Our Work
Supporting Communities
We work together with Bronx residents and local leaders to reduce legal system involvement and help create the conditions for communities to thrive.
Client Emergency Fund
Meeting urgent needs, together
Approximately one-third of Bronx residents live in poverty and cannot meet their basic needs. Based on direct requests from individuals, the Client Emergency Fund provides small monetary stipends in an effort to address these unmet needs. Over the last year, we provided $100k in emergency funds for immediate needs, such as food, rent, and transportation, as well as many of which are closely related to people’s cases. When needs are met, people obtain long-term stability and restore their sense of dignity. When needs are met, people obtain long-term stability and restore their sense of dignity.
Accessing Public Benefits
Opening doors to stability and hope
Almost one third of the Community Intake team and Benefits advisors offer in-person meetings and hotline services with attorneys and non-attorney advocates to assess people’s needs and provide meaningful referrals and support.
This proactive advocacy team has reached thousands of Bronx residents and, alongside the Early Defense team, helps identify and address legal issues before they become legal cases.
The BLOC
Powerful partnerships for a better Bronx
The Bronx Leadership & Organizing Center (BLOC) is a coalition of over forty Bronx-based organizations, anchored by The Bronx Defenders, East Side House Settlement, and New Settlement, that seeks a future in which community members are inspired, educated, and elevated to take action to change their community.
The BLOC is part of a larger effort funded by philanthropy to spur the development of new solutions to sustainably lift families out of poverty and to promote dynamic leaders who will change the national conversation around social and economic mobility.
Cannibis Hub
Restoring opportunity after the War on Drugs
In partnership with our pro bono network, the Bronx Cannabis Hub provides clinical legal support for systems impacted people interested in joining the legal cannabis economy and serves as a clearinghouse for the resources and connections people will need to succeed.
The Hub launched to help communities who had been disproportionately policed build generational wealth in the wake of the War on Drugs. The Hub screened over 600 people for the State’s first batch of social equity licenses and helped thirty submit applications to the program.
Twenty-five of our cohort have received conditional licenses and 10 have already opened licensed dispensaries.