Project Impact: A Public Community College Campus–Based Support and Reentry Program for Justice-Impacted Students in New York City.

This article focuses on Project Impact (PI), a campus-based reentry program at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) within the City University of New York (CUNY) system, designed to support justice-impacted students—defined broadly as those formerly incarcerated, with family affected by the criminal legal system, or otherwise significantly impacted by it. PI offers peer mentoring, a high school equivalency program, and college credit–bearing courses for currently incarcerated students through partnerships with John Jay College’s Prison-to-College Pipeline. The program addresses the complex challenges faced by justice-impacted students, including technological barriers, stigma, housing and food insecurity, and trauma, providing holistic support and fostering a sense of community. Evaluation data from students, peer mentors, staff, and partners demonstrate PI’s positive impact as a rare, comprehensive reentry initiative within a New York City community college, though its sustainability depends on institutional funding beyond current grant reliance.