The Resilience Advocacy Project works to end the intergenerational perpetuation of poverty. We advance innovative advocacy and youth empowerment strategies in order to build resilience - the ability to overcome adversity - in low-income youth and to help them move out of poverty.

Description:
RAP emphasizes using advocacy as a tool of crisis prevention, not just crisis intervention, in order to strengthen children to stay on the path to success. Strategically, this means that we integrate legal and legislative advocacy, community education, and youth leadership development in order to help young people overcome challenges at the individual, community and societal levels. Specifically, we advocate for system-level improvements in the laws, policies and agencies that impact youths’ ability to move out of poverty; We expand and strengthen communities of support by training youth as peer educators, and by providing advocacy trainings to help advocates and youth service providers leverage existing laws to help the youth in their communities; and We protect and empower low-income youth themselves, through direct legal advocacy and youth leadership workshops that train them to connect to networks of support and to navigate the systems in their lives.

History:
The Resilience Advocacy Project was founded in 2007 by Brooke J. Richie. Since that time, RAP has engaged in advocacy initiatives, and provided services to NYC's low-income youth, that have helped the change the way the law interacts with, and supports, vulnerable children.

Contact person: Brooke Richie, Executive Director, (917) 710-1010, (email)
Office fax number: (212) 643-0137

Address:

505 8th Ave., Suite 1212 New York, NY 10018 (See a map)

Directions:

Take the #1,2,3 train to 34th St./Penn Station or the A,C,E trains to 34th St. We are located on the corner of 35th and 8th Ave.   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: A/C/E at 34th St.,   Walk distance (in minutes): 0   Nearest Bus Stop: M16, M20 at 34th St., 0 minute walk