UrbanPromise History
UrbanPromise got its official start in 1988 as a spin-off of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE). EAPE was founded by Dr. Tony Campolo, a sociologist and well-known Christian speaker and author widely known for his passionate call for Christians to take seriously Christ’s demand that we seek justice for the poor and liberation for the oppressed. Tony recruited Bruce Main to launch an outreach to children and teens in the city of Camden. Starting with one summer camp run out of a struggling Baptist Church, the outreach quickly grew to include multiple summer camps and afterschool programs.
Because of rapid programmatic growth and a need for a more localized board of directors, in 1993 UrbanPromise Ministries was established as a Christian-based, New Jersey, 501 C3 organization. Bruce Main was hired as the founding director. With an initial budget of $12,000 and one full-time staff, UrbanPromise now has grown to an annual budget of 3 million and employees over 55 full-time workers.
The mission of UrbanPromise is to equip children and teens with the skills necessary for academic achievement, life management, spiritual growth and leadership rooted in the principles of Christian faith. As a non-denominational organization, the UrbanPromise community seeks to fulfill this mission through after school programs, summer camps, alternative schools, job training initiatives and a host of other programs that challenge youth to develop their academic, social, creative, spiritual and leadership potential. Unique to the vision of UrbanPromise is a commitment to involving local teenagers (StreetLeaders) in the tutoring, mentoring, and coaching of younger children in the community. By involving teens in the leadership process, UrbanPromise is creating a new generation of young, visionary leaders who embody a commitment to change their own community.
In 1997, UrbanPromise in Camden helped to launch UrbanPromise programs in Wilmington (Delaware), Toronto (Ontario), and Vancouver (British Columbia). Each of these cities is governed by an independent board of directors and is financially self sufficient. The Executive Directors from each site and a Board member from each site committed to gathering annually for accountability and exchanging ideas as the UrbanPromise International Coalition.
In 2003 William Nyasulu wanted to take the model of UrbanPromise to Malawi, Africa. He established YouthCare in the capital city of Lilongwe, modeled after UrbanPromise. In 2007, five graduates of the African Bible College were invited to intern with Urban Promise. During the year, interns served in the programs of UrbanPromise and learned about leadership and NGO development under Dr. Bruce Main. These interns returned to Malawi in 2008 to initiate three new youth-serving organizations.
With a growing demand for the model and the need for more support of interns and new ministries, UrbanPromise International was established in September 2008. The Mission of UrbanPromise International is to prepare emerging leaders to initiate, develop, and sustain Christian-based youth development organizations and to seed their new ministries as they serve vulnerable children and teens in our world’s most under-resourced communities.