WHO WE ARE

A prisoner in Sing Sing once compared his journey to that of a train. He said that he got on a train at the age of five or six. That train made a series of stops and ultimately took him to prison. Upon getting out of prison, his desire was to return to his neighborhood and stop that train in kids’ lives. He wanted to be a train-stopper. Graffiti 2 has embraced his call to service, to be “train-stoppers,” understanding it is better to build a fence at the top of the cliff than a hospital at the bottom.

Graffiti 2 has been working to “build that fence” in the Mott Haven community for twenty years. Mott Haven, a neighborhood in the South Bronx is an urban community that suffers from many ailments that plague the concrete jungles of the United States. However, the struggle of this neighborhood is only a small part of the story. There is beauty here. There is strength and resiliency. There are people who love their neighbors, love their families, and love God. No statistic can effectively tell that story; a person must simply come and see it for him or herself.

Graffiti 2 serves this community with a simple mission: revitalize, revive, and revolutionize. Believing in ministering to the holistic needs of individuals, Graffiti 2 seeks to meet the physical, mental (revitalization), emotional, social, and spiritual (revival) needs of individuals and families so that they may become servant-leaders within their families, community, and beyond (revolution).

Since its opening in 2005, Graffiti 2 has become well-known in the neighborhood as a place that strengthens children, teens, adults and families. As you explore the website and our other media channels, I invite you to find your own way to become a part of this growing tradition; I invite you to be a “train-stopper.”