Red Hook Justice - Your Community. Your Court.

This week the office of Youth and Community Programs held their Fall   Graduation and Induction Ceremony . The current cohort of Red Hook Youth Court members were recognized for all of their work within this past year. While a few of them will continue serving on the court, others will be moving onto other programs and begin preparing for college. Twelve brand new trainees were officially inducted after successfully completing training for the past eight weeks.   There was a full house, with Justice Center staff, family members, friends and officers from the 72 nd , 76 th and PSA1 precinct who came out to show some support. Selena Rodriguez, a Youth Court alumni also came to speak to everyone about her experience as a member and offer advice to the new trainees. Special guest included Judge Calabrese and  Karen Broughton from Assemblyman Felix w. Ortiz Office. Congratulations to our members, we are looking forward to the New Year! #GOREDHOOK  Ju...

 As an addition to our long running internship fair, and community need for employment and educational services the Office of Youth and Community programs hosted our first annual College & Career Fair!  On Thursday, October 27th at the Miccio Community Center we opened our doors to young adults and community members from Red Hook and other parts of Brooklyn in hopes of providing them accessto educational resources, job readiness resources, career advancements and access to employment opportunities.            We partnered up with over 30 local colleges, youth development programs and businesses! They all came out to help spread information to the public. Some organizations and businesses included, Starbucks, Bottom Line, YearUp and U.S Army Recruiting Center. Colleges included York College, St. Francis College, Franklin Career Institute, St. Joseph's College and Borough of Man...

                                        The Red Hook Community Resilience Corps will be having a second year!                   *We are currently accepting applications for all positions* The Red Hook Community Resilience Corps is an AmeriCorps National Service Program that seeks to make Red Hook a safer, stronger and more resilient community. Corps members will be part of our unconventional programs and services throughout the Justice Center that engage local residents, promote public safety and solve local problems such as Housing Resource Center, Peacemaking, Alternatives to Incarceration, Youth and Community Programs, High School Equivalency classroom and Neighborhood Restitution Crew. In addition,...

This week the Office of Youth and Community held our 2 nd  event of our Series titled “Bridging the Gap: Youth, Community and Police” The objective of the event was to educate our youth and community members on how to rebuild and improve relationships with police, and allow them a safe space to interact with and get to know one another on a person level. With many of the unfortunate current events involving police happening this follow up event came at a great time to have these hard discussions. The room was filled with over 15 officers who came ready and eager to interact with everyone from our local precincts (72, 76 and PSA1) . Staff and Students from Summit Academy, South Brooklyn Community High School, Youth Court members, staff and participants from the Miccio Community Center, Parents, NYPD Youth Explorers, Justice Center staff, Americorps members, Peacemakers and a few of our DA’s were all in attendance. L ike our last event using a circle process, eve...

On Monday, September 19th we are bringing New York Legal Assistance Group's Mobile Legal Help Center  back to the Justice Center! The van is staffed by two civil attorneys who come prepared to offer advice and answer questions regarding a wide range of civil legal issues including immigration, government benefits, identity theft, divorce, custody, employment, housing and more! In some cases, NYLAG may be able to take on representation; however that is not guaranteed.  What is guaranteed is a 45 minute confidential consultation where a civil attorney can offer advice and answer questions. Further appointments may be scheduled at NYLAG's offices if needed. There are a limited amount of slots available, anyone can sign up online at http://nylag.org/MLHCappointments . #GOREDHOOK

The JustWorks: Summer Internship Program at the Justice Center focuses on providing young people, ages 14-18, with a valuable employment experience and exposure to various career options during the summer for five weeks. Also throughout the duration of the program the Justice Center also provides community service, cultural opportunities and field trips that the interns attend on Fridays.   Just last week the Office of Youth and Community Programs held on End of Program Ceremony for the JustWorks: Summer Internship Program. Recognizing the diligence and hard work that all of the interns have shown during these last few weeks at their sites and during the community service projects. The Summer Internship sites this year included: Community Board 7 Turning Point Animal Loving Care Law Office of Indra Pal Rapid Realty Brooklyn Defender Services New York State Assemblyman's Office: Felix Ortiz  We would like ...

