Center for Justice Innovation

What if the key to solving the housing crisis lives right next door? ⬇️

In Syracuse and across the country, the housing crisis is damaging the health, safety, and cohesiveness of our communities. In the midst of these challenges, outreach teams with the Community Ambassadors program are supporting their neighbors in a unique way.

Over the past five years, Syracuse’s Community Ambassadors—many of whom are community members themselves—have worked to keep more than 1,100 of their neighbors safely housed. They do that by using their connections to serve as a bridge between tenants, landlords, homeowners, and city agencies amid widespread breakdowns in communication.

Interested? Learn more about how the innovative model works at the link in our bio. 🔗

Five boroughs, one future, and THIRTY years of innovation! ✨

At an event celebrating our 30th anniversary, teams from across the Center for Justice Innovation shared what community safety looks like through FIVE interactive experiences.

⭐ Virtual Reality Adventure Therapy delivers an immersive, guided way for young people to process their experiences and thoughts in a different way to overcome obstacles.

⭐Architectural models—created in partnership with .architecture—showed one tangible way we work with residents across NYC to visualize the changes they want to make in their neighborhoods.

⭐A historical collection of artifacts showcased thirty years of learning, building, and sharing our Community Justice approach. Inspired by the venue !

⭐Displays of fashion, art, and music from Brooklyn and the Bronx! These programs give young people the opportunity for creativity and self-determination–the foundation of a healthy, prosperous future.

⭐The Bronx HOPE van prevents overdoses by bringing services directly to those in need, like snacks, water, and to-go “crisis bags” with hygiene supplies, fentanyl testing strips, and naloxone–a medication that can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. 

Learn more and make a donation to support our work at innovatingjustice.org.

Five boroughs, one future, and THIRTY years of innovation!

Community justice takes many hands, and many years of sustained, committed work. Last night, we brought together a collection of innovators who make this work possible to recognize thirty years of the Center for Justice Innovation at the Center for Brooklyn History ().

From our origins in Midtown Manhattan as the first community court, to our newest initiatives like a mobile harm reduction van in the Bronx, guests were guided through decades of justice innovation and joined us to envision what’s next. Spoiler alert: it’s more ways of sowing the seeds of community justice - stay tuned for more next week! ⚖️

We were honored to be joined by Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson, who was recognized for being a community justice champion.

Here’s to thirty more years of building safety and justice for everyone!

Thank you to our sponsors and supporters:
• Presenting: Susan Hagedorn, RN, PhD
• Visionary: Gregory and Jill Steinberg, Hecker Fink, Latham & Watkins (), Open Impact Real Estate ().
• Innovators: Adam Durrett, Capital One (), Cigna (), Cravath, Swaine, and Moore LLP (), GFP Real Estate (), HUB International (), Quent Capital, Times Square Alliance ()

Caring for the community with some spring cleaning in the Bronx. 🌱🧹

Our team stepped out in the sun with , , and to provide harm reduction materials to our neighbors and help clean the streets of trash.

Here’s to taking pride in our streets and showing up for each other and our streets!

📚Announcing our May pick for the 2026 Inside Literary Prize Read Along… ⬇️📚

As we step into spring, we’re reading All Fours by Miranda July (). Our friends over at are also in full swing for the Inside Literary Prize tour, where hundreds of judges in twelve prisons across the country are starting to deliberate on who should win the Prize.

All Fours, a novel that follows a middle-aged artist who sets out on a cross-country road trip but abruptly stops, rerouting her journey into an unexpected interior reckoning, was chosen by our selection committee because, as one of the members said, they “identified very deeply with the passing of time… as an older female that’s incarcerated, time is passing me by.”

Swipe through ⬆️ to dive into All Fours and the Inside Literary Prize process, with a selection of insights and prompts Inside judges themselves are using to deliberate on the book and its themes.

Follow along to stay up to date with our monthly Inside Literary Prize Read Along, and stay tuned for tour updates and June’s pick: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (.kavehakbar).

Even a minor encounter with the justice system can do lasting harm. What if art could change that? 🎨

A unique partnership between Project Reset, which we run in collaboration with .nyc, and helps people avoid court and a criminal record through restorative arts workshops. It’s a creative solution that draws on the power of art and community to break the cycle of harm.

Check out our conversation with Shamilia Tocruray, ’s Director of Education, on the intersection of arts and justice. Link in bio 🔗