Bringing together the community for positive change.
A hand up for shelter residents
Since December 2022, we've helped over 300 people with our homeless employment services. With your support, we've helped 80% of shelter residents seeking a job get employed- the majority of them full time.
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See more about how we are changing lives through our Homeless Employment Services.
A hand up for the A.L.I.C.E. Population
The URC serves as lead partner for NorfolkThrive. NorfolkThrive is a partnership with the United Way of South Hampton Roads and the City of Norfolk. The program focuses on providing support to the nearly 90,000 families in Norfolk who qualify as ALICE and are struggling to make ends meet. NorfolkThrive supports these individuals and families in five critical areas: Mentoring, Housing, Employment and Education, Financial Management, and Well-being.
A hand up for Youth through Character Mentoring and S.T.R.E.A.M. Programs
A hand up for Youth–STREAM, Aftersool Tutoring and Character Mentoring Programs.
1) The IMPACT Youth Initiative currently offers weekly arts programs for 4-7 graders. 2) We offer afterschool tutoring at Jacox Elementary School in Norfolk. 3) We facilitate volunteer mentoring through a partnership with YESUSA'S Community Classroom and Norfolk Public Schools. 4) Our forthcoming plans include youth mentoring through athletics in partnership with Reck League, literacy support as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programming.
A hand up through knowledge sharing
The URC values research and education as foundation for ongoing community engagement. Periodically, we host public forums, lectures, and creative expressions in the arts, mainly concerts and what we call "informances" to educate the public on cultural, social, and historical topics that connect dots and unearth new knowledge to shape ongoing public discourse toward social equity with particular concern about racial equity.
Our Story Begins in Hampton Roads:
Founded in 2017, in response on the heels of growing racial factions in America, the URC began as an endeavor to mobilize the Hampton Roads faith Community ON RACE
Social projects, FAITH COMMUNITY, early projects with youth impact.
iN 2020, We partnered with the city of norfolk to run nest (norfolk emergency shelter), and eventually opened the Housing center on Tidewater: a Homeless shelter….
iN NOVEMBER 2021, WE HANDED THE SHELTER'S OPERATIONS OVER TO THE CITY TO FOCUS ON EMPLOYMENT. TO DATE, WE’VE HELPED HUNDREDS OF SHELTER RESIDENTS GET JOBS AND HELPED THEM MOVE INTO PERMANEnt housing.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid." Matthew 5:14
We believe that the church has a vital role in advancing a more just society, mending broken people and systems, and showing compassion to people in need of redemption and social healing.
In July 2016, the seeds for the URC were planted. The prior week, police shot and killed Philando Castile and Alton Sterling and Micah Johnson killed five Dallas police. The nation was in an uproar. That Sunday, Pastor Jim Wood scrapped the Sunday bulletin at the First Presbyterian Church of Norfolk, VA. For three worship services, he invited Dr. Antipas Harris to engage him in a raw and unscripted conversation about race and racism in America. The congregation was deeply moved to participate in the solution for our community. A leader in the church, local CPA, and founding board member of the URC, Taze Taylor, met with Rev. Wood to discuss a burden that he felt as a result of the conversation. "Jim, what are we going to do about the race problem?," asked Taze.
With a burning desire to recapture the legacy of faith that bears prophetic witness in the public square, Antipas resigned from his post on tenured faculty at Regent University and organized plans to start the URC as a nonprofit, community development corporation. He is the founding President and CEO. Taze donated generously and is a founding board member. Jim is the founding chair of the board. The URC has emerged as a conceptual center for moral thought, voice, and action. The agency exists to unite the community for positive change.
The URC is building what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called, “the Beloved Community” in Hampton Roads!
We Partner With People & Organizations
And so many more.
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The Urban Renewal Center
820 Colonial Ave. Norfolk, V.A. 23507
