Heartbeats from the 'Hood

But there is still hope!

This summer, the Dream Center is full of energy and life!  We have so much going on...

• 45 students are participating in our Summer Jam day camp.
• 23 teenagers are gaining valuable work experience in our Summer Work Program. 
• 2 students are diligently working to sell and distribute Impact Coffee. 
• 40 students will be traveling to Missouri's Kids Across America Camp in July. 
• 5 students will be traveling to West Virginia with First Presbyterian Church of North Palm Beach to serve children and families in an Appalachian community in July.      

Your support has helped us to have an impact on over 90 students this summer!   One of those students, seventeen-year-old Sherrin*, is a perfect example of how your support has helped completely transform a life.

Sherrin was raised in downtown West Palm Beach by a strong mom who worked hard to raise her seven children.  Sherrin is close with her father, who lives in Georgia and is dying of AIDS.  Sadly, Sherrin is no stranger to inner-city violence.  When she was young, she was shot in the leg during a drive-by.  Last summer, one of her brothers was shot and killed in front of his home.  And this spring, she was nearly beaten to death by the father of her two-year-old child.

But there is still hope!  Two years ago, when Sherrin came to the Dream Center for a pregnancy test, she recognized a staff member whose home she had visited once for a Bible study.  After Sherrin learned that she was pregnant, she decided to make a positive change in her life.  She began attending the high school girls' Bible study and developed a close relationship with the staff member she saw at the office.  She has faithfully attended the Bible study for the last two years, and she gave her life to Christ at Kids Across America last summer.

Sherrin's future dream is to own a beauty salon.  Through the Summer Work Program, UYI arranged an internship for her at a professional salon in West Palm Beach.  She is thrilled to be working at an exclusive salon where she is shadowing the staff, assisting with customer service, and nurturing her dream!  Thank you so much for being a part of Sherrin's ongoing story, and for helping us to love, equip, and empower countless inner-city youth like her!

In Him,

Bill Hobbs

Founder & President

*Sherrin's name has been changed for privacy.

Volunteer Group Helps Summer Jam

A group of adults and young people from Church in the Farms volunteered to lead this week of Summer Jam, Urban Youth Impact's day camp for elementary and middle school students.  

The volunteers prepared fun activities for all of the kids, including skits, music, crafts, games, team sports, and Bible application lessons.  They also provided lunch every day and will be celebrating the end of the week with a beach cookout.  

Thank you, Church in the Farms, for your volunteer support!

Loggerhead Sea Turtle Sanctuary Field Trip

Make a Smilebox scrap pages

Mission Accomplished

This past Friday I was able to take a deep, long breath.  Urban Youth Impact concluded its first year of The Leadership Academy.  It has taken me a couple of days to truly wrap my mind, spirit, and emotions around what the conclusion of this first year really meant.  

For the last year we poured the love of Christ into over one hundred children.  Many balked when we chose to downsize from the over 300 children we had been reaching weekly.  Though we were touching many lives, transformation still eluded us.  So we embarked on this journey, remembering that Christ himself poured into twelve with the belief that the ripple effect would change the world.  And it did.

After two awards ceremonies and an end-of-the-year program, this is what I saw:

We loved.  Though we had nothing to offer on our own, we came to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and we accomplished our goal to love these children with the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.

We equipped.  We taught the children how to be leaders.  We called the after school program The Leadership Academy because we knew that was how the Lord saw them.  The kids don't always know it or believe it, but It is who they are to become, and God has a plan and purpose for each of them.  We worked on homework together, teaching the kids to love the process of learning.  We taught them foundational biblical truths.  We showed them how to have a personal relationship with our Savior.  In all, we offered academics, choir, art, dance, life skills, quilting, writing, Bible study, and on and on.  Our goal was to weave Christ into every area and teach the kids how to walk out their faith.

We empowered.  Empowerment comes when we show someone how, and then allow them to do.  We allowed the kids to step forward and shine, and to make their own choices.  We also walked out life with them and their families.

When I look back over the whole year, I realize that we accomplished our mission statement: We loved, equipped, and empowered inner-city youth and their families to fulfill their God-given purpose.  Now I can't wait for the summer and I'm chomping at the bit for next year!

-- Leneita Fix is the Ministry/Program Coordinator for Urban Youth Impact

Reasons to Celebrate

It's that time of year!  Numerous staff people have been attending high school graduations -- and even middle school graduations!  In the inner-city, receiving your diploma and moving your tassel from right to left is cause for serious celebration.  In this area, more kids will end up in jail than in a college classroom.

One of our high school graduates this year is Jataria (pictured here), a girl we have known for ten years.  When we see students like Jataria graduate and move forward to embrace their God-given purpose in the world, we are overjoyed!  It also reassures our staff that the work we are doing at UYI is not in vain.

Our Board of Directors and other friends of UYI have established a $50,000 Matching Gift to correspond with our 90 Days of Prayer campaign.  Each gift that we receive will be matched to help us reach our $100,000 goal.  Please consider supporting UYI through a special financial gift over the next 90 days.  You can make a secure donation online.  Your giving is making a difference in the lives of young people like Jataria!