FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 16, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: jeanette.lenoir@mail.house.gov

c: 202.480.5737

Washington, D.C. — Yesterday afternoon, President Biden signed the FY22 Omnibus Appropriations Bill into law, which includes a historic $17,700,000 in federal funding for Community Projects that Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) championed for New York’s 9th Congressional District. This crucial funding for local projects responds directly to some of the most pressing needs throughout New York’s 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, including access to high-quality healthcare, cultural services, and job opportunities.

In addition to funding for Community Projects, the twelve-bill government funding package will help Brooklyn families with the cost of living, create good-paying local jobs, support our most vulnerable communities, and provide crucial assistance to small businesses and restaurants that are key to our District’s economic future. Taken together, the direct funding for New York’s 9th Congressional District and the funding increases for critical government services will reverse decades of disinvestment in our communities and bring forth a more prosperous and equitable Brooklyn.

Rep. Clarke championed funding for 10 projects that will directly benefit Brooklyn residents in New York’s 9th Congressional District. These include:

• $3,000,000 to create a Girls Club Community Center
• $3,000,000 to establish a permanent Brooklyn Museum Arts of Africa Exhibit
• $3,000,000 to support community-based Cure Violence Initiatives 
• $1,925,000 to improve primary care and social services through SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
• $1,000,000 for a Caribbean Cultural Arts Education Program
• $975,000 for an Infusion Center at New York Community Hospital
• $2,500,000 for a first-of-its-kind Brownsville Industrial Center
• $425,000 for critical care equipment at Interfaith Medical Center
• $1,000,000 for community workforce and training initiatives at BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers
• $875,000 to expand access to specialty medical services across Brooklyn

“Brooklyn’s fight for progress and ability to overcome the incredible hurdles our communities too often face has never lacked resolve or spirit, but rather resources. With President Biden’s signature, we take an important step to changing that. I am proud to announce that ten community projects dear to me and invaluable to our community will receive significant funding for their continued growth and development. From Brooklyn’s young girls who will soon find opportunities for personal and professional growth within their new, modern community center, to our patients who will gain top-of-the-line treatment methodologies that were once inaccessible to them, the value of these community projects far exceeds the dollar-figure behind them. Real, tangible progress is coming to Brooklyn, and I am both blessed and honored to have played a part in delivering it,” said Congresswoman Clarke. 

“This funding will allow us to reduce barriers to quality care for individuals across Brooklyn,” said Shari Suchoff, Executive Director, Brooklyn Communities Collaborative. “By facilitating specialty consultations through digital channels, primary care providers and the Brooklynites they serve will have efficient access to scarce specialty services while avoiding unnecessary appointments. This will improve care in Brooklyn’s historically undeserved communities, where patients most often face access barriers. Thank you to Rep. Clarke for her dedication to accessible health care for all.”

“This incredible investment will allow us to finally give our world-class African art collection the galleries they deserve! In conjunction with special exhibitions focused on art of the African diaspora, our new galleries will be the second-largest freely accessible collection of African art permanently on view in New York City, and the only one located in Brooklyn, where more than 30% of the population can trace their ancestry to Africa or the African diaspora. We cannot thank Representative Clarke enough for her leadership in not only securing this grant for the museum but for making this new and transformative gallery possible. She is a true champion for our communities and for Brooklyn,” says Anne Pasternak, Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, Brooklyn Museum. “As an institution that sits at the crossroads of Central Brooklyn’s historical Black communities, our neighbors deserve to have access to their great cultural traditions in ways that illuminate and celebrate their histories, traditions, and cultures.”

“We are grateful to our congressional delegation for their acknowledgment of Downstate as a critical safety-net hospital,” said Wayne J. Riley, M.D, President, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. “Congressmember Yvette D. Clarke, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand remain dedicated to providing resources in a community with the greatest of needs. This $1.9M earmark will help us establish a Center for Community Health and a network of service sites to offer comprehensive primary care services for adults and children, assuring equitable access for those who need it most.”

““We are so excited to be able to provide access to infusion services for cancer patients close to home. We would like to extend our thanks to Representative Clarke for her critical support for making the lives our patients easier in their time of stress,” said Barry Stern, President and CEO, New York Community Hospital of Brooklyn.

“One Brooklyn Health is grateful for Congresswoman Clarke’s unwavering support of our mission and the patients we serve. The funding provided will enable interfaith Medical Center to replace outdated patient monitoring equipment and support the purchase of patient beds on our Medicine and Intensive Care units,” said LaRay Brown, CEO, One Brooklyn Health System.

Descriptions of each project are available here. A detailed summary of the bill is available here.

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Yvette D. Clarke has been in Congress since 2007. She represents New York’s Ninth Congressional District, which includes Central and South Brooklyn. Clarke is a Senior Member of both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and House Committee on Homeland Security, where she serves as Chair of the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation Subcommittee.