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Founded in 1994, the mission of Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice is to rebuild the neighborhoods of Bronx River and Soundview/Bruckner in the South Bronx by preparing young people to become prophetic voices for peace and justice. We accomplish this through political education, spiritual formation, and youth and community development and organizing.
Our work is accomplished within the context of 6 centers:
The Center for Arts for Activism engages young people in dance, music, muraling, film, poetry and other artistic activities that focus specifically on the ways in which art may be a medium for social and political transformation.
The Center for Education for Liberation serves as a source of academic support and political education that is grounded in Paulo Freire’s philosophy of popular education. Young people have access to one-on-one tutoring and daily meetings with an academic support point person. They are assisted in developing educational goals, completing homework and special assignments and utilizing our college and reading library.
The Center for Wellness encourages a holistic approach to health by exposing young people to methods of healing that address their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Alternative forms of healing such as reiki, acupuncture, polarity therapy, meditation and yoga are explored in consultation with health practitioners. Young people are also provided with workshops in nutrition and healthy living with practical instruction on eating well and exercise.
The Center for Youth and Community Organizing trains young people to become community organizers. Over the past 13 years, they have led community campaigns for environmental justice, police reform, tenant rights, education, youth employment and immigration reform.
The Center for Community Justice offers direct support to youth members, their families and the broader community in immigration, health care access, housing, and gaining access to public benefits programs.
The Center for Community Development and Planning implements our community rebuilding initiatives particularly along our Bronx River waterfront. They are leading the process of building YMPJ’s permanent facility and are exploring strategies to prevent local resident displacement including affordable housing and small business development.
The vision for YMPJ grew out of a long-standing relationship between our founder Alexie Torres-Fleming, a life-long resident of the community, and the youth group of a neighborhood parish. In the fall of 1992 an anti-drug rally organized by the parish’s community action group resulted in an attempt of arson at the church. Young people responded by organizing a rally of 1200 residents. This pivotal community event provided the sparks for the first youth organizing movement within our community, the fruits of which was the opening of the neighborhood’s first youth center, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, in 1994.
Our vision recognizes the developmental needs of young people, but also realizes the role of young people as essential stakeholders in their communities. We work to support the development of the minds and bodies of young members, never separate from the development of their spirits and their community. We are rooted in the six principles of Catholic social teaching: preferential option for the poor, the call to family, community and participation, the rights and responsibilities of the human person, the dignity of work and the rights of workers, the dignity of the human person, and solidarity with the poor. | 
