At the Red Hook Initiative (RHI) we believe in young people. Our staff approach youth work with a positive perspective and undying hope. We believe that if young people feel a sense of belonging, have access to services, learn new skills, are given a chance to develop as leaders, and are provided unconditional support that they will demonstrate self efficacy, have the courage to take healthy risks, and have a positive sense of self and future. These characteristics are what will make young people resilient in the face of life's challenges so that they may continue on a path to leading a self-determined and fulfilling life.
Our Mission
The Red Hook Initiative works to confront and affect the consequences of intergenerational poverty through an approach that offers support in education, employment, health and community development. We believe that social change comes from within individuals. The momentum to improve the quality of life for Red Hook's residents - as well as the community at large - must come from the people living in the community. Currently over 95% of our employees live in the Red Hook Houses. We are creating a unique model for social change.
Our History
The Red Hook Health Initiative began in 2002 as a project of a local hospital in an effort to reduce the growing health disparities that exist in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The Red Hook Houses are home to nearly 10,000 people; it is a community that has struggled with intergenerational poverty, unemployment, and low levels of high school completion. These challenges made it clear that in order to create change, a non-traditional approach was needed that could work at the deepest level, starting from the root of the community. In 2006 the Red Hook Initiative formed as a community-based non-profit in order to address this wide-range of community needs. In February 2010, RHI moved into a brand new community center in the heart of the Red Hook Houses. The new space was an empty warehouse that RHI designed and renovated throughout 2009; $10,000 of the funds were raised from residents of the Houses.
Peer Health Educators
Meet RHI
Our Work
RHI provides residents with training and employment so in turn, they can create their own programs and provide support services to their neighbors, family, and friends. Not only does this practice provide livable wage jobs in a community known for a lack of employment opportunities, it also keeps all of our financial resources within the neighborhood. RHI focuses on serving youth, ages 9-24. Our secondary focus is on families and parents living in Red Hook. RHI provides 30 programs and services each month. In 2008 and 2009 we served 2,500 people and paid over $450,000 back into the community through staff salaries.
