La Carpa.
Most Saturdays, someone sets up a support tent outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. No appointment, no form. Just a place to sit before and after visiting someone you love who is detained.
We don’t push back with slogans. We push back by showing up — every Saturday.
– 12 PM
– 7:00 PM
The exact meeting point is shared directly with confirmed volunteers, for everyone’s safety. Sign up to get today’s location →
A morning, in three parts.
Ask what to expect. Sit down. You don’t have to do this part alone — whether it’s someone’s first visit or their fiftieth.
Kids, elders, whoever can’t go in — for as long as the visit takes. Nobody waits alone in a parking lot.
A referral into the clinic, a ride, or just someone to walk out with. Whatever the morning actually called for.
A round table. Not a waiting room.
While a family is inside with their loved one, volunteers sit down with anyone who’s there to learn — people thinking about visiting for the first time, or just wanting to understand what this actually involves.
Drinks and food are kept going for everyone, all morning. Nobody leaves the carpa hungry or empty-handed.
We stay in the lawful lane, every time.
The carpa observes, accompanies, and connects. It does not obstruct, hide, or transport anyone, and it does not give legal advice. Anything that needs a lawyer goes to the clinic. That protects the people we serve, and it protects the network. See the Protocols →
Every Tuesday, 6–7 PM, we stand outside the MDC again.
This isn’t the Saturday support tent, and it doesn’t try to be. For one hour every Tuesday, we simply stand outside the Metropolitan Detention Center.
No appointment, no program, no speeches. Quiet, consistent presence — so that whoever is inside, and whoever is watching, knows someone is there every single week.
La Carpa runs on a regular Saturday rhythm.
Led together with Anna Suegre, a close collaborator in this work since it began. New volunteers are paired with someone who’s done it before. Nobody is sent in without a first shadow shift.
Dignity Toolkit is a founding member of the MDC Brooklyn Community Support Coalition.
This Saturday, someone will need the carpa. Come once. See what it is.
You don’t have to decide anything else. Just show up and see what a Saturday morning looks like.