Meet The Brave House!
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What We Do
The Brave House supports young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth, ages 16-24, in New York City, with a focus on those who are survivors of gender-based violence. We welcome youth who identify as female as well as those who are gender-non-conforming, transgender, or non-binary. We provide free legal support, community space, and holistic services, including art class, meditation workshops, English lessons, self-defense class, dance, career advising, college visits, mentorship and much more. |
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Innovation
As the first and only non-profit in NYC to work specifically with young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth, the Brave House is able to provide tailored services designed for this population. This focus helps facilitate a cohesive community, specialized legal strategies, and impactful events. We distinguish ourselves from other non-profits because the youth we work with co-create, lead, and design our programs. We believe that the impacted population should be at the forefront of decision-making. In addition to our Board of Directors and Advisory, consisting primarily of immigrants, people of color, and LGBTQIA individuals, we have a Youth Leadership Board consisting of current Brave House members. This board helps us to listen to the voices of our members and implement their ideas into our strategic planning. |
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Our History
Launched in 2018, the Brave House was born out of our founder's work as an immigration attorney at another non-profit in New York, where she gained a unique perspective regarding the complex challenges that immigrant children face and the gaps in access to crucial services such as help with school, health insurance, mental health services, housing, and finding community. |
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Our Services.
Our focus on young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth ages 16-24 allows us to provide tailored, trauma-informed services, facilitate a cohesive community of young people with shared experiences, and hone specialized legal strategies. Having a narrowly focused target population helps ensure that our events and programs are inclusive, accessible, and impactful.
Legal Advocacy.Our legal advocacy model includes:
Learn more about our Legal Advocacy in our 2021 Impact Report. |
Mentorship.We started the Mentorship Program in 2020 to help our members explore career paths, build confidence, and have the support of a long-term positive role model. Mentors and Mentees connect at least once a month after mentors complete a robust onboarding process which includes an interview, background check, and a required, in-house Trauma-Informed Care training led by a Licensed Social Worker.
Learn more about our Mentorship Program here |
New and Expecting Moms.We support our new and expecting young moms with community events, resources, and donations. To date, we’ve hosted three community baby showers, provided goods, amazon wish lists and cash assistance to new moms, and connected expecting moms with community support and government assistance programs. Our new mobile app has an entire section dedicated to Pregnancy and Motherhood, with transitional housing, low-cost resources, free grocery delivery for moms, free clinics, and community.
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Holistic Support.We have a full-time fellow who leads our holistic support, engaging in in-depth “case rounds” with current members and leading our onboarding of new members. These comprehensive case rounds happen once per quarter and assess the social, emotional, educational, and legal needs of members. Members participate in goal-setting with our case manager and make a plan to be tracked quarterly during their case round.
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English School.Our English school utilizes a peer teacher model, where an older Brave House member or volunteer who is fluent in English leads cohorts of English Learning pods. They all receive an Inglés Para Latinos coursebook and meet virtually once a week as a way of not only learning English but also fostering community.
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App.In January 2021, we built and launched a mobile App that gives our members access to curated resources and direct connection to our growing community. Features include a personalized event calendar, a feedback function, peer-to-peer and group messaging, and access to a vetted, immigrant-friendly resource database, such as Insurance-Free Health Clinics, and Career Resources for Undocumented Workers. The App also includes a private “My Case,” section with important legal information specific to each member with the goal of increasing legal literacy and each member’s agency over their own case.
Learn more about our App here. |
Employment Access. |
Community. |
Youth Leadership Board. |
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We believe in assisting each and every member with their career goals regardless of immigration status. At the Brave House everyone deserves to explore the goals and dreams that they have determined for themselves.
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We host 3-4 community events per month, to foster community, listening to the feedback from our members. Our events include workshops on art, nutrition, meditation and financial literacy as well as fun get-togethers suck as art, baby showers, ice-skating, rock climbing, meditation, astrology workshops, and bowling. Community events are led by volunteer facilitators and/or members themselves. We also connect members with fun events happening throughout the city, from Afrofuturism Art Exhibits, to Bird Walks, to Movie Nights in Brooklyn.
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Our Youth Leadership Board consists of 8 Brave House members who meet monthly with our Executive Director to provide feedback about services, provide input on programming, and plan the future of the organization. Youth Leaders, all immigrant women of color, were selected for a year-long term based on demonstrated initiative, maturity, and a commitment to leadership. Our Youth Leaders all receive a stipend to honor them for their time and energy.
Meet our 2021 Youth Leadership Board cohort here. |
Health Insurance.We connect members, specifically undocumented members, to different types of health insurance. Through our App, members can access low- and no-cost therapy referrals, no-insurance clinics, Medicaid enrollment support, and more. Our Youth Advocate also conducts monthly check-ins to assist members with all individual healthcare and insurance needs.
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Covid-19 Rapid Response.In response to the Covid-19 global pandemic, the Brave House mobilized to provide our members with hot meals, care packages, emergency funding, connection to local health care services, and a supportive community. In April 2020, we hired a Covid Relief Coordinator to focus on our response efforts. Since then, we’ve distributed over $30,000 in cash assistance to our members through partnerships with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Hispanic Federation.
Read more about our Covid-19 response here. Mental Health.We support the mental health of our members by connecting them with free or low-cost therapists in the community and hosting our own in-house mindfulness sessions for members focused on self-love, self-care, and observation of our emotions. We hold spaces for sharing, reflections, and vulnerable conversations. Our mobile app has a dedicated section providing crisis hotline numbers, meditation apps, and therapy options. Our team receives quarterly professional training on topics from trauma-informed care to suicide awareness.
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Art.We understand that art is a tool for healing. We integrate art and creativity into our programming, from our weekly virtual art class on Instagram Live led by our volunteers Sam and Candi, to our mural on the Lower East Side, to our in-person Art in the Park summer series of events. Making art offers a chance to pause, let creativity flow, and give the mental break and self-care that everyone deserves.
Watch all of our Creative Break episodes here. |
Meet Our Team.
Team
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Advisors
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Be Brave
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Country Map.
Below is a map with all of the members' countries of origin!
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement.
The Brave House is committed to co-creating spaces where youth from all backgrounds can connect, heal, and grow together. Our community celebrates young people from all over the world, and we welcome youth who identify as female and gender-expansive. We believe that members should be at the forefront of decision-making and determining what programs we offer, how we approach issues that affect their communities, and how the organization is led. We strive to foster belonging for the community we serve and are active in our effort to seek and center diverse perspectives within our team.
