Bay Park Family Services

Bay Park Family Services provides services to Bay Park residents, including case management, job readiness and counseling. The program offers intensive family support services to the community, including financial literacy and health and wellness programs. These services enable BCS clients and residents from the surrounding community to enhance children’s and families emotional, social and physical well-being.

Coney Island Community Service Center (with Astella Development Corporation)

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, Astella Development Corporation invited BCS to join its effort to provide relief and recovery services to devastated Coney Island households. BCS and Astella offered case management, workshops and cash and in-kind assistance to those who suffered storm damage, and in so doing, formed a lasting partnership. Together, BCS and Astella established a Coney Island Community Service Center, where we both now offer a wide range of services to meet the needs of area residents. Programs at the center include intensive family counseling services, youth development, referrals for legal guidance, relocation assistance, and individual counseling and relief.

Cornerstones

Located at four New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Community Centers across Brooklyn, BCS Cornerstones provide engaging, high-quality, year-round programs for adults and young people. This programming is driven by the needs of our local community, where programming includes STEAM project-based youth activities, workforce development, community events and community building. An advisory board of community members at each location helps obtain community input and leverage local resources.

Locations

Carey Gardens — Coney Island

Farragut — Vinegar Hill

O’Dwyer Gardens — Coney Island

Seth Low — Brownsville

COVID Disparities Initiative

The BCS COVID-19 Disparities Initiative supports East New York residents with an organized model for reducing COVID-19 disparities that includes a significant gap in available resources to marginalized or lower economic communities. In East New York, we equip residents with information on COVID-19 infection and prevention, education on vaccination, one-on-one support for residents to help with health needs, and monthly community listening sessions to identify neighborhood health priorities. BCS aims to reduce risk for COVID-19 infection, build social cohesion, and meet the wide gulf in social needs created by racial inequalities.

East New York Family Center

Families come to the BCS East New York Family Center (ENYFC) for support with marital or other familial conflicts, and to assist with their children’s social-emotional challenges or issues at school. Often, these families are coping with trauma, illness, loss, family changes or transitions, and disconnection. The ENYFC is a safe space for families to set clear goals for change while drawing from their own strengths and abilities. Through this program, social workers provide family therapy, case management support, client advocacy workshops, and group sessions with parents, children and teens. The results from this program include parents and caregivers becoming more confident and less frustrated, children who are happier and set up for success, and relationships within the household and community that add value to residents’ lives.

Fatherhood Initiative

The BCS Fatherhood Initiative is a partnership with the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development that helps non-custodial fathers reconnect with their children and develop essential parenting skills. Through this program, BCS helps to address fathers with reconciling the roles of adolescence and fatherhood, and surmounting challenges due to unemployment, homelessness, or absence due to incarceration. The Fatherhood Initiative helps fathers establish positive, healthy, and supportive relationships with their children through services like conflict resolution training, father-to-father mentoring, child support and visitation assistance, and individual and family counseling.

NeON Works

NeON Works is a community engagement effort aimed largely at young people with a previous history in the criminal justice system. Residents on probation, as well as other residents who qualify, participate in NeON works if they are unemployed, underemployed, or motivated to pursue career credentialing and other forms of workforce development. BCS offers expansive career exploration and professional development courses with the end goal of one of the following outcomes: a) enrollment in a high school equivalency (HSE) credential, b) college enrollment, c) enrollment in a college route program, d) job placement, or e) training leading to a high-quality credential proved to assist with job placement.

NYCHA COVID-19 Recovery Program

Brooklyn Community Services, partnered with the NYC Department of Health, deeply engages with the Coney Island community in equitable COVID-19 recovery through its NYCHA COVID-19 Recovery Program. This program builds and utilizes a workforce of Community Health Workers in 10 Coney Island NYCHA housing developments to increase COVID-19 vaccination, address social and health factors that increase risk of severe COVID-19 illness, and lead community wellness programs. Our combined Equity Action Plan recognizes that underinvestment and structural racism are the root causes of the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths seen in priority neighborhoods.

Prospect Plaza Community Center

The Prospect Plaza Community Center provides holistic family support services to Brownsville residents and the neighboring community. The center is home to four BCS programs: Youth Stand United, the Fatherhood Initiative, the Healthy Families Program, and the Small Business Development and Support Center. In addition to these programs, the center offers GED Prep classes, computer lab access, and social events for the community.

The BCS Education Center

Turning Point Brooklyn’s Education Center offers Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes, High School Equivalency (HSE) classes, digital up-skilling classes, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, at almost all skill levels to Sunset Park residents. Over 800 people a year come to the Center for classes, demonstrating the great need for adult literacy services in Sunset Park. All students at the Education Center also receive advocacy assistance, as well as college access support, career readiness counseling, and the opportunity to take credentialing courses in an area of their choice.

Works Plus

Works Plus is a flexible, wrap-around employment-preparedness program that serves young adults, aged 16 to 30, who who are identified as individuals with high need for crisis management services. Our clients are “met where they are,” receiving services tailored to their individual needs that increase work readiness while reducing the likelihood of engaging in violent activity. Programming provides Brooklynites with career awareness, connection to educational opportunities, assistance with employment searching, and case management tools, all while focusing on soft skill and basic life skill development. Our ultimate goal is to expose participants to the world of work and prepare them for a stable and healthy life.

Youth Stand United

BCS Youth Stand United is an educational and employment program for young people (ages 16-21) who are currently dealing with hardships. Programming partners with students to help them earn their high school equivalency diploma and to prepare them for college or a successful career. The program offers preparation for High School Equivalency Exam (TASC, formerly GED), career guidance and job training, paid internships and employment assistance, and free MetroCards for registered students.