Advancing Youth Growth Through Community-Based Learning Activities Advancing Youth Growth Through Community-Based Learning Activities

Advancing Youth Growth Through 

Community-Based Learning Activities

Our local community-based learning activities support youth leadership development and center meaningful community-based juvenile justice programs designed to address root challenges and build future opportunities.

 Supporting families Through (Bronx-Based)

Local Community Engagement

Justice For Families’ Bronx-based community-based learning activities are grounded in the lived experiences of youth and families affected by systemic inequities. Our programming offers tools for healing, connection, and advancement through direct engagement. We create space where youth can grow into leaders, families can reclaim power, and communities can collaborate to reimagine safety and justice.

Contact us to learn how these initiatives support your neighborhood.

Focused Youth Leadership Development

Focused Youth Leadership Development

Through real-world experiences and civic involvement, we build young people’s capacity to lead, make decisions, and shape programs that reflect their needs and strengths.  We also provide positive, peer-led activities for youth during the summer and other out of school times.

Centering Justice-Impacted Youth

Centering Justice-Impacted Youth & emerging adults

Our activities engage young people with lived experience in the foster care and/or justice systems, offering them pathways for recovery, opportunity, and community leadership.

Building Resilience Through Hands-On Learning

Building Resilience Through Hands-On Learning

Through creative  community-based activities, we support healing and learning through work, relationships, and skill development.

Connecting Families and Neighborhoods

Connecting Families and Neighborhoods

We strengthen bonds between generations through inclusive, culturally grounded community-based learning activities that foster understanding and shared growth.

Local Drop-In Programming &

 Community Services

Family Leadership Institute

Community Peer Navigation

Get support navigating challenging family situations by connecting with others with similar life experiences:

  • Guidance Managing Family Relationships
  • Linkages to Needed Resources
  • School Advocacy and Support
  • Help Navigating Court Processes

Free Access to Books, Computers & the Internet

The J4F Library is a place for peace and reflection that includes shelves filled with culturally relevant books for neighbors of all ages; opportunities to play games, watch movies; access academic tutoring; conduct internet-based research; and participate in virtual meetings.

Community Dinners & Take-Out Meals

At least once each week, J4F staff and volunteers support our neighbors through community outreach and distributing hearty, delicious take out meals. Plates are available to everyone on a first come-first serve basis.

Sit down dinners are hosted at least one time each month, also; usually in recognition of a special celebration or holiday.

Support for Older Youth Transitions to Adulthood

Services for J4F youth include:

  • Internship Opportunities
  • Life Skills Workshops (Individual and Group) 
  • Help returning home from foster care, incarceration, or out-of-home placement
  • Individualized Wrap Around Supports
  • Linkages to Community Resources
Peer Navigator Institute

Underground Miracles

All are welcome to this weekly group that focuses on the 12 Steps of Narcotics Anonymous.

Meetings: Mondays from 7 to 8:30 pm

Intergenerational Women’s Group

Connecting women of all ages with support physical, emotional and financial health and wellness. Creating safe spaces to build relationships and a positive peer network while sharing personal strengths, talents and cultural traditions.

Meetings: Last Tuesday of each Month at 4 pm

Bridges to the Land

Building cultural connections to the nurture by helping community members, literally and figuratively get grounded, plant seeds, cultivate, nurture and grow through all 4 seasons:

  • Hands-on Community Gardening
  • Promoting Healthy Eating
  • Visits to Upstate Farms
  • Healing Retreats
  • Overnight Camping

Meetings: Weekends between April & October

Girls Group

Connecting middle and high school girls; creating positive peer group activities focused on building life and leadership skills and helping to develop goals and plans for the future. 

Meetings: Fridays at 5 pm

Healthy Cooking Classes

Learn to prepare healthy recipes from professional chefs at your own home with loved ones (via Zoom) or at J4F. All necessary groceries are provided to participating families at no cost. 

Classes are offered periodically throughout the year, typically in 4-session series.

Cultural Celebrations & 

Holiday Events

J4F appreciates and values the diversity and strengths of our neighbors; and honors heritage and traditions throughout the year through food, music, arts and crafts.

Community members are always invited to celebrate with us: Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving,            3 Kings/Epiphany Day, Kwanzaa, Juneteenth, and other special activities in recognition of the contributions of women and people of color.

Workshops and other group sessions also offered periodically include:

  • Community Listening Sessions
  • Parenting Workshops
  • Advocacy Days
  • Yoga & Mindfulness
  • Financial Literacy
  • Movie Nights, Open Mic & Talent Shows
  • Crochet
  • Youth and Family Field Trips

In addition to our core programs, Justice For Families also provides the following:

Bridges to the Land

Bridges to the Land (B2L) offers opportunities for NYC residents to explore urban community gardening, upstate farming, camping and connection to cultural roots.   The immersive program provides participants with safe spaces to get "grounded": process trauma, build life skills, and reconnect with nature. Participants actively prepare, plant, cultivate and maintain green spaces while also participating in restorative workshops that support emotional healing. 

