El Puente
211 S. 4th StreetBrooklynNY11211
718-387-0404718-387-6816

Program: Leadership Center Year Started: 1982 Focus: Multidisciplinary Arts Youth Served: 500 Ages: 11-25 Budget: N/A Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in one of the poorest Latino communities in New York State, El Puente Leadership Center is a community center serving primarily young people and their families. The Center has a membership after-school and weekend program that promotes mastery through rigorous participation requirements. Young people attain permanent membership after an introductory period, during which they learn and experience El Puente's 12 principles and their life applications, audit classes and meet with their peer facilitators and adult mentors. Having made a commitment, members can pursue a wide range of artistic interests such as study in dance, drama, music, videography and visual arts, including mural painting, under the guidance of accomplished artists. El Puente staff develop individualized plans with participants that focus not only on the arts, but also on educational, vocational, personal and social issues. El Puente houses resident performing companies comprising trained young artists from the program and provides a stage for visiting local, national and international companies and artists. El Puente's model for youth and community development is being replicated through a growing national association that presently includes three New York centers, two centers in Massachusetts and a center in formation in San Diego, California. In 1983, in a partnership with the New York City Board of Education and the New York City Fund for Public Education, El Puente opened its own public high school, El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice.