Let Us Breathe Fund Grants

The origin of the Let Us Breathe Fund—which supports Black-led organizing for justice—is painful. The fund was named in response to chants that reverberated across New York in the aftermath of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner by police on Staten Island. These protests built on generations of Black leadership and Black-led organizing. We formed a new Let Us Breathe Community Funding Committee (CFC) and committed to raising and distributing money to grassroots organizations taking on police violence.

Over time, grantees and Let Us Breathe Fund CFC members broadened the view of what it means to address anti-Blackness in New York City. We began awarding grants to a wider range of Black-led organizations addressing systemic oppression of Black New Yorkers, including economic and cultural work.

Growing the fund

The Fund has grown, and our commitment to it continues to deepen. In 2021, we expanded the fund with a $2 million commitment. This led us to expand the CFC and keep broadening our understanding of the vision of Black-led organizations. For example, food and land justice are essential elements to addressing racism and anti-Blackness in New York.

In 2021, we expanded the fund’s geography to include grantees in the Hudson Valley. This expansion came during the pandemic, as pressures on Black communities in the Hudson Valley grew. The influx of New York City residents with higher incomes changed the cost of housing with shocking speed. The fund started awarding grants to some existing Hudson Valley grantees while also supporting emerging grassroots groups working to end police violence, address housing inequities and build community with families of New Yorkers incarcerated in Hudson Valley prisons.

Addressing anti-Blackness and building Black liberation

The Fund offers a powerful glimpse at all the ways that Black New Yorkers are taking on elements of anti-Blackness in New York and building Black liberation through changes that benefit all New Yorkers. Current grantees are focused on issues from housing to cultural organizing, ending family policing, land and food justice—and more.

Now in our seventh year of grantmaking, the fund has awarded $4.7 million, with close to $2 million of those grants awarded in this most recent year. Addressing anti-Blackness is a fulcrum for building positive futures for all New Yorkers.