Avenues for Justice's Annual Summer Trip Upstate is BACK!

For over 30 years, leading up to the pandemic, Avenues for Justice (AFJ) hosted an annual trip to Bear Mountain State Park, 50 miles north of NYC. This trip served to bring the entire AFJ community together and provide Participants with an experience outside of the city, which can be hard to come by for some of our youth. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we were unable to host this annual event during the summers of 2020-22; on Thursday August 17th, we proudly brought it back!

This past Thursday over 50 Participants, alumni, friends and families joined AFJ staff to head upstate for fun and adventure! Due to damages to Bear Mountain State Park from recent storms, we relocated 2023’s trip to Rockland Lake State Park. Even though Rockland Lake is only 30 miles from NYC, it felt like a different world to many of our Participants. One Participant commented as soon as she got off the bus that, “it smells different here, the air is different here.”

Many of our Participants do not have the opportunities or the resources to venture out of the city and connect with nature. For over 30 years, this summer trip has served that purpose. Additionally, this trip served a critical function of bonding our organization together from the ground up. AFJ Staff gets the opportunity to meet more Participants from both community centers, Participants young and older, from uptown, downtown, Brooklyn or the Bronx all come together to jump in the pool, barbeque and feel a deep sense of community. The annual summer trip upstate also has historically extended its arms out to local Lower East Side community members, friends, and AFJ alumni alike. Many people who joined us at Rockland Lake last week felt a deep sense of community that we all have missed since the pandemic and expressed that they felt like AFJ was officially BACK!

The biggest attraction at the park for our Participants was the large swimming pool where Staff members estimate that over 80% of the group swam. Director of Court Advocacy & Outreach, Gamal Willis commented that he was pleasantly surprised by the number of youths who jumped in the pool. “A lot of our youth do not have access to pools and swimming opportunities,” he elaborated.

“The participants I spoke to were happy to get out of the city and stated it was the first fun thing they did all summer. Also, how it was relaxing and good for their mental health to just get away for a day enjoying nature.” Tiffany Quelix, AFJ Harlem Court Advocate

One lesson that we learned through changing venues to Rockland Lake was that the magic that happened at Bear Mountain all of those years wasn’t because of Bear Mountain. It was because for one day a year, AFJ rallied its entire community to enjoy each other’s company out of the city. We’re so glad to have brought back this annual summer trip and look forward to continuing it next year and for years to come!

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