Brownsville celebrates It's My Park Day in Betsy Head

In celebration of “It’s My Park Day,” last Friday thousands of New Yorkers came together to beautify their neighborhood parks and green spaces. In Brownsville, staff from the Brownsville Community Justice Center and members of the Brownsville Justice Community program joined 30 AmeriCorps volunteers from the New York Juvenile Justice Corps and John Jay College of Criminal Justice for a day of service in Betsy Head Park. Volunteers scraped unsightly, peeling paint from a giant retaining wall on the perimeter of the park and gave it a bright new coat. Volunteers also worked in a community garden, weeding, removing debris, and laying woodchips to enrich the soil. Lastly, a team of volunteers dispersed throughout the neighborhood to conduct “audits” at several other Brownsville parks, ballfields and playgrounds, including: Nehemiah, Livonia, Howard, Floyd Patterson, Chester, Dr. Richard Green and Carter G. Woodson. Audits involve assessing the parks' level of activity, quality, safety, signage, and aesthetics. Volunteers looked for signs of vandalism or excessive litter, whether there was adequate lighting and visibility from the street, and whether fields and facilities were maintained. The audit tool was designed by the Brownsville Partnership and Municipal Arts Society of New York and will be used to establish priorities and guide long-term planning for revitalizing Brownsville’s green spaces.

We would like to thank the Parks Department and Partnership for Parks for the support which made the day possible, as well as all the volunteers for their service toward a greener future for Brownsville.

  

With our scrapers hard at work, the sidewalk was soon covered with red paint chips.

Volunteers from John Jay showed off their green thumbs.

Volunteers carefully spread woodchips around trees and shrubs.

Brownsville Justice Community members made fast work of the bucket of woodchips. 

Our t-shirts represented all the partnerships at work!

Sonia Chowdury from the Center for Court Innovation came out to support the group.

Volunteers painting the 8-foot retaining wall along Strauss Street.

Enjoying the beautiful sunshine and first signs of spring!

The last traces of the chipped red paint soon disappeared under a fresh white coat.

Teamwork makes the dream work! Thank you volunteers. We appreciate your service!

Find Applications and Surveys Here! All Things Brownsville Anti-Violence Project Are Now Online!

The Brownsville Anti-Violence Project (BAVP) is now looking for an amazing Events and Programs Intern! Applicants should be a rising junior or senior college student with superior administrative and organizational skills, excellent communication skills both written and verbal, a high capacity for creative and critical thinking, and a willingness to take initiative. Applicants should be comfortable working with diverse groups of people and be social media savvy with a high proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher). Prior work experience in event planning or administrative assistance a plus. This will be an exciting and rewarding opportunity for a young person interested in law, social justice or civic engagement!

For more information about this opportunity and instructions on how to apply email: emateo@courts.state.ny.us

The BAVP is now recruiting for the Youth Advisory Board!

Here’s some information young people need to know:

•       Youth must be 14-24 years old

•       Youth must live in Brownsville (11212)

•       Youth must be able to communicate a passion to see change in Brownsville

•       Youth must complete an application and interview process

•       Application Deadline Friday, May 10, 2013 @ 3:00pm

•       This is a paid opportunity

Interested? Fill out the online application here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1deGnUBjChHb3ohl9IWYQIxtDGh3oCP3lObLb9JhZEus/viewform

Applications are now open for the BAVP’s Adult Campaign Advisory Board!

The mission of the Adult Campaign Advisory Board is to support and distribute a message and/or service that seeks to cure violence in Brownsville and to support Brownsville youth by building their capacity to cure violence in Brownsville.For more information and online application click the link below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1m9oMbi2K0e-DNI87fqiR7nTPMsAaOSbdwJf7IIibgps/viewform

Are you a Brownsville Stakeholder? Want to help steer the direction of the BAVP? Want to give us your feedback? Fill out the BAVP’s survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AVaxcdFnmFNpLhlSehEQuzLyITqO_hHIgvQShJpwtT4/viewform

Brownsville Anti-Violence Project Convenes Community Leaders and Stakeholders

The Brownsville Anti-Violence Project (BAVP) held their first stakeholders’ luncheon last Friday (April 5, 2013) in the Heritage House at the Stone Ave Branch Library. Over 60 Brownsville stakeholders were in attendance!  The day started with an icebreaker called “The Human Treasure Hunt”, which encouraged stakeholders to get to know one another and learn fun facts about their neighbors. One of our stakeholders even serenaded us all!

After the ice was broken, James Brodick and Viviana Gordon delved right into informing stakeholders of existing justice center programming, future justice center plans, and CCI survey results specific to Brownsville.

Once the basics of the Brownsville Community Justice Center were covered, Erica Mateo and Kayin Latson, the BAVP team, delved right into the two components of the anti-violence project: offender notification meetings and the public education campaign. Assisted by lovely Ife Charles, City-Wide Anti-Violence Coordinator at the Center for Court Innovation, the BAVP talked about changing the narrative of Brownsville by saturating the community with positive messaging and pro-social activities. Ife talked about the groundwork laid in Crown Heights through SOS (Save Our Streets), and the importance of getting an anti-violence project off the ground in Brownsville in order to save lives.

