Our Story

New Community Outreach (NCO) was established in 2017, born out of the ministry of New Community Covenant Church-Bronzeville, with a commitment to restorative justice, which drives the work of our organization. Our commitment to restorative justice was reinforced by our participation in the Greater Bronzeville Community Action Plan’s (GBCAP) assessment, initiated by Bright Star Community Outreach. The assessment of current neighborhood organizations identified a gap in organizations providing trauma informed care and violence prevention, especially in the provision of youth programming and direct violence prevention services. NCO’s programs, centered around student programming and community engagement, are designed to provide safe, healing spaces to mitigate the impact of the trauma caused by and break the cycle of community violence. Additionally, our work is location specific, focused on the greater Bronzeville community. 

New Community Outreach believes that restorative justice is a lifestyle, with foundational behaviors and mindsets, rooted in the humanity of each person. We bring its beliefs and values into the active work we do with youth and the community of Bronzeville. We refer to a definition from Amplify RJ to ground our understanding of restorative justice: 

“Restorative Justice is a philosophy and set of practices, rooted in Indigenous teachings, that emphasize our interconnection by repairing relationships when harm occurs while proactively building and maintaining relationships to prevent future harm.”