Youth are the future of our City, and it is essential that they have a place to learn, play, explore, and build positive social relationships through public health and STEAM-related career readiness programs. Concrete Safaris’ office and shared spaces at the NYC Department of Health’s East Harlem Health Action Center provides a nurturing environment where young individuals can gain valuable skills, discover new opportunities, and become empowered to lead successful lives. The NYC Department of Health recently told Concrete Safaris that we would be evicted from the Action Center on September 30, 2026 due to the youth in its programming being “too much of a risk”. Losing this space threatens not only the individual futures of our young participants but also the vibrancy and growth of our outdoorsy community, and would effectively shut down Concrete Safaris’ ability to provide programming.

For 10 of its 19 years, Concrete Safaris has used the Action Center as a cornerstone in fostering youth engagement and development, offering programs that enhance educational prospects, career readiness, and social connections among our young participants. It is a space where dreams are cultivated, and futures are molded. By renewing our License, we ensure that hundreds of young people each year will continue to have access to crucial resources that support their personal and professional growth. The NYC Department of Health intends to take these opportunities away.

Given the limited access to and representation in specialized high schools that Black and Brown youth have in New York City as a whole, as well as in East Harlem and surrounding neighborhoods, Concrete Safaris is often their first exposure to public health and STEAM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts & Math) related fields, experiential education, and careers. Youth in PlacemakingCorps at Concrete Safaris finish their terms with leadership skills above the national average. This statistic underscores the undeniable impact of our programs on young lives. Even still, across all youth programs here, over 90% of youth complete their internship or service terms, and $400,000 go directly into their pockets, homes, and/or universities in the forms of living allowances, stipends, federal education awards, and college scholarships. By extending our License, we can sustain this positive trajectory, preventing disruptions that could have long-term negative effects on our youth.

We urge the NYC Department of Health to recognize the critical importance of Concrete Safaris at the East Harlem Health Action Center by extending our current license for the next two years. This extension will allow us to continue providing our much-needed services without interruption to meet the evolving needs of youth.

Your support is pivotal in making this a reality! Sign the petition to help secure a brighter future for the youth of East Harlem and beyond. Together, we can make a difference!