About Us
Mission
To prepare youth in East Harlem and beyond to lead healthy lives and shape their environment through outdoor education, play, exploration, and community engagement.
Vision
Youth Transforming The World Starting In Their Own Backyards
Why Concrete Safaris?
Young people do not play outdoors as often as they once did. Three barriers preventing children and youth in East Harlem from playing outside on a regular basis are fear of perceived or real violence and a lack of supervision and supplies with which to play.
Rules
Respect, Responsibility, Uniqueness, Listening, Learning, Exercising, Eating Healthfully, Positive Energy, Sharing, Safety, Fun, Friendship
Shared Values
Adventure, Bravery, Creativity, Curiosity, Discipline, Safety, Healthy Risk-Taking
Skill & Knowledge Building Cohorts
We offer Cohorts in gardening, landscaping, outdoor play, placemaking, photography, evaluation, health promotion, and nonprofit management. We go on field trips in East Harlem and beyond.
Daily participating children, ages 7 - 11, are active in all Cohorts. Weekly or single-day participating children are introduced to one or more Cohorts per program. 14-15-Year-Olds learn to specialize in a particular Cohort. 16-24-Year-Olds learn to specialize in a particular Cohort, and gain exposure to at least one additional Cohort, leading activities for children, youth, and community.
Youth learn, play, explore, and engage community outdoors in East Harlem where there are...
High-quality or skilled supervision
Adults in the home often work more than one job and may not be available to take the child outside. Older youth and adults may not have the skills to ride a bike, garden, or play sports, and therefore cannot teach their children. Older youth and adults may have a physical condition that limits their physical activity. Older youth may not be able to be seen outdoors in certain areas as a result of crew (or gang) activity and a threat to their safety, and therefore may not take the child outside. Physical education may not be offered at the child's school. Recess may not provide a child with play time. Child care staff in schools or out-of-school time programs may not be interested in the outdoors and as a result may not take children outdoors.
Outdoor play supplies
A family may not have money to purchase supplies, or space in the home to store supplies.
Safe(r) Spaces
There may be a fear of actual or perceived violence on the blocks near or around a child's home preventing caregivers from wanting to allow the child to play outdoors.
Access to outdoor play experiences in early childhood:
Increases the likelihood of the child growing up to become an active individual who cares about his or her health and environment
Can help kids to stop taking ADD medications with just 30 minutes of walking in nature, which has the same impact as a dose of a leading ADD drug
How We Serve
Theory of Change
We provide youth with outdoor experiences to build soft and hard leadership skills so that they can transform public spaces into safer spaces where they teach the community soft and hard skills and become greater assets to their community and beyond.
Here are four ways you can help:
Partners
Schools
Amber Charter School, City-As-School, City Tech, City University of New York, Columbia University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, The Lewis & Clark School, Mosaic Charter School, New York City College of Technology, Public Schools 7, 38, 50, 57, 72, 83, 96, 101, 102, 115M, 155, 182, and 198, and Trevor Day School.
Government
AmeriCorps, Community Board 11, FDNY, Manhattan Borough President's Office, NYC Department of Design & Construction, NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, NYC Department of Transportation, NYC Department of Youth & Community Development, NYC Housing Authority, NYC Human Resource Administration, NYC Parks, NYCService, NYPD, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, NYS Office of Children & Family Services, New York County Office of the District Attorney, Offices of Council Member Elsie Encarnacion, and Senator Serrano.
Foundations
City Gardens Club of NYC, Clif Family Foundation, Concord Group, First Cornerstone Foundation, Joy of Giving Something, Solon E. Summerfield Foundation, The Morrison & Foerster Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, The Scripps Family Fund for Education & The Arts.
Community-Based Organizations
The Association to Benefit Children, Boys' Club, Children's Aid Society, Community Association of Progressive Dominicans, El Barrio's Operation Fightback, Harlem RBI, Harvard Business School Club of New York, New York Cares, PASE, SCAN-Harbor, StreetSquash, Union Settlement Association.
Corporations
Abacus Federal Savings Bank, Ares Management, Bartlett Tree Experts, Con Edison, Davis Brody Bond, J.P. Morgan, London Stock Exchange Group, Morrison & Foerster, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Seward & Kissel, The Bluestone Organization, and West Monroe Partners.
