Food & Basic Needs
Neighbors Together
Brooklyn
Soup kitchen and community advocacy center: free to-go lunch Mon-Fri 12-2 and dinner 4-6 on select days, plus housing, benefits, job training and healthcare support.
Housing & Shelter in Brooklyn
Housing help after release ranges from emergency shelter and transitional residences to long-term supportive housing with on-site services. Many programs here are built for people on parole or probation, and supportive housing usually requires an HRA 2010e application, which a case manager or program staff member can submit for you.
Tip: if you're on parole, get any new address approved by your parole officer before you move, and keep a copy of your release paperwork, since many housing programs ask for proof of recent incarceration.
Brooklyn is large, so check the address and travel time before you go, and ask whether the program takes walk-ins.
19 services based in Brooklyn, plus 56 citywide
Based in Brooklyn
Substance Use Recovery
After Hours Project
Brooklyn
Community-based harm reduction: syringe services, hygiene kits, counseling for people who use drugs, housing for people with HIV/AIDS, case management, medical transportation.
Family & Reunification
Osborne Association
Bronx · Brooklyn
Reentry hotline, workforce services, housing support, elder reentry, court advocacy, sealing consultations, video visiting and family programs.
Housing & Shelter
CAMBA - The Gathering Place
Brooklyn
Drop-in center for single adults with three meals a day, shower and laundry facilities, clothing, mail and phone services.
Housing & Shelter
Housing Works
Brooklyn
Housing, healthcare, job training and legal help for homeless and low-income New Yorkers affected by HIV/AIDS; Emergency and Transitional Housing program gives 12 months of housing for people recently released.
Housing & Shelter
Providence House
Brooklyn
Transitional residences, apartments and permanent supportive housing for women recently paroled from prison and their children, with support services.
Housing & Shelter
Black Veterans for Social Justice (BVSJ)
Brooklyn
Provides comprehensive services to veterans and their families throughout NYC, including housing assistance, employment support, benefits advocacy, and counseling. Its Incarcerated Veterans Transitional Program (IVTP) offers pre-release planning, case management, employment assistance, and coordination with the VA and community partners for housing, healthcare, and reintegration support.
Employment & Job Training
Black Veterans for Social Justice (BVSJ) - Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP)
Brooklyn
Helps veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness secure stable employment and housing through job readiness training, employment placement, case management, and connections to supportive resources.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Center for Community Alternatives (CCA)
Brooklyn
Statewide network for people affected by mass incarceration: substance treatment and recovery communities, sentence mitigation, court advocacy, workforce readiness, civic restoration, emergency/transitional housing, youth mentoring.
Mental Health & Counseling
Baltic Street Wellness Solutions
Brooklyn
Job skills training, work-readiness and job retention help, housing placement, benefits advocacy, support groups and educational referrals for adults with lived mental health experience.
Healthcare
Haitian-American Community Coalition (HCC)
Brooklyn
Serves low-income and houseless New Yorkers, primarily of Caribbean descent, with health and fitness programs, adult literacy, housing placement assistance, HIV/AIDS testing and prevention education (including PrEP/PEP), and mental health counseling at its Be Well Center.
Benefits & Financial Help
Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID)
Brooklyn
Advocacy, benefits counseling and peer support for people with disabilities in Brooklyn.
Housing & Shelter
Brooklyn Public Library - Justice Initiatives Welcome Home
Brooklyn
Reentry Navigators offer one-on-one appointments to set goals, guidance on housing, health and reconnecting with family, monthly peer dinners, and links to library services.
Housing & Shelter
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens
Brooklyn · Queens
Food pantries, housing, mental health and senior services; serves all faiths.
Housing & Shelter
Elite Learners - Reentry Services
Brooklyn
Offers support services to youth where mentees receive one-toone case management, general issue advocacy training, as well as wrap-around family support.
Housing & Shelter
Emma's Torch
Brooklyn
An 11-week paid apprenticeship program in culinary training for refugees, asylees, or survivors of human trafficking ages 18 and over, who are authorized to work in the US. Offered throughout the program are weekly English classes focused on culinary vocabulary and interview preparation, job-readiness workshops,...
Housing & Shelter
Envision Freedom Fund
Brooklyn
Pays immigration bond to free people from ICE detention who are unable to afford it, and provides post-release support for those they bond out, including food, mental health, medical, and housing support. Never charges money, fees, or asks to be paid back for services provided.
Employment & Job Training
RiseBoro Community Partnership
Brooklyn
Bushwick-based multi-service agency with workforce, housing, senior and youth programs.
Citywide services
These serve people from every borough, often by phone, online or at more than one office.
Housing & Shelter
Unlock NYC
Citywide
Online tools and peer support for people facing housing discrimination because they use rental vouchers (CityFHEPS, Section 8, FHEPS, HASA); helps document and report discrimination and connects to agencies.
Housing & Shelter
Housing Court Answers
Citywide
Information for tenants, landlords and advocates: housing court procedures, landlord-tenant rules, code violations, referrals to free legal help and back-rent assistance.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Legal Services NYC
Citywide
Free civil legal services in housing, benefits and immigration, plus representation for conviction-history employment discrimination.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Mobilization for Justice
Citywide
Provides free legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers on housing, civil rights, disability rights, aging rights, bankruptcy, tax, consumer, employment, government benefits, and kinship care matters, including advice, counsel, and representation to help people with past criminal records re-enter the workforce.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Community Justice Connect
Citywide
Free legal information, assistance and referrals from trained non-lawyer volunteers supervised by an attorney: benefits, employment, housing, family, immigration, health, divorce, domestic violence.
Healthcare
Housing Works Community Healthcare - Reentry Program
Citywide
Connects soon-to-be-released and formerly incarcerated individuals to medical, mental health, and case management services, including substance use programs, plus vocational training, help obtaining entitlements, and referrals to long-term housing placement.
Healthcare
NYC HRA HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA)
Citywide
Confidential information on HIV/AIDS testing and service referrals; HASA supports benefits and housing for eligible people with HIV.
Mental Health & Counseling
Venture House
Citywide
Clubhouse-model mental health rehabilitation: job development and coaching, supported education, supportive housing, virtual programs and social events.
Housing & Shelter
NYC Housing Connect (Affordable Housing Lotteries)
Citywide
Information and applications for NYC affordable housing lotteries, in multiple languages.
Housing & Shelter
NYC HRA HomeBase
Citywide
Eviction prevention, emergency rental assistance, benefits help, financial counseling and relocation help.
Housing & Shelter
NYCHA Family Reentry Program
Citywide
Reunites select people leaving prison or jail with family living in qualified NYCHA apartments and provides reentry services and intensive case management.
Housing & Shelter
JustFix.nyc
Citywide
Free online tools for tenants: repair complaint letters sent by certified mail, building/landlord lookup (Who Owns What), Good Cause eviction screener and eviction help.