The mission of the Kansas City Urban Youth Center (KCUYC) is to offer urban youth hope,community, and wholeness. We believe that it is through loving, dependable relationships, positive educational opportunities, and physically- and emotionally-safe environments that our students can learn to build positive relationships, positive self-esteem, and positive motivations for their future success. KCUYC has become an established and trusted after-school home and family to youth in two neighborhoods in urban Kansas City, Mo., as well as a third location in urban Kansas City, Kans.

The service areas for the KCUYC are complex—marked by poverty, underachieving schools, inadequate housing, violent crime and lack of employment . . . and yet ensconced by over 30 neighborhood churches and neighborhood gentrification, and strengthened by key cornerstone businesses in the community (Hallmark and Nazarene Publishing House). The impact potential among the populations served by the KCUYC is immense. Young people who grow up in poverty are more likely to be exposed to traumatic events such as violence, food insecurity, and neglect . . . all of which can dramatically impact school performance, anxiety levels, and social interactions. The KCUYC continues to be a daily place where students can belong to a safe and caring community that provides one-on-one mentoring, academic support and enhancement, community outreach, service-learning activities, field trips, nutritious meals, health education and fitness, recreation, and project-based learning opportunities. 

True to the KCUYC’s mission, all activities in the organization seek to provide a means to authentically connect to youth in spaces where they already live, learn and play in community . . . to provide hope through times and spaces for belonging in a family . . . to seek wholeness as we grow into the lives of mercy and peace for which we were created . . . and to live well by caring and serving all creation. This vision began with just a handful of students, teachers, parents and community leaders and now is running at maximum capacity. As we look to the future, we now seek to strategically extend the KCUYC’s mission and vision to other places and spaces where young people live and learn and are seeking together hope, community and wholeness—throughout areas of need in Kansas City.

Thanks to dedicated KCUYC volunteers, youth have a safe place to learn, grow and gain confidence. Please consider supporting this important work through your time and/or financial support. Click here for more information on how you can become involved.