The BAVP also announced the upcoming Arts to End Violence Contest/Tour set for summer 2013, and ways to get involved. All stakeholders were given a packet with information about the anti-violence project, a 1 page stakeholder’s survey, an adult campaign advisory board one-pager and interest form, and a youth advisory board flier and application.

Big shout out to all Brownsville Justice Community Center staff, Justice Community youth and Peacekeeper Jesse Gordon, who did a great job helping the BAVP throughout the event.

The Heritage House was packed for the AVP's first stakeholder event.  

Probation Officers from the Brownsville NeON site, Peacekeepers and clergy were among the attendees.

NYCHA REES Zone Coordinator Eric Steiner and Brownsville Community Baptist Church Minister Lee get to know each other in the ice breaker.  

Ife Charles speaks about SOS and gets the room pumped up! 

 Justice Community Participants present the winners of the Human Treasure Hunt with movie tickets!

Peacekeepers Douglas Covington and Jesse Gordon and Chaplain Sharon listen to remarks.

AmeriCorps member Desiree Knight mingles with guests before the start of the event.

The "Magic" food servers: Davon, Wendi and Ben! 

Youth Court opens its doors to the community!

This past week, the Brownsville Youth Court hosted an open house for prospective members and to introduce our neighbors and community stakeholders to the program. More than 20 community members, representatives from agencies, and students were in attendance. Program Coordinator, Sharese Crouther opened the event with an overview of the program, referral process, and benefits of youth court membership. Visitors then had the chance to observe a real youth court hearing and the evening was rounded out with a question and answer session with current youth court members and staff. Each member shared their reasons for joining the Brownsville Youth Court, skills they have gained since joining, and future career goals. All eleven graduating senior members shared their college plans for the fall, which were each met with rounds of applause from the audience!

The deadline to apply to join the Brownsville Youth Court is April 10^th. We look forward to inducting new members into our 5^th cohort and continuing to spread awareness about youth court to the community.     

Check out photos from the event.


Program Coordinator, Sharese Crouther delivers opening remarks. 



 Youth Court member, Deborah shares her perspective about  Youth Court. 




Brownsville Youth Court Promoting Healthy Eating!

Youth Court members boxing hot meals for the community.

In observance of National Nutrition Month, the Brownsville Youth Court volunteered in help deliver nutritious meals to the Brownsville community. The National Nutrition Month theme for 2013 is “Eat Right, Your Way, and Every Day.” This theme encourages personalized healthy eating styles. It also recognizes that food preferences, lifestyle, cultural and ethnic traditions all impact individual food choices.

Over the past two Saturdays, the Youth Court members volunteered at the Hope Center Development Corporation soup kitchen and food pantry. At the soup kitchen, they helped serve hot, healthy, and balanced meals to over 300 people in the community.

  

Apply to join the Brownsville Justice Community program TODAY!

Apply to join the Brownsville Justice Community program TODAY!

The Brownsville Justice Community is a project of Mayor Bloomberg's Young Men's Initiative that strives to help young people achieve their professional, educational, and personal goals. Our hope is that by participating in community benefit projects and receiving educational support and career development assistance, members of the program will begin to see themselves as positive community role models in Brownsville. Members receive cash incentives for their participation as well as: 

* GED and college assistance

* Internship placement

* Professional development training

* Participation in community benefit projects

* Paid stipends of up to $1400 over six months!



All who meet the eligibility requirements should fill out an application attached or stop by our offices at 444 Thomas S. Boyland Street (between Pitkin and East New York Avenues) for more information. Completed applications can be emailed or dropped off at our office.

Eligibility Criteria: 

*16-24 years old (as of April 1, 2013)

*Justice system involvement within the last 12 months

*Strong preference for Brownsville residents

Questions? Call (347) 404-9587

Brownsville Anti-Violence Project Community Stakeholder Luncheon this Friday!

This Friday, March 8th at 2:30 the Brownsville Community Justice Center will convene a luncheon of community leaders and stakeholders as a part of it's newest initiative, the Brownsville Anti-Violence Project (BAVP). The Anti-Violence Project takes a three-pronged approach to improving public safety and local perceptions of justice in Brownsville: 1) monthly offender "call-in" forums, 2) a public education campaign promoting non-violence and cooperation with law enforcement, and 3) a range of community benefit projects. Violent crime is too often a part of Brownsville's narrative and reality. Anyone reading the statistics would agree that violent crime is an issue that cannot be ignored. The Center for Court Innovation's 2010 community-wide survey found that more than 70% of Brownsville residents and merchants cite gangs and guns as a "major problem" in the neighborhood. Because of this, the BAVP campaign will engage stakeholders from every sector of the community, from the churches and mosques, to business owners and youth leaders, to tenant associations and recreation managers, to police and public officials. Friday will be the first step toward building partnerships with this shared mission and building our collective capacity to make Brownsville a safer community for everyone. 

If you have any questions about this event or would like to learn more about the Brownsville Anti-Violence Project, please email BAVPevents@gmail.com or call 347-404-9589.