NYCRUNS Brooklyn Marathon & Half Marathon

Red Hook Initiative is a community-based organization annually serving over 6,500 youth and residents of Brooklyn's largest public housing community, offering meaningful programs that confront historic racial inequities and systemic disinvestment. Since 2002, Red Hook Initiative has worked with residents of the NYCHA Red Hook Houses, and other low-income Red Hook residents to carry out resident-led solutions to neighborhood problems. We believe that social change begins with empowered youth. In partnership with community adults, we nurture young people to be inspired, resilient, and healthy, and to envision themselves as co-creators of their lives, community and society. We envision a Red Hook, Brooklyn where all young people can pursue their dreams and grow into independent adults who contribute to their families and community.

Youth development, community building and an innovative local hiring practice that has paid over $1M annually in salaries to residents of Red Hook for the past 5 years, are at the core of RHI’s approach to strengthening Red Hook’s future. This 3-pronged interconnected model is transforming lives and improving generational outcomes for residents of Red Hook.

When New York City became the global epicenter of COVID-19, RHI sprang to action on the front lines of the public health crisis by providing weekly distribution of fresh produce to hundreds of families, keeping residents connected through RHI's free, public wifi network, supporting 450 youth through the transition to remote schooling, and increasing mental health care and advocacy to best meet community needs.

In this next year, RHI will reach 6,500 Red Hook residents through community-focused activities; employ 140 individuals, 85% of whom live in or are from Red Hook; reinvest over $1M in the community through salaries to Red Hook residents; engage over 450 young people, ages 12 – 24; and grow over 20,000 pounds of organic produce on Red Hook Farms.