A Year in Review: APY-2/Diversion

2016 was a busy year marked by the opening of the young adult court which increased the number of young people able to resolve their cases through social services at the Brownsville Community Justice Center. The increase allowed our team to grow to five team members: Liz Farías, Felicia Henry, Curtis Huggins, Ashley Johnson, and our social work intern, Sherell Whitmire.

Youth court: This year youth court saw its largest number of inductees in recent years. More than 15 young people are now serving on Brownsville’s Youth Court and their service to the community was not limited to learning the ins and outs of the judicial system. They also represented Brownsville in NYPD’s recently launched #mybrooklynstory campaign to rewrite the narratives of our communities as well as helping to redecorate the youth room at PSA-2. 

The Alternative to incarceration (ATI) program spearheaded by our Restorative Justice Social Worker Felicia Henry saw an increase in cases through the Supreme Court. The increase allowed for increased programming for young people with felony cases able to resolve their cases through social services.

Men's programming: under the leadership of Curtis Huggins the justice center has created its first gender specific rites of passage program focused on leadership and male identity. These young men will continue to work through January and complete their passage with an MLK event.

Project Reset: the youth justice team continues to partner with the district attorney's office and the NYPD to provide early diversion to 16- and 17-year-olds upon first arrest to resolve their cases through social services and not have to set foot inside a courtroom.

Community benefits: led by Ashley Johnson and Sherrell Whitmire. Our community benefits interns spent their Fall knee-deep in various service projects to aid the community of Brownsville. In between learning about leadership and community organizing some of their biggest accomplishments this year include a huge Halloween event on Belmont Avenue and the creation of holiday care packages for loved ones of the justice center who are currently incarcerated.

Pumpkin painting at the Halloween event

Snack Table set up by staff and participants

  

Brownsville Community Justice Center: Spreading a Little Holiday Warmth and Cheer!

     On Saturday, December 17^th, members of Justice Community and Justice Community Plusheld “A Holiday on Belmont Ave” event.  Created, planned, and executed by our youth, A Holiday on Belmont Ave was the end result of our current cohort’s participation.

(Our staff member Dwayne with our Justice Community Plus participant prepping the kiosk for the event)

     Serving as our current cohort’s large community benefit projects, participants expressed a strong desire to give back while also creating a space where the community can gather together and share some cheer going in to the holiday season.

(BCJC participant sorting out the merchandise; making sure everything is picture perfect!)

     In collaboration with the Foundation Showroom, brand new winter gear items were distributed to the community members.  Some of the brands included were Alpha Industries, New Era, Akoo Clothing, 10 Deep, and Quiksilver.

Throughout the event, community members were able to view and select several items which included coats/jackets, hats, and scarfs. 

(Community members lining up in anticipation for the start of the event)

(The bags are packed and ready for sendoff!)

(Community members receiving swag bags from the event)

(Community members being assisted by event staff to select the flyest gear for the holidays!)

(Participants receiving some new winter gear for the holidays!)

Additionally, community members partook in delicious holiday treats from Brownsville’s own 3 Black Cats Café and Cakery!

(Participants serving delicious holiday treats to community members!)

As the event closed, over 300 community members and guests were served with various winter items for the holidays!

(After a great day of giving back, participants, volunteers, and staff take a group picture!)

Brownsville Girls Collaborative Retreat

On Saturday October 22, 2016  the Brownsville Girls Collaborative attended their retreat at YMCA Camp Greenkill in Huguenot NY.   The young ladies were able to bond with each other through team building activities including candle making, board games, girl talk and arts and crafts. At the end of the retreat the girls were inducted as caterpillars and official members of the Brownsville Girls Collaborative. Check out some of the  highlights below!

We've finally arrived!

Who's hungry? YMCA staff member Charlie gives the girls a brief overview of the cafeteria.

Indoor team building activity!

The young ladies learn how to make candles!

Hey what's so funny? BCJC staff members Emi and Jasmine enjoying themselves.

What's a retreat without smores?!

The girls take the pre-induction quiz. 

We also celebrated a birthday on the retreat. Happy birthday Taniya!

Emi facilitating an arts and crafts project with the girls.

Picture Perfect! Introducing the 2016-2017 Brownsville Girls Collaborative-STRONG BEAUTIFUL SISTERS.

The retreat was a success and the girls look forward to the next 7 months of the collaborative. Immediately following the retreat the young ladies brainstormed names for their cohort and came up with -Strong Beautiful Sisters (S.B.S) . We are excited to watch this journey of sisterhood unfold. For more information regarding Brownsville Girls Collaborative please contact Alanah 347-404-9587.

Progress Playbook: Teaching Entrepreneurship to Brownsville's Youth

Introduced by Lloyd Cambridge, a Brownsville native, in July of 2015, Progress Playbook is an entrepreneurship workshop that is geared towards customizing business start-up techniques specifically for targeted audience.

