A peer-support program can start small. Ten people, a trusted facilitator, borrowed space, and a community that keeps coming back because the program gives them something they were not getting elsewhere.
Growth changes the budget. More participants can mean additional facilitators, interpretation, transportation support, larger space, training, supervision, referrals, insurance, and better documentation. If a Brooklyn or Bronx program has reached that point, the useful question is which funders may actually pay for the next stage.
Here are the grant programs worth looking at first.
1. Brooklyn Org Microgrants
Current status: Open year-round
Funding: Up to $10,000 for one year
Best for: Brooklyn organizations with annual expenses under $100,000
Brooklyn Org's Microgrants are one of the cleaner fits for a genuinely small community mental-health or peer-support organization.
Applicants must be based in Brooklyn or actively work in Brooklyn, have annual expenses below $100,000 in the previous fiscal year, and have at least one year of programming. Organizations can apply as a 501(c)(3) or through a fiscal sponsor. The money is general operating support, so the organization is not limited to one isolated program expense.
Applications can be submitted throughout the year, with two review cutoffs. Applications received by November 30 are considered for March funding, while those received by May 31 are considered for the later annual funding round.
For a peer-support program, that flexibility could help cover facilitator costs, training, outreach, administration, interpretation, or other operating expenses connected to keeping the program running and growing.
Review Brooklyn Org Microgrants
2. Brooklyn Org General Funding
Current status: Open year-round
Funding: Up to $45,000 per year for up to three years
Best for: Brooklyn nonprofits with annual budgets of at least $100,000
If the organization has already grown beyond the microgrant threshold, Brooklyn Org's General Funding is the next program to check.
The funding provides multi-year general operating support to eligible Brooklyn-serving nonprofits working on racial justice and critical community needs. Brooklyn Org supports direct services, training, culturally responsive services, advocacy, coalition-building, and related community work.
A mental-health program should be able to explain who is struggling to access support and why the organization's model works for that community. Language access, cost, neighborhood trust, immigration experience, discrimination, trauma, housing instability, or limited access to formal care may all be relevant depending on the people being served.
The grant can reach $45,000 per year, but requests are limited by the organization's size. Brooklyn Org states that an award cannot exceed 20% of the applicant's annual budget, so the advertised maximum is not automatically the appropriate request for every organization.
Review Brooklyn Org General Funding
3. New York Health Foundation Special Projects Fund
Current status: Open
LOI deadline: October 15, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.
Best for: Mental-health projects with a strong scaling, replication, or systems angle
The New York Health Foundation's 2027 Special Projects Fund is currently accepting Letters of Inquiry.
This fund is broader than mental health. It supports one-time projects addressing emerging health and public-health issues that fall outside the Foundation's main priority areas. Strong proposals are expected to have potential for replication, broader scaling, or implications for policy and systems change.
For a Brooklyn or Bronx peer-support organization, this is probably not the place to request funding simply to add another weekly group.
It becomes more relevant when the organization is testing or expanding a model that could be replicated across neighborhoods, building a stronger referral system between community organizations and providers, addressing a documented gap in mental-health access, or developing an approach that could influence how services are delivered more broadly.
The current LOI deadline is October 15, 2026, invited full proposals are due January 25, 2027, and award decisions are expected in June 2027.
Review the 2027 NYHealth Special Projects Fund
4. CitizensNYC Community Leaders Grants
Current status: 2026 rounds closed
Funding: Up to $5,000
Best for: Very small community-led mental-health and wellness projects anywhere in NYC
CitizensNYC belongs on the list for both Brooklyn and the Bronx because it is built around small neighborhood projects rather than large institutional programs.
Community Leaders Grants provide up to $5,000 for projects across all five boroughs in areas including health and wellness. Nonprofit applicants must have annual budgets below $250,000, but formal nonprofit status is not required. Volunteer-led groups can apply as well.
The 2026 rounds are closed, but this is one to monitor for the next cycle if the program is still small and community-led.
CitizensNYC has funded community wellness work including socio-emotional learning, youth resilience, mental-health education, culturally relevant wellness programming, and other neighborhood-based initiatives.
