Urban Renaissance Center

What Urban Renaissance Center does

Urban Renaissance Center (URC) is a faith-based nonprofit organization established in 2014 and operational since 2016, headquartered at 2505 N. Chevrolet Ave. in the central core of Flint, Michigan's Civic Park neighborhood and historic district. Founded as a community-development initiative of Joy Tabernacle Church, URC operates as a funded project of the Ruth Mott Foundation of Flint and delivers a portfolio of four interconnected programs: Ubuntu Village (a holistic community transformation framework grounded in the African philosophy of interconnected humanity), Rebounding Force (a 12-week work-readiness program operating at 25 hours per week for at-risk, under-educated, and chronically unemployed young men), V2xV Studios (a sound recording, mixing, and audio/visual production facility offering training and a Summer Boot Camp for Flint youth), and Civic Park Health & Wellness including the CrimFit Walking Team.

The organization serves three primary beneficiary segments: at-risk youth and young adults in the Flint community, urban families and children in the Civic Park neighborhood, and Flint artists and musicians seeking access to studio facilities and creative-economy opportunities. URC's underlying "technology" surface is limited to the physical V2xV Studios recording facility; the organization does not operate a software product, API, or digital platform.

URC's revenue model is that of a grant- and donation-funded nonprofit: institutional funding flows primarily from the Ruth Mott Foundation, supplemented by individual donations processed through PayPal for annual donor campaigns. There is no commercial pricing, no product sales, no SaaS or transactional revenue, and no disclosed earned-income contracts. Distribution is direct and community-based, relying on grassroots organizing, word-of-mouth referrals, resident cohorts, and earned media coverage (including ProPublica, the American Heart Association, Elite Daily, ABC 12, and Flintside Media) to reach beneficiaries, donors, and partners rather than a commercial GTM motion.

Name

Urban Renaissance Center

Legal name

Urban Renaissance Center

Website

https://urcflint.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Urban Renaissance Center is a Flint, Michigan faith-based nonprofit, founded by Joy Tabernacle Church and funded by the Ruth Mott Foundation, that delivers workforce development (Rebounding Force), community revitalization (Ubuntu Village), youth recording-studio training (V2xV Studios), and health initiatives (CrimFit) to at-risk youth, families, and artists in the Civic Park neighborhood.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development Services

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (81341), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits (BPAGADAI), Cultural Centers & Community Cultural Organizations (BPAGAHAD), Community Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking Enterprises (BPAGALAO), Civic Education & Community Engagement (Voting, Local Government) (EDAAAFAC)

Keywords

• Community development services
• Workforce development programs
• Youth mentorship training
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Community health wellness

Headquarters

HQ city

Flint

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Funding: Primary funding from Ruth Mott Foundation as a funded project. Provides community development services supported by institutional philanthropy.
2. Donations: Accepts donations through PayPal for annual donor campaigns supporting community programs and initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Urban Renaissance Center is a faith-based nonprofit community development organization that delivers workforce training (Rebounding Force), neighborhood revitalization (Ubuntu Village), arts/culture and recording production services (V2xV Studios), and community health and wellness programming (CrimFit Walking Team) to residents of the Civic Park neighborhood and broader North Flint communities in Michigan. Its services are funded primarily by the Ruth Mott Foundation and donations, targeting at-risk youth, urban families, and local artists.

Product overview

Urban Renaissance Center operates as a community development organization offering a portfolio of interconnected programs: Ubuntu Village (a holistic community revitalization initiative), Rebounding Force (work-readiness training for unemployed youth), V2xV Studios (recording and audio-visual production facilities with youth training programs), and Civic Park Health & Wellness (CrimFit community fitness initiative). The organization functions as a single unified nonprofit entity with multiple programmatic offerings, not a technology platform or software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ubuntu Village: A community transformation project building upon the African philosophy of Ubuntu, creating equitable and holistic strategies for community revitalization using a two-pronged approach: providing critical supports to meet basic needs and fostering neighborhood conditions that encourage residents to realize their individual and collective potential.
• Rebounding Force
• V2xV Studios
• CrimFit Walking Team

