Established in 1984, the Urban Justice Center (UJC)'s mission is to provide a platform for dynamic advocates to fuel social change, leading the way for a just, fair, and decent society. Through this work, we strengthen families and communities in New York City and beyond. UJCs work alleviates poverty, secures income and family stability, ensures access to healthcare, ends violence, promotes safety, and builds stronger communities.

UJC serves New York City's most vulnerable low-income and marginalized populations, victims of trauma and abuse, and those facing direct threats to their safety, including survivors of intimate partner and gender-based violence, homeless LGBTQ youth, victims of human trafficking, people with mental health concerns, and people of color who are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system. More than 11,000 of the 12,000 households served annually live at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, and at least 45% of clients are immigrants.

Powered by an interdisciplinary team of lawyers, social workers, and advocates who come from diverse backgrounds and share a common commitment to finding innovative solutions, UJC works to solve the problems of people who are most vulnerable in our society. Altogether, UJC makes important, lasting changes in the lives of our clients and the systems that impact them, as well as support early-stage organizations in overcoming bureaucracy and institutional inertia, so they can focus on serving their constituencies. UJCs work seeks both to address poverty and issues that disproportionately impact marginalized groups, as well as to build the capacity of emerging organizations seeking to respond to societys most significant challenges.

UJC is an interconnected network of anti-poverty initiatives, strengthened by working in concert. Through our unique structure, our individual Projects have unparalleled freedom to pursue their work as they see fit. Each of our Projects is headed by a Director, who is responsible for the work of the Project and for the performance of their team of attorneys, advocates, social workers, and researchers. Staffed by experts in their own fields, each Project decides the direction of the Projects work, informed by feedback from their clients to assure accountability and cultural sensitivity to the communities they serve. Current Projects include: the Domestic Violence Project, Mental Health Project, Safety Net Project, Street Vendor Project, Freedom Agenda, Experience Justice, Peter Cicchino Youth Project, Sex Worker Project, and Human Rights Project, UJCs structure fosters collaboration both between Projects and across the organization, with its executive office and central staff providing oversight, guidance, operational and administrative support to each Project.