Black churches in Harlem, Brooklyn receive preservation grant money

Mount Morris Ascension Church in Harlem, Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn, and dozens of Black churches around the country are receiving significant preservation grants.

- By LLOYD B. DAVIS

Harlem's Mount Morris Ascension Church. (Courtesy, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund)

A total of $8.5 million is going to 33 churches, and funding is intended to support project planning, capital projects, and community programming.

The grant money is being provided by the African American Cultural Heritage Fund through their fourth annual round of the Preserving Black Churches program. The African American Cultural Heritage Fund is dedicated to preserving sites of historical significance within the African American community.

Last year, for example, the Cultural Heritage fund announced the completed restoration of Nina Simone’s childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina.

To be eligible for grant funding, churches, associated buildings, and landscapes must be at least 50 years old. However, churches younger than this can be eligible for grants if they demonstrate historic, architectural, or cultural significance.

Amounts awarded this year range from $50,000-$500,000.