James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Our mission is to strive for inquiry and project-based solutions at the juncture of food, environmental and social justice. Our goal is to build a healthier and greener resilient community by engaging, integrating, educating and serving student and community members, especially low income and marginalized people, in collaboration with numerous partner organizations with common interests.
- Income
- $39,518
- Spending
- $28,206
- Reserves
- 7.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 60%
- Highest pay
- $4,671, president/director
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
We do not score finances when yearly spending is very small or the return has too little detail. The ratios stop meaning much at that size.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $25,553 spent. JBOLC GARDEN COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKET - Held weekly June through October, our Market attracts 100-300 participants each week. Total 2025 attendance was approx. 2500. Festival events at the Market include: JBOLC Health Fest, Community Resource Days, Vegetarian & Vegan Food Fest, Air We Share Town Hall, The Earth Beneath our Feet Dance Festival, JBOLC People's Fashion Show, AfroDeep Music Fest, Meg's Garden Tea Fest, Honorable Harvest Festival, and more. We aim to reach out, invite and embrace the broader community. 2025 marks our sixth season operating our open-air Farmers Market. The Market has become a Community Hub of Connection and Collaboration. Since our beginning in August of 2020, during the COVID pandemic, we have improved community members' access to farm-fresh vegetables and fruits, home-baked goods, and garden teas. Local vendors also offer their wares.
- $3,667 spent. PUBLIC GARDENS - With help from our 60+ volunteers and interns, we steward 0.75 acres of green space adjacent to the James Baldwin Plaza including: Meg's Garden & Edible Forest, Jubilant Pollinator Garden, Garden of Cultural Heritage, and Elderberry Patch. We also regularly help maintain gardens at the Museum of Bronx History and the Edgar Alan Poe Cottage. As NYC Park Stewards, we perform regular maintenance and cleanups of nearby Mosholu Parkland, as well as street trees within our vicinity. The gardens are an opportunity to provide hands-on knowledge on how to grow healthy food in a sustainable way. The goal is to promote citizen action, environmental justice and stewardship of vital urban green spaces. Meg's Garden is a natural medicine garden created to educate the community about the virtues of plants and their potential as healing plant medicines. We harvest plants for use in 18 cooking demos and to make healing tea to share at the market. Most of all, the gardens function as a safe welcoming place for neighbors to connect and share knowledge, food and stories. And to celebrate cultural diversity. Our goal is to help people to connect to and build reciprocal relationships with nature as we believe this will also contribute to their holistic health.
- PEDESTRIAN PLAZA OFFICIALLY NAMED FOR JAMES BALDWIN - Since 2020, we have helped transform the market site from 0.25 acres of unutilized public land into an NYC Dept of Transportation Pedestrian Plaza: a resurfaced public space with cafe tables and chairs set out daily. In 2025 NYC honored our efforts and our inspiration, African-American author/activist James Baldwin, by officially naming the "James Baldwin Plaza." The Plaza is used daily by neighbors, students and families as a place to rest, read, enjoy its surrounding green space and meet up with friends.
- GARDEN COMMUNITY-BUILDING - At our 2025 Market events: 15 local educators led health-oriented activities like yoga, dance, music, art-making, singing and more; and 5 local musical acts performed. We held 19 Meg's Garden Tea Parties, hosted by volunteers, where our community members shared knowledge, health tips and experiences over garden tea and healthy food.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 2020.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.