Why Progress Playbook was created:

Mr. Cambridge, growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, always wanted to start his own business but felt as though he did not have the support, resources, confidence, or education to able to achieve such a goal.  He noticed the reasons behind his feelings as a child after working at an organization called NYC business solutions, which is an organization that offers business education to those who wish to start their own businesses. There he noticed that there were gaps in the marketplace as far as who, and how people were being educated for business. He observed that business classes were very uniform and did not meet the needs of all aspiring entrepreneurs. He decided to be an agent of change and that’s how Progress Playbook came along. Progress playbook provides a customized learning experience based on demographic, industry, location, and many other determining factors. Every approach is unique to the circumstances, thereby making Progress Playbook a one of a kind business education curriculum

Progress playbook is dedicated to servicing the community; working closely with non-profit and government agencies like BCJC.

What did young people enrolled learn in the Progress Playbook workshops?

The Progress Playbook course taught at BCJC was call “Start an Empire”. The goal was that participants would practice being an entrepreneur in real life, and for this to be mixed with business education. Essentially, the course would be a hands-on business crash course. Participants were broken into small groups of two so that they were able to brainstorm and create their businesses together. The classroom curriculum was broken into 5 parts.

Part 1. CORE: The first two weeks of this course was centered around created a business mindset and developing the psychology of being a business owner. Questions we asked were: What kind of mindset does a business owner have? They are prepared, resilient, and determined among many other things.

Part 2. PRODUCT: In this two-week session of the course, participants were asked to develop products or serviced that matched consumer demand. Some interesting ideas that participants developed were mattress cleaning, apparel companies, and a beauty salon.

Part 3. MARKETING: In this section of the curriculum, participants were taught how to gain exposure and market their product. How do we gain exposure for our products? Social media networking, face to face networking, events, commercial advertisements.

Part 4. FUNDING: Participants were educated on how they can get access to funding, whether that be from crowd funders, micro lenders, loans, investors, or from personal funds. They were provided with interactive worksheets to map out how to finance their own businesses.

Part 5. OPERATIONS & PROTECTIONS: Participants learned how to manage their businesses on a day to day basis and how to protect their businesses with legal insurance.

In summary, participants were able to get involved in hands on experience, and professional entrepreneurship classes that will enable them to get their own businesses started. Some participants have even started taking the steps necessary to start planning the launch of their own businesses. We are confident that we will see them showcasing their product to the public very soon! 

BLP where YOUTH succeeds with optimism and unity!

The Brownsville Leadership Project hosted an action packed spirit week to kick off Fall 2016 programming. Spirit week consisted of an open house on Monday 9/26, game night on 9/27 and movie night on 9/28. Brownsville residents enjoyed refreshments and fun while learning about Brownsville Community Justice Center's mission and program opportunities. Eligible participants were able to sign up for our music, visual arts, and community benefits internships. The main goal of spirit week was to promote a sense of community across the entire Brownsville neighborhood. Check out some of the highlights below!

Spirit Week flyer created by the talented Nick Pilarski

Felicia Henry enrolling a participant in the Brownsville Youth Court. 

Archie and Marquis planning out visuals for Sounds of Brownsville during open house.

Liz and Jocelyn play Mancala during Game Night at Howard Houses.

U-N-O!

Diamond Davis showing us the latest snapchat filter!

Ashley Johnson and youth participants play 2K

Movie Night at Howard

Thank  you to everyone who made spirit week a success. Special thanks to Irijah Stennett , Jason Higgins, and Erica Mateo for allowing us to utilize space for the different events. Big shout out to Felicia Henry and Tiara McLaughlin for coordinating BLP's spirit week.

Girls just want to have FUN!

The Brownsville Girls Collaborative is an intensive leadership development program for youth girls ages 15-18 & 19-24. The program focuses on holistic empowerment of the mind, body & soul. Through this program, youth girls have access to paid internships, mentorship, academic support and leadership development opportunities. In September, BCJC decided to host a week long mobile Girls on the Go series in an effort to engage more young ladies in programming. Girls on the Go  presented a mini snapshot of sisterhood circles in Van Dyke, Tilden, Marcus Garvey and Howard community centers.  Check out some of the highlights below!

Jasmine Bowie giving overview of Girls on the Go's mission .

Young ladies at Howard discussing what makes them magical. 

BCJC participant explaining why sisterhood is so important.

At the end of the week we hosted an orientation for young ladies who previously applied for BGC as well as those who were interested in applying. The orientation was packed with young ladies from various parts of the neighborhood who were both eager and nervous to begin this new journey. During orientation we discussed rites of passage, sisterhood and the mission/expectations of Brownsville Girls Collaborative. The young ladies also able met with the teaching artists from the dj and digital media internships.

Young ladies filling out applications for BGC 2016-2017 cohort.

Girls on the go was a successful week and we look forward to the retreat on October 22nd! BCJC would like to thank everyone who made Girls on the Go a success and a special thank you to Ms. Angela Johnson (Van Dyke), Althea Hickson (Tilden), Erica Mateo (Marcus Garvey Clubhouse), Irijah Stennett and Jason Higgins (Howard Houses). For more information on Brownsville Girls Collaborative please reach out to Alanah at 347-404-9587or tmclaughli@nycourts.gov