We are pleased to announce that the Justice Center will once again be serving as a pop-up site for the IDNYC program from September 12th – September 23rd .  We first served as a pop-up site in January of this year; well it was such a resounding success that they want to come back to Red Hook!  IDNYC is a free government issued identification card for all New York City residents , which offers a number of benefits including free memberships to many city museums, zoos, and botanical gardens, and discounts at many businesses.  Anyone who lives in NYC and is at least 14 years old is eligible, and can apply here at the Justice Center between Sept. 12 and 23.     The enrollment center will be located in the mural room on the 1 st floor, and will be operating during our regular building hours (including Tuesday evenings). Appointments can be booked by calling 311 or going online at: www.nyc.gov/idnyc Last January, we...

Every summer the office of Youth and Community programs takes our youth program participants on an annual college trip. We like to explore different colleges  and university's including in places like New Jersey, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Last week students from our Just Works Summer Internship Program , which aims to connect teens and young adults to professional development opportunities teamed up with our Youth Court and a few of our Red Hook Community Resilience Corps members. Together they headed out with staff to Connecticut to visit and tour the University of Connecticut and the College of New Rochelle.      It was a great day, especially to get out of the city and expose our youth to different campuses, dorm life and educational opportunities out there!   We look forward to next year! #GOREDHOOK               ...

This week on August 2nd we celebrated Red Hook's 22nd Annual National Night Out Against Crime!   As always, there was delicious food, burgers and hot dogs donated from many local businesses; there were speeches from many of our elected officials including Councilmember Menchaca, Congresswoman Velazquez and Borough President Adams; there were community resources from dozens of local organizations and civic groups; there was a community mural project and peace sign installation promoting non-violence and unity; there was great music from Red Hook DJ Barkim; there was face painting, pony rides, and carnival games for the kids; there was a huge turnout throughout the entire night; and just a beautiful evening of community members, organizations and law enforcement coming together. But what makes this event get better every year is the genuine breadth and depth of the relationships and partnerships within this community, and the teamwork and collaboration and generou...

This morning the JustWorks: Summer Internship Program Participants and staff teamed up with the Parks Department to finish a project in Coffey Park. Located right across the street from the Justice Center, it is a very popular park in the neighborhood and is always full of local residents and children. One of the fences around the playground area needed a paint job due to chipped paint, therefore our project was give the gate two fresh coats of paint to help beautify the area and overall park. In just two hours they were able to finish the job, some interns described the experience as peaceful and relaxing. It is one of the many community service projects the Summer Internship Program will be completing throughout the next few weeks. We would like to thank the Parks Department for allowing us to tag along on this project, it is always a good feeling to give back! #GOREDHOOK         

Bridging the Gap: Youth, Community and Police On Tuesday July 19th, the department of Youth and Community Programs created and implemented an event titled “Bridging the Gap: Youth, Community and Police” The principal objective of the event was to educate our youth and community members on how to rebuild and improve relationships with police, and allow them a safe space to interact and get to know one another on a person level.   A few community officers from the local Police Service Area One (PSA1) precinct in Red Hook, joined us along with some of our youth program participants, Peacemakers and Justice Center staff. Some of the conversations included what it takes to become a police officer, what is life like as an officer and much more. Using a circle process, everyone had a chance to ask questions, voice their own opinion and share stories. It was a very powerful event and gave everyone a chance to break down stereo-types around officers and humanize them. Ma...

June Updates! The month of June has been a pretty busy one for the Office of Youth and Community Programs at the Red Hook Community Justice Center.   Last week the department held its Spring Recognition and Induction Ceremony. Members were highlighted for their work within the Red Hook Youth Court program, and our trainees were officially inducted after completing training.      It was a fun and motivating event! Youth Court alumni Corvenia Collins came to address the members on her accomplishments through Youth Court and offered some words of advice to the upcoming members. Special guests also included Judge Calabrese, Council Member Carlos Menchaca and representatives from Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez and the Target Corporation. The Target Corporation was honored with an Award for Community Partnership, in recognition of its support of youth courts and other community-based programs. Through this work, Target has sought to reduce crim...