Community partners and committees

NYJL VOLUNTEERS ARE BOUND BY A SINGLE GOAL: TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND FAMILIES IN OUR CITY.

We serve on one or more of our 30 committees, each of which is charged with improving the lives of New Yorkers in need. Our community committees are organized into five distinct councils that focus on specific community needs. Our councils are Adult Education & Mentoring, Children’s Education, Culture & the Arts, Child Health & Welfare, and City Impact.


Adult Education & Mentoring

  • NYJL community committee: Cancer Awareness and Support

    Community partner: Various

  • The Cancer Awareness and Support committee mission is to educate the under-resourced community about the importance of cancer awareness and prevention as well as provide direct support for cancer-stricken individuals and their families. The committee partners with nonprofit organizations like the American-Italian Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society Hope Lodge Jerome L. Greene Family Center, Gilda’s Club New York City, and Ronald McDonald House of New York.
  • NYJL community committee: Crisis Intervention

    Community partner: New York Presbyterian Hospital’s Domestic & Other Violence Emergencies (DOVE)

  • After extensive training, Crisis Intervention volunteers assist domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in New York City hospitals. In partnership with New York Presbyterian Hospital’s Domestic and Other Violence Emergencies (DOVE) program, volunteers to offer advocacy, emotional support, and information to survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault during their stay in the ER. After one year on call, volunteers become certified New York State Crisis Counselors.
  • NYJL community committee: New Beginnings

    Community partner: Women’s Prison Association

  • The New Beginnings committee works with the Women’s Prison Association to plan, lead, and run life skills workshops for women who have recently been released from incarceration. Workshops focus on both soft and hard skills in order to help develop confidence in the women and articulate their personal strengths. Workshops topics include goal setting and strength of character, as well as job search, financial planning, and independent living and social skills. Through this initiative, the NYJL continues our commitment to working with those with a criminal justice history.
  • NYJL community committee: Rights of Passage at Covenant House

    Community partner: The Covenant House Rights of Passage Program

  • The Rights of Passage at Covenant House committee plans, leads, and runs life skills workshops for the residents of the Rights of Passage and Crisis floors at the Covenant House. The Rights of Passage Program provides housing for young men and women, offering them a chance to make a life for themselves away from the street. It is often a last resort for young people, so the committee provides them with basic life skills workshops to help them along their path at Covenant House and beyond. Workshop topics include, but are not limited to, basic financial planning and management, renting 101, job search, setting career goals, and healthy relationships.
  • NYJL community committee: Senior Friends

    Community partner: Jewish Home Lifecare

  • The Senior Friends committee serves the senior community at Jewish Home Lifecare by forming and maintaining relationships with the residents. Working closely with hospital staff and volunteer coordinators, the committee plans and organizes engaging activities to enrich residents’ daily lives and provide a greater sense of community at the hospital. The elderly population is the largest growing demographic segment in the United States, and volunteer services are critically needed in our community to work with this aging population.
  • NYJL community committee: Steps to Success

    Community partner: Various

  • The Steps to Success committee is the NYJL’s premier job skills training and financial literacy education program for clients from low-income communities grappling with socioeconomic challenges. Steps to Success workshops focus on, but are not limited to, job search, resume and cover letter writing, interview skills, networking, workplace etiquette, budgeting, and credit card basics. NYJL volunteers research and create new content in addition to delivering relevant, tailored workshops to meet the individual goals of each community partner. The committee works with a wide range of ages and experiences at Avenues for Justice, El Centro NYC,  the English-Speaking Union, Manhattan Family Justice Center, Minds Matter, The Opportunity Network, Urban Pathways, and West End.


Children’s Education Council

  • NYJL community committee: Building Blocks

    Community partner: Single Parent Resource Center

  • In partnership with the Single Parent Resource Center, Building Blocks focuses on interactive play with parents and children (age 6 months to 4 years). The goal is to provide free classes to an underserved community who would not normally be able to afford it. NYJL volunteers attend with their own children, with the added bonus of engaging volunteers who are also new parents in this busy time of their life. This model of teaching and learning together integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience and strengthen both communities.
  • NYJL community committee: Da Vinci Explorers

    Community partner: New York Presbyterian Hospital and Win

  • In 2012, NYJL launched Da Vinci Explorers (DVE), inspired by the famous Italian Renaissance artist and scientist. DVE developed curriculum integrating art and science for children ages 5 to 12. The goal is to instill a love of learning, develop critical thinking skills, and stimulate creativity through hands-on and fun experiences. The currently offer programming through Win and New York Presbyterian Hospital.
  • NYJL community committee: Girls Opportunity Advancement & Leadership (GOAL)

