2021 Community Grants Program

Healthfirst is New York’s largest non-profit health insurer, offering access to high-quality, affordable care to its nearly 1.4 million members. The company’s mission is to put its members first by working closely with care providers and community leaders to address broader issues that can impact health and well-being. Healthfirst is Citi Bike’s official wellness partner and the presenter of the Reduced Fare Bike Share program which provides $5 monthly Citi Bike memberships to low income New Yorkers receiving SNAP benefits or residing in NYCHA housing.

In the Spring of 2019, building upon its previous community engagement initiatives, Citi Bike launched a new Community Grant Program through its partnership with Healthfirst.The overarching goal of the Community Grant Program is to extend Citi Bike’s investment in communities to increase access to bike share in low-income neighborhoods and underrepresented communities where Citi Bike currently exists and future expansion communities throughout New York City.

The Community Grant Program supports programs, events, and activities organized by non-profit and community-based organizations that share Citi Bike’s commitment to increasing people of color and low-income New Yorkers’ access, comfortability, and usage of bike share, engage people of all ages in developing a lifelong relationship with bike share, using bike share to improve health outcomes in traditionally marginalized communities, and leveraging bike share as a tool to champion equitable access to safe streets and green space in urban areas.

Successful grant applications will address:

Engaging multigenerational low-income and underrepresented communities using bike share through the Reduced Fare Bike Share Program as a sustainable, healthy, and affordable means of transportation;

Creating opportunities for ongoing bike share ridership and civic engagement amongst community members;

Using bikes to help break down barriers to reliable transportation, food access, economic opportunity, environmental justice, and health in their communities;

Outreach and education to promote Citi Bike as a community resource and partner.

Sharing the stories of riders and the impact bike share has had on their lives and their communities.

2021 Grants will be focused on the following neighborhoods:

Brooklyn: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace
Manhattan: Lower East Side, East and Central Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood, Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, Hamilton Heights
Bronx: the South Bronx (Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris, Hunts Point), and Upper Bronx (Mt. Eden, Highbridge, Morris Heights, West Concourse, East Concourse, and Concourse Village, West Bronx, University Heights, Fordham Heights)
Queens: Astoria, Steinway
Community organizations who feel that they fit the mission of our grant work at Citi Bike are welcome to apply for the 2021 grant cycles by downloading the application.

When applying, please make sure to access our resources, including:

Community Grants Guidelines

Community Grants Proposal Template

Community Grants Project Budget Template