We Build The Block

OUR PROGRAMS


We develop and run programs that target and support youth directly involved or impacted by gun violence and the criminal justice system.

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

We hire youth through the city’s youth employment programs and provide training on advocacy and activism tactics around social justice issues such as environmental injustice, voter suppression, and gun violence. The cohort also worked directly with city agencies, the private sector, and community-based organizations to develop advocacy campaigns. In addition to being compensated for their work, participants had a safe environment surrounded by adults who care about them and see them as equal stakeholders in making real change.

Image
26 students participated in 2021

34% improvement in program assessment scores


YOUTH
EMPLOYMENT

We hire youth through the city’s youth employment programs and provide training on advocacy and activism tactics around social justice issues such as environmental injustice, voter suppression, and gun violence. The cohort also worked directly with city agencies, the private sector, and community-based organizations to develop advocacy campaigns. In addition to being compensated for their work, participants had a safe environment surrounded by adults who care about them and see them as equal stakeholders in making real change.

26 students participated in 2021

34% improvement in program assessment scores


Image


We hire youth through the city’s youth employment programs and provide training on advocacy and activism tactics around social justice issues such as environmental injustice, voter suppression, and gun violence. The cohort also worked directly with city agencies, the private sector, and community-based organizations to develop advocacy campaigns. In addition to being compensated for their work, participants had a safe environment surrounded by adults who care about them and see them as equal stakeholders in making real change.


6 events hosted with hundreds of community members participating

0 incidents of violence during or following events


CREW COUNT


Image

CREW COUNT


We hire youth through the city’s youth employment programs and provide training on advocacy and activism tactics around social justice issues such as environmental injustice, voter suppression, and gun violence. The cohort also worked directly with city agencies, the private sector, and community-based organizations to develop advocacy campaigns. In addition to being compensated for their work, participants had a safe environment surrounded by adults who care about them and see them as equal stakeholders in making real change.


Image

0 incidents of violence during or following events


6 events hosted with hundreds of community members participating

HEAL THE VIOLENCE

Heal The Violence is a progressive approach to reduce gun violence in public housing. We provide youth and young adults with trauma resolution, prosocial programming, stipends, and training. Our weekly sessions offer a safe space for our youth, helping them become leaders in addressing violence within their communities.

Our work is embedded into the 61st Precinct crime strategy, with direct oversight from the precinct commander. We also partner with the Kings County District Attorney’s office to provide alternative paths for the youth in our program facing punitive/ carceral outcomes for their cases.


88% gained employment through the program

50% of participants have had their cases dismissed, diverted, or under review for diversion

Image
HEAL THE VIOLENCE

Heal The Violence is a progressive approach to reduce gun violence in public housing. We provide youth and young adults with trauma resolution, prosocial programming, stipends, and training. Our weekly sessions offer a safe space for our youth, helping them become leaders in addressing violence within their communities.

Our work is embedded into the 61st Precinct crime strategy, with direct oversight from the precinct commander. We also partner with the Kings County District Attorney’s office to provide alternative paths for the youth in our program facing punitive/ carceral outcomes for their cases.


88% gained employment through the program

50% of participants have had their cases dismissed, diverted, or under review for diversion

Image

OUR PILOTS


We work with our partners to develop new pilots and protocols that put the community at the center of public safety strategy.


BROWNSVILLE SAFETY ALLIANCE

Image

The Brownsville Safety Alliance (BSA) is a new model for coordinating community-led public safety to address the issues plaguing our most over-policed communities. In coordination with the 73rd Precinct, we piloted a multi-day strategy to replace patrolling officers with community partners.

Working with local partners, we identify areas experiencing gun violence and chronic quality of life conditions. We then remove the presence of patrolling officers and coordinate safety responses by diverting 911 and 311 calls to our crisis management system (CMS) partners. We also bring other community- based organizations (CBOs) and city agencies to support the needs of the community in real-time. Partners including MEL, BTTM, BIVO, Elite Learners are active on the block and take the lead on managing disruptions. Local, city, and state partners are present every day in 2-hour shifts. Partners provide resources and proactively engage community members.


60+ Community Organizations participated
76% of community members thought the BSA would strengthen the community



RAPID YOUTH REFERRAL


In partnership with 73rd Precinct, we piloted a new protocol to refer system-involved youth with community partners at the moment of crisis. When a young person is involved in a crime, it often results in an arrest followed by a lengthy waiting period for vital support services to be rendered. We’re disrupting the traditional process through a “rapid referral” initiative that empowers neighborhood coordination officers and youth coordination officers to connect system-involved youth and their families to community-based resources that provide holistic support at the moment of arrest.

A pilot NYPD department protocol to refer system-involved youth and their families with community partners at the moment of crisis to provide holistic support.


70% of impacted youth were retained by referral partners
90% of those retained have avoided criminal justice contact for 2 years


OFFICE & CBO TRAININGS


100 words on training and our role connecting NYPD and local partners. nec feugiat nisl pretium fusce id velit ut tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti nullam ac tortor vitae purus faucibus ornare suspendisse sed nisi lacus sed viverra tellus in hac habitasse platea dictumst vestibulum rhoncus est pellentesque elit ullamcorper

OUR PILOTS


We work with our partners to develop new pilots and protocols that put the community at the center of public safety strategy.


BROWNSVILLE SAFETY ALLIANCE

Image

The Brownsville Safety Alliance (BSA) is a new model for coordinating community-led public safety to address the issues plaguing our most over-policed communities. In coordination with the 73rd Precinct, we piloted a multi-day strategy to replace patrolling officers with community partners.

Working with local partners, we identify areas experiencing gun violence and chronic quality of life conditions. We then remove the presence of patrolling officers and coordinate safety responses by diverting 911 and 311 calls to our crisis management system (CMS) partners. We also bring other community- based organizations (CBOs) and city agencies to support the needs of the community in real-time. Partners including MEL, BTTM, BIVO, Elite Learners are active on the block and take the lead on managing disruptions. Local, city, and state partners are present every day in 2-hour shifts. Partners provide resources and proactively engage community members.


60+ Community Organizations participated
76% of community members thought the BSA would strengthen the community



RAPID YOUTH REFERRAL

In partnership with 73rd Precinct, we piloted a new protocol to refer system-involved youth with community partners at the moment of crisis. When a young person is involved in a crime, it often results in an arrest followed by a lengthy waiting period for vital support services to be rendered. We’re disrupting the traditional process through a “rapid referral” initiative that empowers neighborhood coordination officers and youth coordination officers to connect system-involved youth and their families to community-based resources that provide holistic support at the moment of arrest.

A pilot NYPD department protocol to refer system-involved youth and their families with community partners at the moment of crisis to provide holistic support.


70% of impacted youth were retained by referral partners

90% of those retained have avoided criminal justice contact for 2 years



OFFICE & CBO TRAININGS

100 words on training and our role connecting NYPD and local partners. nec feugiat nisl pretium fusce id velit ut tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti nullam ac tortor vitae purus faucibus ornare suspendisse sed nisi lacus sed viverra tellus in hac habitasse platea dictumst vestibulum rhoncus est pellentesque elit ullamcorper