The Butterfly Effect Project
A place where youth are seen, supported, challenged, and loved. Where confidence grows, leaders rise, and every Butterfly and Dragonfly learns to dream bigger than they thought possible.
Riverhead, New York · Since 2014
Every youth who walks through our doors carries something the world hasn’t seen yet. We create the safe space, the belonging, and the belief that lets it come to life.
Our Impact
Every number is a real youth, a real family, a real transformation.
The Butterfly Effect Project is a community-rooted nonprofit founded by Tijuana Fulford. What began as a way to help youth build confident, secure futures has grown into something deeper.
We create safe spaces where youth are seen. We cultivate the confidence to lead. We strengthen the relationships that hold them. And we walk alongside them as they discover who they are while supporting their whole family, all year long.
“From this day forward, I vow to learn and live by the values set forth by The Butterfly Effect Project. I vow to build healthy relationships, practice self-care, build my confidence, and be a critical thinker. I vow to be a positive role model for others…”
I am a Butterfly.
The Foundation
Everything we do — from chapter meetings to dance teams to college tours — is built on the same four foundations.
Connection, boundaries, and a real sense of belonging.
Caring for yourself and the people around you — you can't pour from an empty cup.
Being seen, heard, and guided to shine in their fullest form.
Asking questions, weighing choices, and growing through them.
What We Do
Chapter meetings are just the beginning. We meet youth where they are and help them get where they’re going.
Biweekly evening chapters and school chapters where youth build skills and character through our curriculum, caring Ambassadors, and community givebacks, earning their BEP shirt along the way.
Explore chapters →
Passion-driven programs shaped by what our youth want to explore: dance teams, the Butterfly Monologues, the garden club, social justice advocacy, college access, and young entrepreneurship.
See the Arches →
We serve the whole child and the whole family with the Butterfly Closet for free clothing, a community freezer, back-to-school supplies, holiday support, and year-round resources.
How we help families →
The organization has not only enriched their lives, I believe that in more than a few cases, it has saved them.
Executive Director, Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
Find Your Place
However you came here, there’s a way to belong. Take the next step that’s yours.
Give your Butterfly or Dragonfly a place to belong, grow, and lead. One $25 yearly fee covers everything and school chapters are free.
Start enrollment →Join our monthly giving family at $40 with the steady support that carries a child's whole year.
Give monthly →Bring BEP's curriculum to your students. We'll build a chapter that fits your community.
Learn more →Stay in the ripple
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Birthday fundraiser
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On the calendar
Motown Night, Women Empowering Women, the Harvest Festival: every gathering carries a child forward. Browse what’s next, then join us.
