To us, we realize the more you help those in need, the more you are able to push back against the narrative of the “beyond hope” city. Today, our service work goes beyond just labor, but it impacts individuals in a community that isn’t as fortunate as ours. In all, we loved helping at Urban Promise and we hope to visit again!
By Morgan, Sarai, and Mia
Today in South Jersey Service, we had the opportunity to go and serve at Urban Promise in Camden, NJ. Urban Promise is a faith based non-profit organization that provides children with education through programs such as schools and summer camps.
Once we arrived, we were greeted by Garland and Ian, who gave us insight about the history of Camden and the founding of Urban Promise. We learned some surprising statistics about Camden, such as 1 out of 3 high school students are dropouts, and there are about 17,000 people living in the city today.
We gained knowledge about “Camden’s Big 5,” which are crime, education, job opportunities, poverty, and drugs. Did you know that from 1980-2010 Camden was often ranked among the most dangerous cities in the US? Because of this crisis, Urban Promise helps combat the “Big 5,” and, according to their website, “Our mission is to equip Camden’s children and young adults with the skills necessary for academic achievement, life management, spiritual growth, and Christian leadership.”
We had the chance to ask Ian about Urban Promise’s impact, and his response was that “[Urban Promise’s goal is] to provide better lives for the children of youth in the city of Camden.”
To start off our morning, we split into two groups: one for gardening, one for classroom work. The gardening group ventured outside and moved mulch to a different part of the garden. The group did this to allow for more room for an outdoor classroom to be built, but also in hopes of using the mulch and dirt to be made into fertilizer and be used for the compost bin.
Across campus, the classroom group moved desks and tables from the basement in the main building to the first grade classroom in the school building. On top of that, some students organized furniture in the basement, which was later moved once again to another room.
After around two hours of service, we regrouped for a lunch break. During this period of free time, we asked our peers to reflect on their morning.
Reflecting on the Quaker Spices, Rex B. mentioned, “It was good to see our school implement our values of community by helping other people outside of our immediate school circle.” Charlie M. said a moment that stood out to him was “when they told us about Camden, its background, and how it affects the children and their self esteem.”
Moving onto the second half of the day, our garden group and classroom group split up once again to continue our projects. The garden group helped pick up trash around campus, while the classroom group helped load supplies from the art building into a van for a promotional event this Friday. By the end of the day, both groups ended up participating in yard work around the playground and the outer edges of the buildings.
After wrapping up our second day of service, we now sit in Ms. McCormick’s room back on campus. We are reflecting on the values of today’s work, and how this impacts those in Camden. To us, we realize the more you help those in need, the more you are able to push back against the narrative of the “beyond hope” city. Today, our service work goes beyond just labor, but it impacts individuals in a community that isn’t as fortunate as ours. In all, we loved helping at Urban Promise and we hope to visit again!