Programs
Overview
Urban Impact is committed to empowering its community. Programs are birthed out of genuine need expressed directly from community members. Furthermore, the initiative to plan and launch new programs is taken on and implemented by community members. This illustrates Urban Impact’s commitment to development, not relief: “If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime.”
Urban Impact @ Rainier Avenue Church
Mekong Kids! After School Learning Program
Mekong Kids! is a family centered, after school tutoring program for students in grades 1-5. Enrollment consists of students from Graham Hill Elementary with additional outreach to Asian and ESL families.
Community Night
Racial Justice and Reconciliation Team
Urban Impact @ Emerald City Bible Fellowship
Serving for 20 years in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of S. Seattle, Urban Impact @ ECBF has a proven track record of successful impact.
Currently, Urban Impact @ ECBF offers the following programs:
Umoja Community Learning Center (UCLC)
Serving at the African American Academy in S. Seattle, Urban Impact @ ECBF serves over 200 families by running the after school program at this academy. Students get tutoring help, physical exercise and practice the creative arts
Bridges Counseling
Offering counseling to individuals and families at a cost that they can afford
Summer Leadership Camp
Creating leaders from within the community who can understand the notion of giving back to the community by helping those younger then themselves
Family Involvement Partnership
Building relationships with families in an effort to assist and support families in being involved in their child’s education
RAINIER HEALTH AND FITNESS (RHF)
Rainier Health and Fitness promotes healthy lifestyles and strong bodies. RHF contributes to the bigger vision of undoing the cycle of poverty by addressing the health disparities that afflict people of low income neighborhoods like the Southeast Seattle’s Rainier Valley. To accomplish this end, Rainier Health & Fitness is committed to encouraging healthy lifestyles, strong bodies, and creating authentic community through an accessible, high quality fitness center.
Make a Move! Community Fitness Challenge
The goal is to bring together members of the Rainier Valley to become the healthiest community in the state of Washington. It is expected that the community will collectively log 100,000 fitness miles and lose 10,000 pounds of excess weight while becoming more active and fit.
Ladies Night
On Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6pm-8pm, RHF is open to women of all shapes, sizes, religious and cultural backgrounds to exercise and support one another in this non-threatening environment. Ladies Night has been particularly successful in serving Muslim women of the community.
Personal Assistance Workout Cards
At no additional cost, members can utilize workout cards to help achieve fitness goals. All RHF staff are certified personal trainers and have designed and developed the workout cards. Staff are always available to assist in using proper technique and to share knowledge of how to work toward a healthy lifestyle and a strong body.
Free Childcare
RHF offers free childcare to eliminate one of the key barriers parents face in taking care of their health.
Free Group Exercise Classes
A variety of group exercise classes are open for members free of charge! These group classes foster community-building and add variety and fun to exercise. Group classes currently offered are:
- Spin
- Spin & Strength
- Stretch & Core
- Turbo Kick
- Women Movin’
Enhance Fitness for Older Adults
This program is designed specifically for seniors and is designed to slow the effects of ageing. Seniors, who often experience isolation, build community through their exercise group. RHF holds two classes three times per week.
RHF Kids Gymnastics
RHF Kids establishes the values of an active lifestyle and fun exercise and encourages children’s development and social skills. Currently classes are offered for kids ages four through seven.
Property and Economic Development
It has often been said, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” While a good description for empowerment, Urban Impact believes this statement is incomplete. In the words of John Perkins, in this day and age, it doesn’t matter how well he or she fishes if they don’t own the rights to the pond!
Empowerment is only part of the puzzle; access completes it.
Urban Impact is committed to helping our community members gain access to capital, ownership and the ability to build equity. Three areas of focus are being implemented to accomplish this:
Property Development
The ECOM building is the first in a master plan to develop three acres. This development will create a family recreation center (FRC) and an economic center (EC). The FRC will be the draw, as in, people in the community will come to the campus to visit it. The increased foot traffic will enable other businesses in the FRC and EC to survive.
Enterprise Development
Urban Impact is committed to providing job and ownership opportunities to its community. Urban Impact will train local entrepreneurs to develop a business plan, get funding and implement their plan. This can be accomplished, in part, through a business incubator as part of the EC. Additionally, Urban Impact is committed to launching its own businesses to provide job and job training opportunities as well as generate a profit to fund its social service programs.
Family Finances
Urban Impact will teach community members how to balance a check book, invest in retirement and college, shop on a very tight budget and other basic economic principals.