Shocked.
That’s the word that Malachi used to describe how he felt on his first day as a StreetLeader UrbanPromise in the summer of 2018.
“I was shocked at first, to be real,” Malachi explained. “I thought UrbanPromise was going to be just a regular job. But during StreetLeader Training, I saw how it was really diving into each other’s stories and being vulnerable. It shocked me because I wasn’t used to being vulnerable and telling people I just met about my background and experiences.”
So much has happened since Malachi’s first day as a StreetLeader back in 2018.
Today, he’s a junior at North Carolina A&T University studying multimedia in the mass communications and journalism major.
“I might not have guessed it back when I first started,” Malachi reflects, “but UrbanPromise helped shape me into the leader I am today.”
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This fall, we are celebrating 10 years of UrbanPromise Charlotte.
A decade of promise. Ten years of walking with our students and StreetLeaders like Malachi. Ten years of pursuing the vision: Reach a Child, Raise a Leader, Restore Community.
As we reflect on the past 10 years, I’m filled with awe and gratitude for what you’ve helped create during this first decade of UrbanPromise Charlotte.
During our first year of programming in 2013-2014, the UrbanPromise Charlotte community consisted of about 80 elementary school students and high school StreetLeaders at one neighborhood site. We had one full-time staff member.
Today, ten years later, over 600 students, StreetLeaders, and Alumni belong to the UrbanPromise Charlotte community and engage in our continuum of programs across four neighborhood sites. We have 18 incredible full-time staff members.
Throughout our ten-year history, the center of the UrbanPromise model has always been our StreetLeaders.
When our teenage StreetLeaders are given the opportunity and the responsibility to lead our younger students, something special happens. StreetLeaders become powerful role models for our younger students. And StreetLeaders themselves are transformed in the process.
This leadership cycle has unfolded countless times during the past decade – including in Malachi’s story.
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“Before UrbanPromise, I was quiet. I was angry inside,” Malachi remembered. “People knew me but they didn’t know about me. I stayed in my own area and didn’t want people to bother me.”
UrbanPromise staff members and other StreetLeaders pursued Malachi, kindly but persistently. Slowly, he dropped his defenses.
“My time at UrbanPromise taught me that there were people who really cared about who I was – and that made me want to figure out who God had made me to be, too.”
Ultimately, Malachi’s campers inspired his transformation.
“I saw all these little faces staring at me,” Malachi explained. “It made me really look at what I do and what people might see that I don’t think they see. “It made me reshape how I [live] my life to make sure that I’m not giving the wrong image for someone behind me.”
Once Malachi embraced his responsibility to be a positive role model for his campers, his leadership development accelerated.
“I learned that I could lead a skit on the fly; that I could influence middle schoolers and change their behavior in a matter of weeks; and that I could become captain and be a leader of my peers,” Malachi rattled off proudly.
“UrbanPromise taught me that I was more powerful than I was giving myself credit for.”
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF MALACHI DURING HIS DAYS OF BEING A STREETLEADER AT UP AND WHAT BEING A LEADER MEANS TO HIM!
Propelled by his powerful influence on his campers, Malachi began pursuing big dreams for his own future. Earlier in his high school career, Malachi was skeptical of college. However, he ended up choosing to attend North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. He’s thriving there and continuing his servant leadership on campus.
“As a junior at A&T this year, I’m leading in different ways and joining clubs,” Malachi shared. “For example, I’m part of Men on the Move, which is a club encouraging men to stay in college because a lot of men dropout.”
And for the past two summers, Malachi has chosen to return to UrbanPromise as a Summer Intern, serving as a coach and mentor for the new generation of StreetLeaders.
“I wanted to come back to become an Intern to teach current StreetLeaders [what I learned at UrbanPromise] – that there are people who care about them. And that they are more than who they think they are.”
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Malachi embodies the UrbanPromise vision. As a StreetLeader, he reflected Jesus’ love, kindness, and compassion for his campers. Now as an UrbanPromise Alumnus, he continues to shine as a servant leader in his communities.
And the beautiful thing is that Malachi is not alone.
There are now 10 years of UrbanPromse Alumni. 163 Alumni from our South, West, East, and North sites. 163 Alumni striving to make our communities in Charlotte (and beyond) reflect God’s kingdom of love, freedom, hope, and joy.
As we look ahead to 2024 and to the next decade of UrbanPromise Charlotte, I’m filled with hope as I consider the leadership of our StreetLeaders and Alumni – because our city needs leaders exactly like them.
Charlotte continues to be a city where opportunity is not equally distributed. Our students, StreetLeaders, and Alumni don’t have access to the same quality of education, affordable housing, social capital, and other support systems that their peers from privileged backgrounds easily access.
However, in the face of these obstacles, our StreetLeaders’ resilience shines brightly. Not only have 100% of our first nine senior StreetLeader classes have graduated high school on-time and received college acceptance – but, like Malachi, our StreetLeaders and Alumni are becoming agents of restoration in Charlotte (and beyond).