B2L is often the first experience for many in visiting upstate, rural communities; and serves as a powerful catalyst for reimagining future possibilities and self-worth.

  • Overnight workshops and healing retreats focused on trauma-responsive restoration
  • Participation in Community Work Days on BIPOC Farms
  • Job readiness and social-emotional skill development
  • Direct engagement in farmers markets and food systems
  • Nature-based healing and reflection in a new environment
  • Supportive cohort model with continuous Justice For Families staff guidance
  • Opportunities for paid internships in farming, soil management, and animal care
  • Connection-building for long-term mentoring, resilience and employability

Through B2L, we support cohorts of system-impacted families through seasonal  immersion experiences. This program allows participants of all ages to  disconnect from high-stress urban environments and reconnect with nature, food, and cultural identity through farming and hands-on learning.  B2L activities are facilitated between April and October, each year.


tutoring & Educational support

School-age youth (elementary, middle and high school) participate in afterschool activities designed to build academic and social skills, improve literacy, and assist with completion of homework assignments.  Parents are supported through educational advocacy activities, as well.

  •  Sessions: Held Tuesdays-Thursdays from         4–6PM at 2090 Honeywell Avenue in The Bronx.
Safe Space for personal healing, family visiting, computer and internet access, 
for personal healing,  family visiting, 



Wellness Activities

intergenerational                                        Women's Group &  Healing Programs

Uplifting Women and Girls of Color Through Community, Culture, and Collective Healing

Justice For Families’ Women’s Group is a monthly gathering that honors the resilience, leadership, and cultural legacy of Black and Brown women. In a media and cultural landscape that often distorts or erases their stories, this space provides neighborhood women with a chance to reflect, heal, and be seen. Held on the last Tuesday of each month from 6 to 8 PM, the group offers peer support rooted in shared experience and cultural affirmation. Together, participants explore art, history, and traditions while confronting and rejecting racist and sexist narratives. At our most recent Epiphany Day Celebration (January 2025), we “flipped the script” by celebrating three neighborhood queens—emphasizing that leadership, past and present, is shaped by women who reflect the community. This initiative encourages youth and adults alike to see themselves as part of a powerful lineage of change-makers.

  • Monthly Gatherings: Held on the last Tuesday of every month from 6–8 PM at 2090 Honeywell Avenue in The Bronx.
  • Cultural Celebration: Reclaims narratives of strength and heritage in Black and Brown communities.
  • Peer Support: Offers emotional connection, shared learning, and intergenerational exchange.
  • Educational Focus: Encourages historical and cultural education to inspire local leadership.
  • Community Recognition: Special events  spotlight and honor neighborhood women as role models.


Underground Miracles (NA) 

Each Monday evening, from 7 to 8:30 pm, J4F hosts this local fellowship of men and women in recovery, who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. There are no fees or dues, no pledges to sign, no promises to make to anyone.  Anyone may join regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion.

Wellness Activities 

Throughout the calendar year, J4F works with community partners to facilitate group activities desined to promote physical, social and emotional health and well-being for community members of all ages.  Yoga, cooking, drumming, painting, crocheting, aromatherapy, holistic healing, and community field trips have all been part of our annual offerrings to Bronx neighbors (and many are available virtually to our national network participants, as well).   


Justice For Families supports those who have  been affected by the criminal justice system, with particular emphasis on women and girls. Recognizing the unique challenges they face, we offer an alternative to the punitive and deficit-focused approaches that dominate traditional systems. we are committed to providing a culturally-grounded, gender-responsive environment for healing, reflection, and connection. Whether navigating their own system involvement or that of loved ones, women and girls find a safe, affirming community where they can heal, express themselves, and reconnect with their power and purpose.


  • Culturally-Rooted Approach: Grounded in lived experiences and community traditions.
  • Single-Generation Sessions: Focused on healing trauma and reentry support through safe, peer-based dialogue.
  • Intergenerational Groups: Builds trust and connection across mothers, daughters, and extended family.
  • Creative and Wellness Activities: Includes art, yoga, and cooking as tools for expression and recovery.
  • Gender-Sensitive Environment: Designed specifically for the needs and voices of justice-impacted women and girls.
  • Community Reconnection: Encourages relationship repair and community participation through shared events.

Our Impact

  • Trained and engaged 500+ families through the Family Leadership Institute
  • Published the Families Unlocking Futures report, influencing national policy
  • Developed family engagement standards now used in federal grant programs
  • Provided training to over 7,000 juvenile justice stakeholders nationwide
  • Built the Family Leadership Network with over 3,500 active members
  • Supported 480+ Bronx families with vital resources during COVID-19

Justice For Families is a national nonprofit organization that equips families and  communities impacted by systemic injustice—including the criminal legal system, child welfare, and foster care—with the tools and resources needed to drive meaningful change.  We provide comprehensive advocacy and policy education, training and technical  assistance supporting  individuals as they navigate and challenge systemic barriers while building collective power to transform systems  (and communities) across the country.