For a grassroots peer-support organization, a request could be built around a defined community project such as a peer-led support series, youth wellness program, mental-health education sessions, or another activity with a clear neighborhood benefit.
Track CitizensNYC Community Leaders Grants
5. Mother Cabrini Health Foundation Mental and Behavioral Health Program
Current status: 2026 application cycle closed
Best for: Organizations ready for larger mental-health program expansion
Mother Cabrini Health Foundation should stay on the funding calendar because its Mental and Behavioral Health program directly includes work that overlaps with peer-support models.
The Foundation supports prevention, treatment, recovery, trauma-informed and culturally responsive services, community-based mental-health access, crisis response, workforce development, and increased capacity among providers, professionals, peers, and other supports.
The 2026 application period ran from March 30 through April 23, with grant decisions scheduled for October and December. The Foundation considers both one-year and multi-year requests.
This becomes a stronger prospect once the organization can describe a program beyond the pilot stage. The funder should be able to see the population served, current participation, staffing or peer structure, how people are connected to additional services, what expansion would pay for, and how the organization knows demand exists.
Mother Cabrini also identifies peer support groups within its mental-health funding for low-income individuals and families, along with community-based mental-health services for youth and young adults.
Review Mother Cabrini Mental and Behavioral Health Funding
6. NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women
Current status: Active fund; application timing varies
Best for: Programs serving girls, young women, and gender-expansive youth of color
This fund is much more specific, but for the right peer-support program, the match is much stronger than a broad mental-health opportunity.
The NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women, managed by The New York Women's Foundation, invests in organizations working with girls, young women, and gender-expansive youth. Its current phase focuses on issues affecting the mental health and emotional well-being of these communities.
The Fund has distributed more than $22 million to over 80 community partner organizations and supports community-led approaches rather than limiting mental-health work to traditional clinical models.
A Brooklyn or Bronx organization serving this population should keep the Fund on its prospect list and monitor the next public application opportunity.
Review the NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women
7. New York State OMH Youth Safe Spaces Program
Current status: 2026 round closed September 17
Best for: Youth-centered community spaces serving ages 12 to 24
The New York State Office of Mental Health's Youth Safe Spaces Program is worth tracking for organizations working with teenagers and young adults.
The 2026 round funded youth-driven community spaces serving people ages 12 to 24. Eligible settings included libraries, youth recovery clubhouses, Boys and Girls Clubs, parks and recreation centers, and other local recreation spaces. Applicants were not required to be licensed OMH providers.
The latest deadline has passed, but the eligibility structure is useful for grassroots organizations because it shows that state mental-health funding is not always restricted to established clinical providers.
A peer-support model built around a youth community space should keep the OMH procurement calendar on its funding list for future rounds or similar programs.
Check Current New York State OMH Funding Opportunities
Which grants make sense for different organization sizes?
For a Brooklyn organization operating below $100,000, Brooklyn Org Microgrants are one of the strongest current places to start.
For a Brooklyn organization with a budget of at least $100,000, Brooklyn Org General Funding opens the door to larger and potentially multi-year operating support.
Organizations in either Brooklyn or the Bronx with a project designed for replication, broader expansion, or systems-level impact should look closely at the New York Health Foundation Special Projects Fund while the current LOI window remains open.
Very small community-led programs should keep CitizensNYC on the next-cycle list, while more established mental-health organizations may be better positioned for Mother Cabrini.
Programs serving a defined population should also pay close attention to targeted funding. A grant specifically designed around girls and gender-expansive youth or young people ages 12 to 24 may provide a much cleaner fit than a general mental-health opportunity.
Before the Program Grows, Check the Systems Behind It
Funding the next stage of a peer-support program usually brings more than additional participants. Budgets grow, reporting increases, more people may need access to information, referrals need to be documented, and responsibilities that were once handled informally may need a clearer process.
A strong program should not have to slow down because the systems behind it were built for ten participants and never adjusted for fifty.
RAEFORM works with nonprofits and small teams on the operational side of growth, including project workflows, internal systems, websites, software, and implementation support when the organization needs more structure behind the work.
RAEFORM is not affiliated with the funders listed here. Funding amounts, deadlines, eligibility rules, and open cycles can change. Always confirm the current requirements directly with the funder before applying.