Serving the Urban Poor

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Workshop Overview

• Introduction
• Mission Core Values
• Four Strategic Principles
• Video Testimony
• Discussion

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Mission Statement

• Urban Concern seeks to empower individuals and
  families to be agents of change in South Linden
  and the world.

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Mission Statement

• Urban Concern seeks to empower individuals and
  families to be agents of change in South Linden
  and the world.

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Mission Statement

• Leadership is the moral spiritual capacity to
  solve the problems that affect our community.

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So Jesus called them together and said, You know
that the rulers in this world lord it over their
people, and officials flaunt their authority over
those under them. But among you it will be
different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you
must be your servant, and whoever wants to be
first among you must be the slave of everyone
else. For even the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve others and to give his life
as a ransom for many. Mark 1042-45
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Mission Statement

• Urban Concern seeks to empower individuals and
  families to be agents of change in South Linden
  and the world.

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Core Values

• Christ We believe that God calls the church to
  deliberate, long-term, sustainable ministry to
  the poor. Our service to the community flows from
  our desire to express Gods love to all people.
  We serve our community out of gratitude for what
  God has done for us through Christ. And we
  believe that individuals and families are most
  profoundly transformed through dependence on the
  love, grace, power and truth of Christ.

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17  The scroll containing the messages of Isaiah
the prophet was handed to him, and he unrolled
the scroll to the place where it says 18The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has
appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim that captives will be
released, that the blind will see, that the
downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors,
and that the time of the Lords favor has come.
He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the
attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the
synagogue stared at him intently. Then he said,
This Scripture has come true today before your
very eyes! Luke 417-21
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Core Values

• Consider
• Why are poor urban communities in almost ever
  major city in America morally declining and
  producing more sociopaths than socially
  productive individuals?
• What is the forecast for our society, if the poor
  class continues on the path it is on?
• What is the role of the church when it comes to
  changing the plight of the poor?

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We look for justice, but it is nowhere to be
found. We look to be rescued, but it is far away
from us. For our sins are piled up before God
and testify against us. Yes, we know what sinners
we are. We know that we have rebelled against the
Lord. We have turned our backs on God. We know
how unfair and oppressive we have been, carefully
planning our deceitful lies. Our courts oppose
people who are righteous, and justice is nowhere
to be found. Truth falls dead in the streets, and
fairness has been outlawed. Yes, truth is gone,
and anyone who tries to live a godly life is soon
attacked. The Lord looked and was displeased to
find that there was no justice. He was amazed to
see that no one intervened to help the oppressed.
So he himself stepped in to save them with his
mighty power and justice. Isaiah 5911-16
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Core Values

• Service We believe that individuals who
  participate in our programs should not be merely
  passive recipients. Instead, our success should
  be measured by the extent to which those who
  participate in our programs become empowered to
  serve others.
• Gratitude We believe that a sense of entitlement
  is destructive. On the other hand, healthy
  individuals exercise gratitude for everything
  they have been given.
• Integrity We believe that many of the social
  issues that plague our community are ultimately
  moral issues. As people change from the inside
  out, they become whole, as do their families and
  community.

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Core Values

• Family We believe healthy families are the most
  important ingredient in a healthy community.
• Stewardship We believe that opportunities,
  resources and talents are gifts that we are
  called to manage well. The principle of
  stewardship applies organizationally to the staff
  at Urban Concern. It also applies to those who
  participate in and benefit from the work of Urban
  Concern.

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Four Strategic Principles

• Build consensus.
• Start young. Sustain impact.
• Rebuild community.
• Evaluate impact.

http//hcz.org/
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Build consensus.

• Build a critical mass of youth who stand up
  against the negative activity in our community.

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Breaking the cycle of poverty.Building a counter
community.
Drug abuse Violence Crime
Joblessness Dependency Economic Illiteracy
Marketable Skills Attitudes
Mentoring Bible studies
Economic Literacy
Positive Peer Groups
Healthy Families
Physical, Social, Spiritual Mental Health
Quality Education
Teenage Pregnancy Single Parents Incarcerated
Men Broken Families
Failing Schools Low Expectations High School Drop
Outs
South Linden
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Build consensus.

• Build a critical mass of youth who stand up
  against the negative activity in our community.
• Focus on a geographic target area.

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Build consensus.
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Build consensus.

• Build a critical mass of youth who stand up
  against the negative activity in our community.
• Focus on a geographic target area.
• Provide promote visible alternatives.

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Start young. Sustain impact.

• Direct your children onto the right path, and
  when they are older, they will not leave it.
• Proverbs 226

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Start young. Sustain impact.

• It is easier to build strong children than to
  repair broken men.
• Frederick Douglass

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Proposed Urban Concern Pipeline
Xenos Youth Ministries
Small Group Mentoring
Youth Advocacy
Calumet Middle School Scholarship
Harambee High School
Harambee Christian School
Parent University
After School Summer Program
Study Table
Internships
Job Club
Extracurricular Activities
Community Family Development

• Community Circles
• Housing Referral
• Agency Collaboration

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Start young. Sustain impact.
Chris McCullough
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Proposed Urban Concern Pipeline
Xenos Youth Ministries
Small Group Mentoring
Youth Advocacy
Calumet Middle School Scholarship
Harambee High School
Harambee Christian School
Parent University
After School Summer Program
Study Table
Internships
Job Club
Extracurricular Activities
Community Family Development

• Community Circles
• Housing Referral
• Agency Collaboration

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Start young. Sustain impact.

• Provide meaningful incentives.

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Start young. Sustain impact.

• Provide meaningful incentives.

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Rebuild community.

• Engage community residents through block
  associations that plan events, address crime
  safety concerns, and improve physical beauty.
• Collaborate with other community agencies
  leaders.
• Recruit and pray for urban missionaries to
  relocate to the community.
• Mobilize volunteers to serve the community and
  individual residents.
• Partner with area landlords to place families in
  quality, affordable housing.

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Evaluate impact.
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A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the
master can give the responsibility of managing
his other household servants and feeding them
When someone has been given much, much will be
required in return and when someone has been
entrusted with much, even more will be
required. Luke 1242,48
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We are traveling together to guard against any
criticism for the way we are handling this
generous gift. We are careful to be honorable
before the Lord, but we also want everyone else
to see that we are honorable. 2 Corinthians
820-21
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Evaluate impact.

• Example What percentage of the children in our
  target area are receiving at least 2 hours of
  academic and/or spiritual support per week
  through Urban Concern?
• Example How many indigenous people actively
  serve or volunteer?
• Example What is the average percentile rank of
  the students at Harambee?

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Evaluate impact.

• Example What percentage of the children in our
  target area are receiving at least 2 hours of
  academic and/or spiritual support per week
  through Urban Concern?
• Example How many indigenous people actively
  serve or volunteer?
• Example What is the average percentile rank of
  the students at Harambee?
• Example After School Program What percentage
  of the students complete their daily homework?

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Resources

• Beyond Charity The Call to Christian Community
  Development (John Perkins)
• Framework For Understanding Poverty (Ruby Payne)
• Cultural Training Material (James Brown)
  http//urbanconcern.org
• Compassion, Justice the Christian Life (Bob
  Lupton)

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