This is what change looks like up close.
Six programs. One mission. Communities across the Bronx equipped to heal, grow, and lead.
How we Work
Everything we do is grounded in relationship. We work in circles, not hierarchies. We sit alongside community members, faith leaders, educators, and healthcare providers to build the skills that make lasting change possible. Our approach combines restorative practices, conflict resolution, capacity-building, and community organizing into programs that meet people where they are.
Our Programs
Creating Healthy Culture
Whole-person healing for individuals, families, and communities — addressing the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of health together.
Learn more ↓WEPA
A substance misuse prevention coalition serving youth ages 10–21 and families in the Northwest Bronx.
Visit wepa-bronx.org →The Beloved Community Experience
A faith-based movement equipping lay leaders across congregations to organize, facilitate, and grow peacemaking programs in their communities.
Learn more ↓Safe Conversations
Talk without criticism. Listen without judgment. Connect across difference. An evidence-based program that builds lasting belonging.
Learn more ↓Herb & Spice Your Life
An intergenerational gardening and wellness workshop for youth and families — exploring how plants heal, nourish, and connect us to each other and the earth.
Learn more ↓Teaching Peace Series
Conversations with peace-movement leaders from around the world, in partnership with the Brooklyn Peace Center and the NYC Council of Mennonite Churches.
Learn more ↓CREATING HEALTHY CULTURE
A program of The Groundswell Group and The Network for Human Understanding.
True healing is whole-person healing. The Creating Healthy Culture program guides participants through a journey that addresses every dimension of who we are — physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. We believe the body, mind, heart, and spirit are inseparably connected, and that lasting wellness depends on tending to all of them. Through workshops and community sessions, participants and their families develop the tools to navigate their healing journey with intention and support.
WEPA — We Engage in Prevention Awareness
WEPA is a substance misuse prevention coalition rooted in the Northwest Bronx, serving youth between the ages of 10 and 21 and the families who support them. Through education, community engagement, and environmental strategies, including public awareness campaigns and coalition building, WEPA works to increase awareness of substance misuse and prevent addiction before it starts.
WEPA's "Legal Does Not Mean Safe" campaign has reached thousands of young people and families across the Bronx through billboard placements, bus shelter advertising, and community outreach.
WEPA is a program of The Groundswell Group with its own dedicated coalition and website. Learn more at wepa.bronx.org.
THE BELOVED COMMUNITY
A program of The Groundswell Group and The Network for Human Understanding.
Inspired by Dr. King's vision of a Beloved Community, this program builds a national faith-based movement — one congregation at a time. We train and equip lay leaders to organize, facilitate, and grow peacemaking programs within their own communities, believing that transformation in an era of despair begins with people who refuse to give up on each other.
HERB & SPICE YOUR LIFE
This intergenerational gardening and wellness program brings youth and families together around something simple and powerful — plants. Participants explore how herbs and spices heal, nourish, and connect us to our environment, share knowledge across generations, and take home cuttings to grow and share with others. Every workshop ends with a community table of herbed and spiced dishes — because building healthy culture should be delicious.
SAFE CONVERSATIONS
Relationships are hard. Safe Conversations® makes them easier. This evidence-based program teaches a structured process of turn-taking and listening that creates genuine safety in relationships — at home, at work, and in community. Participants learn to speak without criticism, listen without judgment, and connect across difference in ways that build lasting belonging.
TEACHING PEACE SERIES
In partnership with the Brooklyn Peace Center and the NYC Council of Mennonite Churches, the Teaching Peace Series brings robust, inspiring conversations with peace-movement leaders from around the world directly to our community. These episodes are free, accessible, and built for anyone who believes that peace is more than an ideal — it's a practice.
Listen to the Teaching Peace series.
TEACHING PEACE - PODCAST EPISODES
Groundswell's Executive Director, Rev. Addie Banks, on faith, climate, and community.
In partnership with Religions for Peace USA's OurVoices campaign, Rev. Banks speaks to the moral imperative of climate justice from the perspective of an African American Christian leader — and what it means for the communities we serve.
Religions for Peace USA co-launched the OurVoices campaign on September 17th, 2014. Over 150 faith and climate leaders gathered to voice the moral imperative behind Climate Change.
Rev. Addie Banks on WEPA’s Mission to Prevent Substance Misuse
Rev. Addie Banks, Executive Director of WEPA (We Engage in Prevention Awareness), discusses the coalition’s work to prevent substance misuse and promote healthier communities through youth education, family support, and positive parenting.
She highlights the importance of early prevention, equipping parents and caregivers with practical tools, and creating safe spaces for young people to make informed choices.
Learn more about WEPA and its prevention programs at wepa.bronx.org.
A conversation with WEPA’s Executive Director about substance misuse prevention, youth education, and family support.
Our Partners & Sponsors
Who We Work With
Groundswell's work is strengthened by a network of institutional partners, community organizations, and funders who share our commitment to building just, peaceful, and healthy cultures across the Bronx and beyond. We are grateful for every relationship that makes this work possible.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
New York University (NYU)
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Lehman College
Bronx Care Hospital and Healthcare Centers
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS)
COMMUNITY & FAITH PARTNERS
Calvary United Methodist Church
Community Board 5
King of Glory Tabernacle
Kingsbridge Development Association
Mekong NYC
National Guard
Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
NYPD (New York Police Department) 44th and 46th Precints
Our Lady of Angels RC
Project Charisma
The Children's Aid Society
The Community Resilience Network
The Davidson Community Center
The Network for Human Understanding
Triple P America — Positive Parenting Program
WEPA Coalition