DENVER — Only a year after its launch, the Black Resilience in Colorado Fund has exceeding its goals to give back in the Denver metro area.
"What BRIC is about is the resiliency of the Black community and being able to support Black-led and Black-serving nonprofit organizations," said LaDawn Sullivan, director of the BRIC Fund.
Housed under the Denver Foundation, Sullivan said BRIC was created to address inequities that have often plagued nonprofits led by people of color.
"What we learned from Black-led and serving nonprofits in the greater metro area, and maybe even nationwide, with our ear to the ground, is that often they are put in a position of being tested, which is very different than their counterpart organizations who are trusted," Sullivan said. "Organizations of color, particularly Black-led organizations, are often given less than half of what they need to even pilot a program or pilot the work. So, they're having to reconfigure and, I would say, really work on a shoestring budget to do the work they want to do for their own community."
In the first year since its inception, BRIC had the goal to raise $1 million. Sullivan said they were able to successfully raise $2 million and award half of the money as grants.
"For BRIC to be able to provide resources for organizations that help to create even greater access for young people [so they're] able to envision what it could be or what is next for them and for them to express that it's taking them mentally, spiritually and maybe even physically higher than their wildest expectations, that's really what this is about," Sullivan said.
Sullivan predicts similar feedback from future scholarship recipients of theMile High Flight program. This year, the program was awarded $20,000 from the BRIC Fund.
"To be recognized by an organization like BRIC was just very moving and heartwarming, and it makes us incredibly proud," said Capt. Eric Mosley, a coordinator with the Mile High Flight program and United Airlines pilot
Mosley is also the son of the late Tuskegee Airman, Lt. Col. John Mosley.
"Through the Mile High Flight program, we carry on the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen while also helping the dreams of young people take flight," Mosley said. "We are so grateful for BRIC."
"To have a program really invest in me laid the foundation for what I do today and my passion for aviation." said Kamia Bradley, a certified flight instructor and 2015 recipient of the Mile High Flight Program. "It's wonderful that the Mile High Flight program can continue helping young people achieve their dreams thanks to funds like BRIC."