Bronx Church Mentoring Outreach
The Project
BronxConnect is a faith-based, community-based alternative-to incarceration youth program focused around mentoring services. The mission of
BronxConnect is to connect Bronx court-involved youth, ages 12-18, with positive resources found in the local Bronx community, through mentoring relationships that prevent recidivism and address youth-initiated goals in the areas of education and employment.
BronxConnect matches young people in mentoring relationships with adults from Bronx local churches, who spend one-on-one time with youth.
BronxConnect also provides comprehensive case management services addressing educational, employment, and other goals. Since beginning to partner with the Bronx courts in 2000,
BronxConnect has achieved an 83 percent success rate in preventing youth from re-offending.
YouthBronxConnect works with Bronx youth ages 12 - 18 who are involved in some manner with the Bronx juvenile or criminal justice system. Youth are referred by agencies in the justice system and can participate in
BronxConnect as an alternative to incarceration.
BronxConnect also works with youth recently released from Rikers Island and upstate facilities.
MentorsBronxConnect recruits mentors from churches throughout the Bronx. Mentors go through a rigorous training and screening process that includes a written application, background check, references, and a personal interview. Churches of all denominations and ethnic make-ups provide mentors to the
BronxConnect Project including:
Church Alive, Church of the Revelation, Crossroads Tabernacle, Crossway Christian Center, Fordham Manor Reformed Church, Grace & Peace Church, Greater Revival Time House of Prayer, Harvest Fields Community Church, Holy Cross Church, Iglesia Thessalonica, Jennings Street CMA Church, Joy Fellowship, Love Gospel Assembly, Luz y La Vida, Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, New Covenant Dominion Cathedral, Pelham Bay Assembly of God, The Sanctuary at the Latino Pastoral Action Center, St. John Chrysostom, St. Martin of Tours, Van Nest Assembly of God, Victory Baptist Church and Walker Memorial Baptist Church. Youth Referral PartnersBronxConnect provides youth with a multitude of services, including GED, job placement, and mental health services, via partnerships with other Bronx agencies.
BronxConnect recently formed a partnership with the South Bronx Job Corps Center, which allows youth with open cases (previously ineligible) to enter Job Corps with the ongoing support of a mentor.
BronxConnect accepts youth referrals from the Bronx District Attorney's Office, the Bronx Supreme Court, the Bronx Criminal Court, the Bronx Family Court, the Department of Probation, the Bronx Legal Aid Society, and the Bronx Defender's Office.
Organizational BackgroundBronxConnect is a program of
Urban Youth Alliance, an organization that has worked with inner-city youth since 1970, and is best known for overseeing the
Seekers Christian Fellowships.
BronxConnect is also part of a
Public/Private Ventures national initiative demonstrating the impact of faith-based work with high-risk youth.
For more information, contact Pat Riley, Program Director at (718) 402-6872 or
pat_bc@uyai.org.