Products and services

• Ubuntu Village A community transformation project grounded in the African philosophy of Ubuntu (humanity towards others), operating at the intersection of people and place to create equitable and holistic strategies for community revitalization using a two-pronged approach: providing critical supports to help the community meet basic needs and fostering neighborhood conditions that encourage residents to realize their individual and collective potential. Target beneficiaries are urban children, youth, and families in Civic Park and surrounding Flint communities.
• Rebounding Force Work-Readiness Program A 12-week work-readiness program providing temporary employment to at-risk, under-educated, and chronically unemployed young men, with mentorship, soft-skills training, education, wrap-around services, and job placement assistance. Cohorts run 25 hours per week with ongoing enrollment. Target participants are at-risk young adults in Flint, particularly young men.
• V2xV Studios A specialized sound recording, mixing, and audio-visual production facility offering training and development opportunities for local talent in recording and engineering. Provides a network for Flint artists and engineers, and runs a Summer Boot Camp for youth (in partnership with Bangtown Productions). Target users are local Flint artists, musicians, and youth.
• Civic Park Health & Wellness (CrimFit Walking Team) A community health and wellness initiative featuring the Civic Park CrimFit Walking Club, promoting physical fitness and community engagement. Target participants are Civic Park neighborhood residents and the broader Flint community.
• Employment Services Employment, workforce development, and entrepreneurial support services provided to distressed communities to foster healthy, safe, and economically sustainable neighborhoods. Target beneficiaries are Flint residents and community members seeking employment and entrepreneurship support.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17 youth produced 6 studio quality tracks and a music video during Summer Boot Camp program
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, primary and minor.

• Bangtown ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with URC during Summer Boot Camp to provide Flint youth hands-on experience with sound design, music production, and video editing. 17 youth collaborated to produce 6 studio quality tracks and a music video over 4 weeks.
• Forge FlintcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban Renaissance Center joined with Forge Flint to improve the Civic Park area through collaborative community development initiatives.
• Bryan Leach (Music Mogul)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusic mogul Bryan Leach partnered with URC to open V2xV recording studio, pledging to help build music industry in Flint and contributing to creative economy development.
• Flintside MediacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOn the Ground is a grassroots journalism project of Flintside Media. Collaboration with local leaders like Urban Renaissance Center to tell stories highlighting transformative work happening in Civic Park. Flintside also maintains office in Civic Park.
• Joy Tabernacle ChurchprimaryOthersURC was established by Joy Tabernacle Church as a faith-based nonprofit to provide social and community development services in response to community need. Church serves as founding institution and spiritual anchor.
• American Heart AssociationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPublished feature 'How to Fix a Flint Neighborhood' highlighting URC's comprehensive approach to community development and health & wellness initiatives.
• University of Michigan-FlintminorOthersMultiple board members are affiliated with UM-Flint including Dr. Thomas Henthorn (Wyatt Endowed Professor of Public History) and Todd Womack (Lecturer in Social Work Department).
• Genesee Health SystemsminorOthersBoard member Jori Anne Reigle serves as primary care provider with Genesee Health Systems, bringing public health nursing expertise to URC programming.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Flint Neighborhoods United: Grassroots coalition of Flint neighborhood associations addressing community disinvestment and civic engagement; directly comparable to URC's Civic Park neighborhood organizing and Ubuntu Village approach.
• United Way of Genesee County: Regional nonprofit addressing poverty, education, and health across Genesee County; comparable in mission, funding model (foundation + donations), and target population of underserved urban residents.
• Crim Fitness Foundation: Flint-based nonprofit promoting health and wellness through community fitness programming; directly comparable via URC's CrimFit Walking Team program and shared Flint community-health mission.
• YWCA of Greater Flint: Community services nonprofit serving vulnerable families in Flint with focus on empowerment, health, and social services; comparable in target population, service breadth, and Flint-based operations.
• Habitat for Humanity of Flint: Neighborhood revitalization nonprofit operating in Flint with focus on housing and community development; comparable to URC's Ubuntu Village community transformation work in the same geography.
• Boys & Girls Club of Greater Flint: Youth development nonprofit serving Flint-area youth with workforce readiness, mentorship, and education; comparable to URC's Rebounding Force work-readiness cohorts in target population and program design.
• Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan: Workforce development and job-training nonprofit serving northern Michigan; closely comparable to Rebounding Force in mission, cohort-based model, and target population of underemployed adults.
• Community Foundation of Greater Flint: A community foundation serving the same Flint, Michigan geography with grantmaking and civic engagement initiatives; directly comparable as a Flint-based philanthropic/community-development entity operating in the Civic Park and North Flint service area.

Others

• Mott Foundation: Major Flint-area philanthropic foundation; comparable as an ecosystem funder operating in the same region and supporting overlapping community-development priorities, though at a substantially larger scale than URC.
• Ruth Mott Foundation: URC's primary funder and 'parent' nonprofit in the data; comparable as a Flint-focused philanthropic organization driving community transformation in the same neighborhoods URC serves.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCW9BYsYNIMYC4h6CZ64Toiw
• Facebookfacebook.com/urcflint810
• Xx.com/urcflint
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urban-renaissance-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban Renaissance Center