ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE PROJECT NEW YORK
Creating Cultures of Peace
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Violence comes in many forms--from put-downs to genocide and torture. When violence happens we all suffer--the person or being on the receiving end suffers, the person inflicting the violence suffers and those who witness the violence suffer. And now, through epigenetics, we know that our genes pass down trauma and the effects of trauma from one generation to the next, to the next.
We are a nation and a world in need of real healing. If we do not take real and significant steps to heal from trauma, it will become manifest in unhealthy ways.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Alternatives to Violence Project / New York
In 2019, AVP/NY held 168 two to three-day (16-22 hour) workshops, 9 short (6-12 hour) workshops and 9 mini workshops with 2,263 participants and 375 volunteer facilitators. Facilitators logged 25,548 volunteer hours.
156 of those workshops were held inside nineteen prisons (including one federal prison) and one county jail in New York State, with 1,871 participants completing. Four of those workshops were held in Spanish and two were bi-lingual. We trained 193 new apprentice facilitators inside the walls.
We held 19 full (16 hour minimum) workshops in community settings with 127 adults, 64 young adult or teen and 11 youth participants. We trained 32 adult and 15 teen apprentice facilitators. Five short workshops (6-12 hours) had 76 youth and nine adults complete and five mini (half-day) workshops saw 56 youth and 18 adults.
Teen and adult facilitators led one Basic and one Advanced Workshop with 20 and 24 high school students from Walton and Franklin Schools and they held three mini (one-day) workshops with 7th graders, reaching 56 youth.
Through Osborne Association, we continue to hold workshops with 16-20 year olds from the Bronx, reaching 28 participants and 15 became apprentice facilitators.
We continued to grow our program in Syracuse, holding one short workshop, one Basic Workshop, one Trauma Awareness and Resilience Workshop and one Training for Facilitators Workshop, adding ten new apprentice facilitators to the community.
Our community work also extends to Elmira, Buffalo, Rochester, Westchester, Newburgh, Ithaca and Trumansburg.
We continue to hold twice-monthly Landing Strip meetings--support groups for people returning from prison to Rochester and in 2020, we expanded to Newburgh with monthly meetings. These meetings are also a means of reaching community members who are interested in AVP.
With COVID severely limiting our ability to provide in-person workshops, we are beginning to hold workshops on-line.
Where we work
Awards
Model Program 2016
Federal Bureau of Prisons
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Alternatives to Violence Project creates brave spaces for participants and facilitators alike to seek creative ways to address the violence, and the effects of violence, in our lives.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE PROJECT NEW YORK
Board of directorsas of 8/19/2020
Valentine Doyle
Steve Bradley
FRED FEUCHT
AVP New York and Westchester Area Council
JILL McLELLAN
AVP New York and Central New York Area Council and NYYM
KATHLEEN GALE
AVP/NY and Elmira Area Council
CAROLYN POLIKARPUS
AVP/NY and Mid-Hudson Area Council
ROBERT MARTIN
AVP/NY and Mid-Hudson Area Council
Valentine Doyle
AVP/NY and AVP/CT
Jo Clayson
AVP/NY and Catskill Area Council
Albert Dickerson
AVP/NY and Genesee Valley Area Council
Bill Marx
AVP/NY and Niagara Frontier Area Council
Mary Beth Gamba
AVP/NY and Genesee Valley Area Council
Alphonso Simmons
AVP/NY and New York City Area Council
Steve Bradley
AVP/NY and Adirondack Area Council
Robert Schwab
AVP/NY and Bronx Area Council
David Fletcher
AVP/NY and NYC Area Council and NYYM
Crystal Heshmat
AVP/NY and Albany Area Council and NYYM
Coralie Joseph
AVP/NY and Westchester Area Council
John Sheridan
AVP/NY and Central NY Area Council
Alisha Kohn
AVP/NY and Mid-Hudson Area Council
Heather Kirk-Davidoff
AVP/NY and Albany Area Council
Daneryl Weber
AVP/NY and Catskill Area Council
Yvette Miller
AVP/NY and New York City and Long Island Area Council