Youth Initiatives News Archive

Press Results

  • Growing Safety in Green Spaces

    Green spaces are in short supply in historically marginalized neighborhoods, but investing in them makes for safer, healthier communities.

  • Snapshots from Summer: Community and Connection

    Summer in New York brings people out into the neighborhood for fun, joy, and connection. As the season draws to a close, take a look at some summer events we hosted to share resources with the community and build relationships.

  • Why We Prioritize Economic Justice

    Everyone deserves meaningful opportunities to make a stable living. For our teams across the city, that raises a critical question: What does it look like to build economic justice from the ground up?

  • Hope and Healing through Art and Design

    Meaning, joy, and beauty are at the heart of safe communities. Take a look at some recent design projects we've supported to reinvent public spaces, build community, and encourage hope and healing through self-expression.

  • Saving Our Streets Brooklyn

    Our Time Press

    "To finally end gun violence in our communities, we need to invest in our kids and give them the support they need to thrive." That was Anthony Rowe, project director of our Neighbors in Action program in Brooklyn, after the team partnered with Launch Charter School in Crown Heights to support a walkout of more than 100 middle school students for National Gun Violence Awareness Month. In Our Time Press, hear from teachers, community activists, and lawmakers on the tragic toll of gun violence in Brooklyn and the important work being done to prevent it.

  • The Brooklyn Community That Wants Youth to Stop Shooting and Start Living

    NBC

    NBC profiles our Save Our Streets (S.O.S.) program, which works in Brooklyn and the Bronx to stop shootings by building community relationships and connecting young people to support. Hear from Rahson Johnson, a violence interrupter and youth advocate with our S.O.S. team, who uses his lived experience with gun violence and the prison system to help guide children towards a better path. “The challenge for me was going back to the community that I wanted to destroy, that I was hurt by, and being able to make change,” Johnson tells NBC’s Maya Brown.

  • These new Staten Island programs aim to positively engage youth, prevent violence

    SILive

    With support from Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and NYC Council Member Kamillah Hanks, the Center announced several new youth programs coming to its Staten Island Justice Center. Ranging from restorative justice to placekeeping to entrepreneurship programming, these initiatives will create lasting safety by investing in young people’s passions and neighborhoods. “In addition to directly engaging more community members, this project will pave the way for enhanced collaboration with other community organizations,” said Sonila Kada, the director of Staten Island Justice Center.