Risk & Business Magazine Hardenbergh Insurance Group Magazine Winter 2018 | Page 8

URBANPROMISE
UrbanPromise:
Equipping Youth For The Future
U
rbanPromise was conceived in
East Camden, New Jersey, in
a small church basement by a
group of college missionaries
aiming to create a summer
camp for neighborhood children. The area
needed a safe, loving, fun, and creative
place for the local youths to get away from
the city streets. Their mission statement
speaks to their founding principles: to
equip Camden’s children and young adults
with the skills necessary for academic
achievement, life management, spiritual
growth, and Christian Leadership. commitment to the community involves
local teens—known as StreetLeaders—who
assist in tutoring, mentoring, and coaching
the younger children in the community.
In this way, not only do the younger
generations benefit, but the teens also learn
valuable leadership skills. This approach
was directly inspired by the Evangelical
Association for the Promotion of Education
and its founder, Dr. Tony Campolo. Dr.
Campolo promotes the idea of Christians
seeking justice for the poor and liberation
for the oppressed, a message which rings
true in the work that UrbanPromise does.
The approach that UrbanPromise takes
to fulfill their mission is unique. Their Locally, the community responded
enthusiastically. Not only did young
THEY ARE
CURRENTLY THE
LARGEST PRIVATE
EMPLOYER OF
TEENS IN THE CITY
OF CAMDEN, WITH
CLOSE TO 100
YOUNG ADULTS
ON PAYROLL
EACH YEAR. THEIR
SUCCESS SPEAKS
FOR ITSELF, WITH
100 PERCENT OF
HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS
GRADUATING AND
93 PERCENT GOING
ON TO COLLEGE.
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people attend in droves, but they also
demonstrated a genuine hunger to engage
in activities that challenged and expanded
their spiritual, academic, and social
growth. From there, UrbanPromise has
expanded and diversified the programs
that they offer to include two schools,
after-school programs, and job training.
Other activities include boat building,
faith development opportunities, college
tours, and expeditionary and experiential
learning. The core of the organization,
however, has always been and will always
be about relationships and the message
that every child and teen is wonderfully
created in the image of God.
Starting out as a nearly all-volunteer staff
operating with a budget of just $12,000,
UrbanPromise has since grown to a staff
of 55 full-time employees and a budget
of $3.6 million. They are currently the
largest private employer of teens in the
city of Camden, with close to 100 young
adults on payroll each year. Their success
speaks for itself, with 100 percent of high
school students graduating and 93 percent
going on to college. Of the UrbanPromise
alumni, 85 percent have graduated from
an institution of higher education. Not
only that, but many return to pay the work
forward to the next generation, returning
to help UrbanPromise continue their work
into the future.
The program has gone on to inspire
replications across not only the country
but the world, with UrbanPromise sites
now present in Wilmington, Delaware;
Trenton, New Jersey; Miami, Florida;
Charlotte, North Carolina; Toronto,
Ontario; Copan, Honduras; and several
areas of Malawi. To learn more about
Urban Promise Ministries, visit them
online at urbanpromiseusa.org or call (877)
408-7226.