⚡ Get paid to change your neighborhood this summer. 🌱 EcoPower ’26 applications close June 19. Apply →
⚡ Get paid to change your neighborhood this summer. 🌱 EcoPower ’26 applications close June 19. Apply →
Born in East Flatbush, we’ve evolved from a grassroots idea into a powerhouse for community development + environmental tech — bridging civic engagement, digital equity, culture, and design to build futures that start right here, at home.
Our new digital home is on the way — one that captures how far we’ve come and how boldly we’re moving forward.
What started as a hyperlocal effort to reclaim community power has grown into a city-wide approach to environmental justice, youth leadership, and community-rooted innovation.
Today, we build community infrastructure—across land, climate, culture, youth, and wealth—rooted in place and built for the long term.
What started as a hyperlocal effort to reclaim community power has grown into a city-wide approach to environmental justice, youth leadership, and community-rooted innovation.
Today, we build community infrastructure—across land, climate, culture, youth, and wealth—rooted in place and built for the long term.
Community-led research revealed widespread soil contamination—turning data into action around soil safety, environmental health, and climate resilience.
Young people paid, trained, and mentored through our EcoPower Internship in environmental justice, soil testing, climate storytelling, design thinking, and digital equity.
Outreach, education, and direct assistance—paired with Community Land Trust organizing—to help residents avoid displacement and build pathways to long-term community ownership.
Wellness and accountability-based incubator programs strengthening local businesses, mutual support, and community-rooted economic power.
Resident stories, recipes, interviews, and histories gathered to ground planning, environmental justice, and land stewardship in lived experience.
Investments from New York Women’s Foundation, New York Community Trust, North Star Fund, Brooklyn Org, and Rainproof NYC to scale local solutions.
Our programs grow from the ground up—rooted in wellness, equity, and community care.
The Collective, The Flats CLT, and Cultivate are the core initiatives through which all of BKLVLUP’s work flows—building power and opportunity across East Flatbush, Flatbush, and Flatlands. Together, they support entrepreneurs, preserve community land for public good, and train the next generation of citizen scientists to create a more just, resilient future.
Because building the future isn’t about waiting — it’s about designing it together.
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This wellness-based incubator supports new nonprofits and for-profit ventures through peer learning, guided sessions with local professionals, curated book discussions, and energizing networking events—all designed to help businesses thrive while uplifting the community around them.
By preserving and creating affordable housing, commercial, and cultural gathering spaces, the Flats CLT works to ensure East Flatbush, Flatbush, and Flatlands remain in the hands of the people who call them home—reflecting our culture, meeting our needs today, and sustaining community spaces for generations to come.
What began as a student project collecting family recipes and exploring what East Flatbush was growing has evolved into a paid youth soil-testing internship and a broader space for advocacy. Through hands-on research, storytelling, and tech-based learning, Cultivate helps community residents—especially youth—explore green economy jobs while addressing the legacy of environmental harm from climate change and zoning that placed homes beside industry. It’s a community-driven approach to designing solutions on our own terms for a healthier, more resilient future.
Featuring hidden murals that appear only when it rains, the project reveals flood data, land history, and climate tips—turning storm moments into opportunities for learning and connection. Alongside these creative installations, the Rain Activated Toolkit offers a deep dive into available resources, education, and practical steps residents can take to prepare for and respond to flooding. Together, these elements galvanize and empower neighbors to document flooding, share solutions, and build a more resilient community—proving that when the water rises, so do we.
It creates a living digital space for residents to envision what the future could hold while preserving the heritage of spaces that once shaped our neighborhoods. Community members can leave love letters to a street, block, or borough; share videos about flooding or hopes for change; upload family recipes; or record memories that capture what East Flatbush, Flatbush, and Flatlands mean to them. They can also listen to recordings and read reflections from neighbors—connecting through shared stories that sit side by side with quantitative data and reports. Together, these layers bring culture, context, and heart to how we plan for the future.