    Community partner:Union Settlement Association

  • New to the NJYL for the 2016-17 volunteer year, GOAL will work with 11 to 15 year-old at-risk young women at the Union Settlement Association and provide essential and extensive life skills classes and workshops during these pre-adult years. The committee’s aim is to give these young women the opportunity to successfully achieve the opportunity to pursue a higher education and delay teen pregnancy.
  • NYJL community committee: Personal Empowerment Project

    Community partner: The Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN)

  • The Personal Empowerment Project is the NYJL’s 115th Anniversary Project. This committee will focus on career mentoring for high school girls by opening the students’ minds to different career paths. After the Fall conference, the mentees will break into smaller groups and be assigned a mentor to explore presented professions in greater depth.
  • NYJL community committee: Reading Rangers

    Community partner: The Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN)

  • Reading Rangers seeks to encourage and educate young children in the Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN) program by providing reading lessons and literacy education. Our goal is to increase the children’s reading levels through programs that offer a variety of games, books, projects, group activities and one-on-one reading time to improve reading skills, spelling skills, and overall literacy. Each evening is based on a fun theme with related activities. The Committee currently offers a one-on-one reading program, focused on supporting boys and girls ages 8-13. The program uses a positive, consistent approach, providing a fun learning environment, fostering young minds and encouraging a love of reading and letters and aiming to improve reading levels for all our young participants, giving them a head start for a life of learning.


Culture & the Arts

  • NYJL community committee: Passport to the World

    Community partners: New York State Mentoring Program and Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center

  • New to the NJYL for the 2016-17 volunteer year, Passport to the World is a mentoring committee that works with elementary school age children. The committee hosts bi-weekly workshops focused on teaching lessons and traditions from around the world through cultural, artistic and hands-on activities. Field trips and occasional cultural outings supplement the workshops.
  • NYJL community committee: Performance of A Lifetime

    Community partners: The Boys & Girls Harbor

  • NYJL volunteers work with The Boys & Girls Harbor to offer low-income children the opportunity to attend live performances at community venues. For many children in the program, this is their first introduction to the performing arts and their enthusiasm is infectious. Field trips have included, Alvin Ailey Dance performances, The Blue Man Group, and various Broadway shows.
  • NYJL community committee: Project Muse

    Community partners: P.S. 64

  • Project Muse volunteers work with third grade students at P.S. 64, a New York City elementary school, weekly to provide an interactive art education course. Acting as the art teachers for these students, goals of the program include increasing awareness of art and culture, contributing to creative and cognitive development, and enriching the overall school experience.
  • NYJL community committee: Spotlight on Performance

    Community partners: Grosvenor Neighborhood House YMCA

  • NYJL volunteers work closely with youth at the Grosvenor Neighborhood House YMCA to expose them to the performing arts. The committee enriches the lives of the children by exposing young girls and boys to the world of artistic expression and lay the groundwork for an early appreciation of the arts. The committee explores many forms of art, including drama, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, music, and photography. Past field trips have included the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, the Big Apple Circus, and a performance of The Lion King with a backstage tour.
  • NYJL community committee: Stanley Isaacs Performing Arts

    Community partners: Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center

  • For more than 40 years, the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center has provided vital services to low income residents of Yorkville and East Harlem, including youngsters, adults, senior citizens, and families. Their mission is to provide assistance to their neighbors in need and to participate in the life of their community by improving their physical, educational, cultural, and social well being. Since 2009, the NYJL has operated two programs at the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center:
  • Artistic Journeys: NYJL volunteers introduce children between the ages of 7 – 9 to a variety of creative arts and crafts projects. Children participate in these artistic activities, gaining confidence and self-esteem through the process. The committee also arranges field trips to city museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Children’s Museum, and the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
  • Beacon to Broadway: Beacon to Broadway volunteers work with older children at the Stanley Isaacs Community Center, and use drama, dance, artistic projects, and music to inspire the young boys and girls to express themselves. As part of the program, volunteers lead a performance module and concludes the year with a production put on by the students, most recently Aladdin and Annie.


