Our Mission

Transforming justice through programs and policy

Community Works seeks to transform justice through programs and policy rooted in humanity and healing.

We honor as expertise the lived experience of survivors, incarcerated people, and their communities. Our programs are culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and rooted in Restorative Justice and the Arts.

Our services are designed to meet the needs of people at any stage of justice system involvement, and include four key areas:

Transformation Programs offer people the opportunity to address the root causes of their behavior, make amends and forge a new path. We work both with people incarcerated and with the survivors of their harm.

  • Resolve to Stop the Violence Project
  • Survivor Empowerment Program
  • One Family

Restorative Reentry Programs support transition-age youth and adults coming home after incarceration and combine restorative justice, cognitive behavioral therapy, artistic creation, and family systems work to support a successful return home.

  • San Francisco Transition Age Reentry Program
  • Alameda County Restorative Reentry Program
  • Restorative Reentry Fund (Guaranteed Income Pilot)

Youth Power programs focus on children and transition-age youth and support them in harnessing their power so they can speak truth to help break the cyclical impacts of mass incarceration and change the systems that create that cycle.

  • Project WHAT!
  • Restorative Justice Diversion

Changing Systems is how we translate the lessons learned from our direct service work. By honoring lived experience as expertise, the people in our community lend their voices to collective actions that seek a future where justice heals rather than harms.