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Family Justice La Bodega de la Familia: A little about the Family Justice program
Family Justice’s Sixth Annual Fundraiser The sixth annual Family Justice celebration/fundraiser kicked off at Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, on April 10th, from 7pm to 10pm. The event celebrated our rich partnerships with government (including police, parole, probation, and the New York City Housing Authority) and our enduring relationships with the families and the community served through our direct-service branch, La Bodega de la Familia. It is also a fundraiser, which enables Family Justice and La Bodega to continue our work of engaging and supporting families of individuals under community-based justicesupervision. 
It was then on to the dancing (to music played by DJ Avery), the party-making, the fun, and the ongoing celebration of Family Justice’s many friends, colleagues, and partners. I was very impressed by the video on Mr. Hector Gonzolez, the case worker who was profiled in the “It Takes a Family” video. I decided to interview this gentleman to gain some insight in regard to how Family Justice actually enabled him to turn his life around. Hector and I moved from the upper floor, which was blairing with music, down to the first level, where we sat on the couch at the front of the hall, amidst the very nostalgic décor that surrounded us. Then, it was “on with the interview.” I started first by asking Hector how long ago he and his parents moved to the United States from Puerto Rico. He told me he was only three years old when he moved to Brooklyn, New York with his parents, 24 years ago. I then asked him what had transpired since the time he moved. This was his story. His family moved to Brooklyn because they wanted the opportunity that America offered. However, his father, having no college education, was unable to get any work, so his mother, Olga, had to secure a job to put Hector and his brothers through high school. Hector referred to his mother as his his “inspiration” Hector’s father, have many street contacts, got started in the business of selling drugs, which he eventually began using himself. This resulted in his father sharing needles with other junkees. Eventually, Hector’s father enrolled in a rehab program entitled “Project Return”, and actually became a counselor there. I asked Hector what the most satisfying thing about him becoming a case manager was, and he replied “I like the fact that I can tell other people that come into the Family Justice program that I’ve been there myself…it is the little things that count.” For more information about this wonderful organization located on the lower east side of Manhattan, New York, log onto their website at www.familyjusticeinc.org 
Abbey H. Muneer is the Executive Director of H.A.D. Organization of New York City, Inc., a world-famous athlete, author and, above all, a humanitarian. Abbey will write articles about charity events, benefits, fundraisers and galas which are raising money for humantiarian causes. If you are interested in having Abbey and one his staff members cover one of your charity events, benefits, fundraisers or galas, feel free to notify us one week in advance, at LNEvents@hadofnyc.org, or telephone us at (718) 507-7616, between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm e.s.t. and ask to speak to Abbey or Maria. If you would like more information, or would like to have Liberty News Online Magazine consult your next charitable event, please feel free to visit our website, at http://www.hadofnyc.org/store/success.html, email us at humanitarians@hadofnyc.org, or telephone our hotline, at (718) 507-7616, between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm e.s.t. (U.S.A.) |
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Congratulations to Ms. Carol Shapiro, the Executive Director of Family Justice / La Bodega de la Familia. For the past quarter of a century Ms. Shapiro had actively contributed to the enhancement of the criminal justice system and the making of a constructive society in the way that offenders are dealt with, particularly in the areas of victim services, policies on substance abuse and better alternatives to custody. She is known nationally for her innovations in the field of criminal justice. Ms. Shapiro’s background prior to her tenure at the Vera Institute of Justice during which she founded 
La Bodega de la Familia, is also quite impressive, to say the least. She has effectively managed different correctional policies and operations for the New York City Department of Correction, the largest correctional system in all of the United States, while holding the position of Assistant Commissioner. The scope of Ms. Shapiro’s extraordinary research talents, however, is not limited to the United States, but extends internationally, as she took on the role of a consultant to Her Majesty’s Home Office in London. There, she skillfully began research, strategizing ways to improve London’s criminal justice system in the way that it dealt with women and criminal justice issues. Ms. Shapiro provides technical assistance and consulting services in the areas of policy planning and the initiation of reform on drug policy for the federal, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations and the media. Last year, Ms. Shapiro was given the distinct honor of being the named to the first class of Ashoka Fellows in the United States for being an outstanding social entrepreneur.