Child Health & Welfare

  • NYJL community committee: Community Health Access Module Program (CHAMP)

    Community partner: Various

  • CHAMP offers community outreach and health education programs on behalf of the New York Junior League. Volunteers develop health and wellness presentations on a variety of preventative health issues and, with the help of community partners, deliver workshops to adults and children in at-risk and underserved communities. The committee has a library of more than 30 workshops and is active in the community throughout the week.
  • NYJL community committee: Cooking and Health Education for Families (CHEF)

    Community partner: Various

  • CHEF empowers families to make life-long healthy choices by teaching proper nutrition and physical activity while placing an emphasis on planning, collaboration, and fun. Workshops are held in diverse locations throughout New York City and are specifically focused on the most vulnerable residents of the city. The committee has a five week certificate program that consists of education about healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks to prepare on the go, dinner, and a healthy dessert graduation celebration. Along with the weekly cooking workshops, exercise activities are tied in as informative sessions on how to make a commitment towards living a healthy life. Several times a year the committee also hosts large programs, such as Healthy Kids Day, for families to gather around delicious and nutritious food while having a good time.
  • NYJL community committee: Girls Leadership Institute

    Community partner: Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN)

  • NYJL volunteers work with the Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network (SCAN) to empower young girls by teaching them leadership skills. SCAN is a vital center of community life, sponsoring a holistic range of programming available to the needs of East Harlem populations.
  • NYJL community committee: Healthy Beginnings

    Community partner: Covenant House

  • Healthy Beginnings conducts workshops with homeless mothers and pregnant teens at the Covenant House Mother & Child Center, which helps mothers and children who are young and homeless. Through lessons, the committee leads discussions on principles such as financial planning, job interviewing, and healthy living.
  • NYJL community committee: Lead Inspire Focus and Thrive (LIFT)

    Community partner: Leake & Watts

  • New to the NJYL for the 2016-17 volunteer year, LIFT will work with 12 to 18 year-old at-risk teens to provide them with youth development workshops and mentorship. Two hour workshops will dedicate the first hour to life skills and the second hour to one-on-one mentorship. The main purpose is to help the children/teens discover their strengths and achieve their full potential through mentorship.
  • NYJL community committee: Mentoring Partners

    Community partner: Mentoring USA

  • Mentoring Partners volunteers work with and are trained by Mentoring USA to establish individual mentoring relationships with teenage girls. In addition to building relationships, the program is designed for NYJL volunteers to be role models that help to build mentees’ self-esteem and present opportunities for overall personal growth and development.
  • NYJL community committee: New View

    Community partner: Good Shepherd Services

  • The New View committee, in partnership with Good Shepherd Services, provides workshops and mentoring to help at-risk women from 18 to 21 years of age transition from foster care to independent living. Mentors help expose teenagers in foster care to a world they may never have thought possible, and practical skills workshops include financial planning and other vital skills young women need to succeed and thrive.


City Impact

  • NYJL community committee: Community Improvement Project

    Community partner: Various

  • The goal of the NYJL Community Improvement Project is to create a partnership with the facility selected for one year in duration to assist the facility in increasing its community impact. An assessment of need will be conducted after the one year period to determine whether there is an ongoing need for further volunteer assistance from the NYJL but no additional funding beyond the initial $60,000 will be provided. For more information or to apply to be our 2018-2019 Community Improvement Project partner, click here.
  • NYJL community committee: Done In A Day

    Community partner: Various

  • The Done in a Day committee works in association with over 15 local New York City nonprofit organizations, termed “outreach partners,” to provide immediate assistance and community impact. As the committee name suggests, Done in a Day events are short-term assignments completed as a group and are normally located on-site with the community partners. Outreach partners fall under one of five outreach categories: the Arts, Children’s Services, Hunger, Environment and Health, and Senior Citizens. Each partner relies on the New York Junior League to provide skilled and reliable volunteers on key dates and times when they have large community outreach events. The NYJL Done in a Day committee has created strong relationships with its community partners that have lasted a decade a more, and DIAD is also instrumental in incubating new outreach opportunities to be spun off into independent NYJL committees.
  • NYJL community committee: Done In A Day On Demand

    Community partner: Various

  • Done in a Day On Demand was formed in 2010 to respond to community partners and community organizations’ needs for volunteers on short notice for one-time and short-term projects and programs. The committee has worked with a large variety of organizations and projects including Bottomless Closet, Change for Kids, Catholic Charities, God’s Love We Deliver, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Giving Tuesday, New York Common Pantry, Women’s Prison Association, W!se and The GO Project.
  • NYJL community committee: Playground Improvement Project

    Community partners: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

  • For 25 years, NYJL volunteers have designed, planned, funded, and completed a playground renovation each spring. The NYJL partners with New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to create safe, beautiful, well-organized and educational play spaces for children and families in the New York City community. Support the Playground Improvement Project through the Adopt-A-Bench program.
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