Visit to Project Reach

The Cornell University Urban Scholar’s summer seminars began on Friday, June 8th with a visit to Project Reach. Project Reach is a youth organizing program that provides counseling on an individual, group and family basis. The organization conducts related advocacy work with schools, courts, detention centers/correctional institutions, health centers, city and state agencies as well as workshops with youth in schools, hospitals, community organizations and government agencies.

The visit began with a tour of the drop-in community center located in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The student intern explained that Project Reach’s facility is used to create a safe environment for individuals in the community by providing an after school hang out spot, a library, and gender specific rooms. After the tour Don Koa, the Director of Project Reach, hosted a workshop for the CUSP students. Through team building exercises and group discussions the CUSP students discussed issues of race, class, and gender biases.