2024 Harlem Community Mural

In the fall of 2023, SAFE in Harlem collaborated with Thrive Collective and Harlem 125th Street BID to create a beautiful mural that celebrates youth and their contributions to community.

Painting of the mural started during the Holiday Lights Festival, where people passing by could contribute to it just by picking up a paintbrush. The project brought together young people and community members, all working together to create something beautiful.

The mural pays homage to Malcom X's famous quote "By any means necessary" and features public figures who inspire the youth to overcome obstacles and take control of their futures.

The mural is located on Frederick Douglass Blvd, West 125th St. It's a wonderful tribute to the power of community and the importance of inspiring future generations.

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2023 Mapping Project

In the summer of 2023, SAFE in Harlem launched the Can-Confusion Mapping Initiative, focusing on local bodegas. Our youth leaders walked over 40 blocks, engaging with 70 store owners to assess alcohol placement and ensure compliance with underage sales regulations. Upon surveying store owners and observing stores, the initiative revealed a lack of separation between soft and alcoholic beverages.

In response to this, our youth leaders coined the term 'Can Confusion.' This term highlights the challenges consumers face when trying to locate soft drinks in an environment where alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are not clearly separated.

Since embarking on this remarkable initiative, our SAFE in Harlem youth leaders have been creating media pieces to raise awareness about can-confusion and simultaneously drafting a policy. Their policy advocates for store owners to be required to maintain at least 5ft of distance between soft and alcoholic beverages, aiming to address and minimize can-confusion.

Youth TED Talk Experience

Students meet with TED Talk experts to plan their upcoming youth substance use and misuse Ted Talk experience. Students learn about producing, public speaking, script writing, event planning, advertising, and more.

Community Basketball League

The SAFE and Harlem basketball league it’s an afterschool program in the spring which allows teens and our NYPD partners to learn grow bond and listen to one another in a safe fun and communicative environment anchored in the game of basketball

2017 Harlem Community Mural

SAFE in Harlem teens spent the spring with celebrated artist, Alethea Brown. Together they designed their depiction of Harlem past, present, and future. By the beginning of the summer, anyone walking past seventh Avenue and 146th St. could pick up a paintbrush to participate in the creation of the safe in Harlem Community mural. The artistic rendition was painted on front and side of a residential building, where their vision of every young person being self-actualized was cemented on the front of the building for all to see.

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Under Age Drinking Sticker Shock

There are 125 liquor licenses within one square mile in central Harlem. SAFE in Harlem teens thought that this oversaturation is a contributor to underage drinking. SAFE in Harlem teens single-handedly placed 2,500 stickers on individual bottles of alcohol in five local bodegas. The stickers read “Think, Don’t Drink” to dissuade their peers from under age alcohol consumption. Each bodega owner took a pledge not to sell to under age consumers and they received a framed certificate to hang in the store.

Drug & Alcohol PSA for Gov. Cuomo

Commissioner Arlene Gonzalez Sanchez met with SAFE and Harlem teens to hear about their experiences in the community where drugs and alcohol are concerned. Shortly there after our teens received a request asking if they would produce PSAs on behalf of the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports. Thanks to a local music producer named Mr. Ash, the teens were provided an opportunity to go into a professional studio and lay down their tracks.

K2 Spice Anti-Drug Initiative

Harlem was considered Ground Zero for K2 spice. It impacted our teens and youth who had to walk through difficult areas just to get to school. They decided that they wanted to create public service announcements in order to discourage the onset of use by their peers and to educate community members about the dangers of this illicit substance.

THC and Pregnancy Info Dissemination

After receiving a call from our local hospital that an increasing number of babies were being born with THC in their system, the SAFE in Harlem teens decided to do a door hanger dissemination campaign to inform expecting moms that smoking marijuana while pregnant can be harmful to the fetal brain development. Door hangers were placed on 16,000 individual apartment doors in 10 New York City Housing Authority developments in East west Central and the northern part of Harlem.

CADCA Conference

CADCA provides an opportunity each year for safe in Harlem teens to spend 4 days in national Harbor Maryland where they participate in national youth leadership initiative training alongside 300 other teams from all over the country. In addition to meeting with congressman and Senators to educate them about the conditions in their community they also  learn how to systematically design and create models for change after they return.

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Fight for your Future

The UFC ultimate fight for your future event was an opportunity for 100 teens from Harlem Village academies to listen and speak with Miss Universe Cat Gray UFC fighters Uriah hall and Court Mcghee. Thanks to a partnership with Senator Brian Benjamin our teens received the opportunity to hear Miss Gray speak on sexual health, Uriah Hall on his childhood as an immigrant to this country and his experience with depression due to being bullied, and Court Mcghee’s battle with opiate addiction and his road to recovery which transformed him into a UFC champion.

Community Health Fair

Every summer each New York City Housing Authority development has a family day and the SAFE in Harlem teens decided to use that opportunity to bring a healthcare fair to the community members. In partnership with Harlem Hospital, eight departments showed up to provide on site osteopathic vision mammography, vision services, and pediatrics to the residents of the Grant houses On 123rd St. in Amsterdam Avenue.

Puerto Rican Day Parade

SAFE in Harlem marched alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio in NYC’s annual Puerto Rican Day Parade.

African American Day Parade

SAFE in Harlem marched with both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Manhattan borough president, Gale Brewer in NYC’s annual African American Day Parade.