi ve
boroughs.
Neighborhood Advisory
Boards, which are composed
of seven- to 12-member voluntary
teams, are responsible
for helping to identify the
needs of their local communities
and selecting the community
based organizations that
will receive funding for their
respective projects.
Those projects, which run
over the course of one to three
years, focus on addressing issues
such as adult literacy, fatherhood
services, housing,
immigration services, and senior
programing.
These community-based
organizations are on the
ground serving our most vulnerable,
including youth, seniors,
and our neighbors living
with disabilities. They
depend on this critical federal
funding to do their day-today
work. We cannot afford
to have Community Services
Block Grants funding left discarded
on the table. That’s
why our Neighborhood Advisory
Boards must survive for
the next generation.
The boards making these
fi nancial allocations will only
be able operate if they have the
requisite participation from
local residents. Quorum is
needed, specifi cally seven out
of 12 members, to get anything
approved. Unfortunately,
many boards do not even have
enough members to reach quorum,
and with the low level
of public awareness of these
boards, we are at risk of losing
a lifeline of support for so
many community needs.
Neighborhood Advisory
Boards are one of the most impactful
ways to get involved at
the local level, providing residents
of low-income communities
with an opportunity to
assist in identifying priorities
for funding in areas that have
historically been socioeconomically
disadvantaged.
We have the power to make
a difference in our communities
through these boards, especially
as it is so easy to join.
To be a part of a Neighborhood
Advisory Board, members
should be full-time residents
of the Neighborhood Development
Areas they represent,
have lived in the neighborhood
for a minimum of six
months, be at least 16-yearsold,
and have no formal associations
with any organization
that receives Department
of Youth and Community Development
funding under the
Community Services Block
Grants program. Just as participatory
budgeting has
revolutionized the way New
Yorkers have a say in the way
taxpayer dollars are spent
locally, Neighborhood Advisory
Boards empower communities
to make direct decisions
on which organizations
receive funding from a pot of
$6 million across the fi ve boroughs.
Neighborhood Advisory
Boards provide the vital resources
that cash-strapped
community-based organizations
depend on to uplift
neighborhoods in need, from
ensuring young people get a
good education, to addressing
quality-of-life concerns.
I ask my fellow Brooklynites
to step up and be those
eyes and ears on our Neighborhood
Advisory Boards. My
administration can provide
more information to those who
want to learn more, and we are
here to help anyone interested
in this under-appreciated way
to make lasting change in our
borough.
OP-ED
Borough President Adams