BNB Rescuing Youth From Poverty & Homelessness

Beats N Blessings has become a place where the most under served population (ages 17-25 years old) in Queens have been able to develop job skills while earning a part-time income. After I spoke to 30 youth in a job training program at the Child Center of NY in Jamaica Queens, five of the Young Adult Interns decided that they would like to work as interns with BNB so that they can learn multimedia skills.
I didn’t realize how crucial it was that I accepted these young adults into BNB until I learned the following things about them. One of the five interns lived in a homeless shelter while working to improve his life with BNB. Another young lady was in and out of Covenant House homeless shelter while attempting to learn graphic designing skills at BNB. And one other teen was living with his friend’s family while developing skills in video production. Only two of the five actually lived with there biological family. Three out of the five young adults successfully graduated from their BNB internship and together we celebrated their accomplishment by treating them to some delicious Jamaican cuisine at “the Door” restaurant.


After reading about what statistics show regarding the state of Black and Latino young adults ages 17-25 years old, I realized how crucial it is for Beats N Blessings to provide a place where they can build their resume while learning cutting edge multimedia job skills they can use to obtain future employment.

While working with them I noticed that it was due to the lack of family support that two of the five interns dropped out of the program. Everyday I'm reminded of how important it is for us to continue doing what we have done by providing a permanent family for four teens in Foster Care. Without the support of a family I saw first hand how it can make it almost impossible for these individuals to progress in life. And with 16,000 children in NYC foster care we also recognized the desperate need for Christian families to open their hearts and homes to children in Foster Care.

As mentioned in James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”. Over 50% of NYC homeless population comes from children who have aged out of Foster Care at 18-21 years old.

In many respects these young people are going from the cradle to the prison pipeline. We need to stop the rail to jail. We have the ability to stop this. We have the ability to be what Jesus wants us to be. What would Jesus say about us if were to watch and know that these children are being abandoned to this emerging disaster. This is an opportunity for us to take action to save our youth, save our children, save the next generation. Join BNB’s campaign to preserve the next generation. Help us, help save our children. Please seriously consider giving your time, your talent and/or your treasury.

These children have been abused, abandoned and traumatized due to the lack of a place they can call home. But thanks to New Life Community Development’s vision which is to serve the poor and the marginalized, BNB has become a New Life Opportunity for Youth.