“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
- Jim Rohn

At Urban Ventures, our youth run the risk of falling into someone else's dead-end plan on a daily basis. Mark-Peter Lundquist, Director for the Urban Youth Hub, recently reiterated that fact when he stated that “These kids are on the fence between a world of pimps and gangs and the positive opportunities we provide.” The challenge of saving our kids from the negative opportunities in our neighborhood is great, but the promise shown by the kids who choose the positive opportunities is even greater.
Opened in May 2006, the Urban Youth Hub was formerly a blighted, empty building across from our office headquarters on Lake Street and Fourth Avenue. Today this same building that once was notorious for drugs and prostitution is now flourishing with hundreds of children and youth playing and learning. This 12,000-square-foot-facility has become a platform to reach at-risk kids in our neighborhood is a beacon for community development.
Designed with the mission to raise up a new generation of urban leaders who are so disciplined for Jesus Christ they can survive in any environment, the Hub houses UV youth programs PowerHouse and LaVictoria, as well as a skateboard park, a performance stage, and a new state-of-the-art recording studio!

Our overarching goal in the Hub is to create hope among our young people by linking their heart, head and hurt and equipping them with the practical and moral tools necessary for success. We believe that when an individual has hope, a purpose and a future, he/she also has the moral armament to say “no” to drug dealers, gang bangers, teenage pregnancy and neighborhood violence and say “yes” to positive opportunities, educational achievement and self-respect.