Groundwork

Mission:

Founded in 2002, Groundwork’s mission is to support young people living in high poverty urban communities as they develop their strengths, skills, talents and competencies through effective experiential learning and work programs. Groundwork is based in East New York, Brooklyn an isolated and under-resourced neighborhood where over 70% of children are born into poverty and over 30% of families live below the poverty line.

What makes Groundwork unique is the geographically focused approach we take to working with youth and their families: we identify ten to fifteen block areas with high rates of young people living in poverty (typically public housing developments or similar communities) and develop programs to serve a significant percentage of the families who reside in those areas. We believe that this approach allows us to maximize the impact of our services; by reaching many children in a small, well-defined area, Groundwork can impact the youth culture of that entire community.