Brooklyn and beyond. Expanding access to wellness, education and the arts for families who deserve a community that shows up.
Welcome
The DCW Legacy Foundation strengthens individuals, families and communities by serving as a bridge to the support, resources and opportunities they need, across wellness, education and the arts, empowering every person we serve to build and pass on a legacy through giving.
At the heart of our work is a simple belief: the difference between feeling lost and feeling equipped is often just access. Access to the right information, the right resources and the right community. We serve as a bridge, connecting people to what they need and to what they did not know was available to them.
Founded in honor of Bishop David C. Wallace, who embodied everything the Foundation stands for, we exist because we believe that legacy is not just something you leave. It is something you build, share and pass forward every single day. Through initiatives like Joyful Beginnings, we show up for people in the moments that matter most, with the resources, community and love they deserve.
Who we walk with
We serve individuals and families who face financial, informational or community access barriers. Everything we do is offered free or at minimal cost.
Our programs
A citywide baby shower where the whole community celebrates new and expecting mothers the way family would. Donated baby essentials, wellness education, honest conversations with other parents, and connections to local resources, all wrapped in joy.
First held December 2025 · See this year's showerWhen a family needs food, clothing, hygiene products, baby items, school supplies or books, the village responds. We collect and distribute essentials alongside churches, schools and neighborhood partners, so help arrives from people who care.
Year roundWorkshops on financial literacy, budgeting, leadership, career readiness, entrepreneurship and life skills, taught by people who want to see you win. Knowledge shared generously is how a community grows stronger together.
Workshops and cohortsYouth music workshops, community showcases and legacy recognition events honoring the quiet heroes who have poured into others. Creativity and gratitude are how a village remembers who it is.
Showcases and honors
Our story
The DCW Legacy Foundation was established in honor of Bishop David Craig Wallace, a pastor of thirty years, a builder of people, and the heart of a village that stretched far beyond the walls of his church.
To his congregation and ministry colleagues, he was Bishop David C. Wallace. To those who knew him best, he was a gentle giant. A brilliant man who loved God, his family and the church with his whole being. He was a consummate church man, a superb writer, an avid reader, and a self taught musician whose voice filled rooms. He was a leader of leaders. Nearly everyone who sat under his leadership went on to lead others.
He loved children deeply. Had he not become a pastor, he would have been a pediatrician. In many ways he spent his life doing both, caring for families, watching over the young, and making sure every person he met felt seen, strengthened and sent out with purpose.
Bishop Wallace passed suddenly in 2019. His legacy lives on in the church he led, now pastored by his wife, Pastor Cordelia Wallace, and in the lives and work of his son and daughter. The Foundation carries that legacy into the community. Every program we run holds something of him. His care for mothers and children, his belief that knowledge should be shared freely, his love of music and the written word, and his conviction that a community is strongest when it raises up leaders from within.
He built a village. We are keeping it open.
A note from our founder
Octavia C. Figueroa, Founder
When my father passed in 2019, our family was faced with the responsibility of carrying forward a tremendous legacy. My mother stepped into the role of Pastor of the church he built and served for so many years, with my brother faithfully supporting her in continuing that work. Together, they have carried forward the ministry he devoted his life to building.
For me, the question became: What does carrying his legacy look like through me?
It was only after my father passed that I began to fully understand just how far his impact had reached beyond the pulpit. We heard story after story of the people he had helped, encouraged, poured into, inspired and opened doors for, often in ways we had never even known about.
I am not sure my father ever thought of what he was doing in those terms. It simply flowed from the way he lived, from his faith, the knowledge and conviction he carried so deeply, and his genuine desire to see people become all that God had called them to be. In living that way, he gave people access, shared what he knew, created opportunities, and made an impact that extended far beyond what even we realized.
The DCW Legacy Foundation was born from my desire to carry that part of his legacy forward by creating opportunities, sharing resources and information, strengthening families and communities, and helping others gain access to places and possibilities they may not have otherwise known.
This is my way of honoring my father while building something that reflects both who he was and who I am. And I am incredibly grateful for every person who chooses to help us carry his legacy forward.
Join the village
Here is how you can be part of ours.
Your gift puts baby essentials in a new mother's arms, books in a child's hands, and a seat at a workshop table for someone ready to grow.
Give by ZelleShow up. Set up. Pack bags. Share what you know. Our events run on the hands and hearts of people like you.
Email us to volunteerChurches, schools, community organizations and businesses: let us build something together. We are always looking for partners who share our commitment to families.
Start a conversationSponsor Joyful Beginnings or another Foundation program and stand alongside hundreds of families at a moment that matters.
Email us about sponsoringGive directly to the Foundation, in his name. Gifts made here support every program we run, from Joyful Beginnings to the work that carries his name forward.