The Renewal Center Inc

What The Renewal Center Inc does

The Renewal Center Inc (legally Renewal 365 Inc, branded as Renewal) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2008 by Jimmy McWhinney in Shanghai, China, to serve displaced and homeless individuals. It operates two physical sites: a central Shanghai drop-in and residential training facility active since 2008, and a rural career hub in Yunnan province opened in 2023 focused on agricultural careers and tea production. Core programs include Essential Services (nutritious meals, hot showers, clean clothes, laundry, medical care, national ID card assistance), Work Experience opportunities, Life Skills Workshops, and Employment Support matching graduates with local employer partners. Program flow moves beneficiaries from immediate survival needs through skills training to permanent employment and housing.

The organization's business model is donation-funded, with revenue sourced primarily from individual donors supplemented by volunteer time and skills. Service delivery is entirely free to beneficiaries, and there is no pricing model or fee-for-service component. Fundraising is driven through WeChat accounts (Chinese and English), email newsletters, seasonal donation campaigns, and storytelling about program participants. WeChat is the primary channel for Chinese audiences while email serves English-speaking supporters. The organization reports an ongoing summer donation slump alongside rising demand, with 2024 described as the busiest year since the pandemic. Renewal has no proprietary technology platform, no app, and no disclosed APIs or integrations; its operational technology is limited to its website and WeChat presence.

Name

The Renewal Center Inc

Legal name

Renewal 365 Inc

Website

https://renewal.org.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Renewal Center Inc (Renewal 365 Inc) is a Shanghai-based nonprofit founded in 2008 that provides free meals, showers, clothing, medical care, ID assistance, and job training to displaced and homeless individuals in Shanghai and Yunnan, China, funded by individual donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Services for the Homeless and Displaced

NAICS

Vocational Rehabilitation Services (6243), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412), Community Housing Services (62422)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050)

akta.pro primary industry

Elder Services & Aging Support (BPAGAEAF)

Keywords

• Homeless services
• Drop-in services
• Job training
• Career rehabilitation
• Nonprofit social services

Headquarters

HQ city

Shanghai

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Primary revenue source from individual donors who support the organization's mission through monetary gifts. The website features multiple donation CTAs and mentions seasonal donation campaigns, noting that summer months often see decreased donation income.
2. Volunteer Support: Volunteers contribute time and skills to support programs, including training and workshop facilitation.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Renewal Center Inc provides a continuum of free social services to displaced and homeless individuals in China, ranging from urgent survival aid (nutritious meals, hot showers, clean clothes, laundry, medical care, and national ID card assistance) through longer-term programs (residential work experience, life skills workshops, and career training) to placement support (employment matching with local partners and housing assistance). Services are delivered through a drop-in center and residential training hub in central Shanghai, and a rural career hub in Yunnan Province specializing in tea cultivation, processing, packaging, and sales.

Product overview

The Renewal Center Inc (Renewal) is a non-profit organization offering a unified set of social services to displaced and homeless individuals. The organization operates four interconnected programs: Essential Services (providing meals, showers, clean clothes, laundry, and medical/ID support), Work Experience and Life Skills Workshops (offering training and skill-building), and Employment Support (matching graduates with full-time jobs and permanent housing). Additionally, Renewal operates two career training hubs—a long-standing urban program in Shanghai (since 2008) and a newer rural hub in Yunnan province (2023) focused on agricultural careers including tea production.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Most program participants are ready to interview for a full-time job after training
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Local Employment PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOur local employment partners help us match our graduate trainees with satisfying work. Employment partners have reported that candidates recommended by Renewal are qualified to start even before their first interview. Partners assist with job placement for program graduates ready to interview for full-time positions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Shanghai Charity Foundation (上海市慈善基金会): Government-affiliated charitable foundation operating in Shanghai that funds and coordinates poverty alleviation, elderly care, and support for disadvantaged populations. Comparable in Shanghai geographic footprint and donor-funded service model, though operating at city-wide scale rather than direct service delivery.
• One Foundation (壹基金): China-based private foundation focused on disaster relief, children's welfare, and support for vulnerable populations, including through grassroots NGO partnerships. Comparable in operating within the China nonprofit ecosystem with focus on marginalized populations, though at much larger scale and broader mandate.

Broad incumbents

• Mercy Corps: Large international humanitarian organization supporting displaced and vulnerable populations through multi-sector programming including livelihoods and economic recovery. Comparable in serving displaced populations with integrated support, though at much larger scale and with geographic breadth Renewal lacks.
• International Rescue Committee: Global humanitarian organization providing emergency response, economic recovery, and resettlement support for refugees and displaced people. Comparable in the displaced-person service model, particularly the livelihoods and employment reintegration dimension, but at significantly larger scale.
• Habitat for Humanity International: Large global nonprofit focused on affordable housing and housing support for low-income and displaced families. Comparable in the housing-placement and community-empowerment dimensions of Renewal's employment-and-housing pathway, but at vastly larger scale and with a different primary focus (housing construction rather than job training).

Direct peers

• Homeboy Industries: Los Angeles-based nonprofit offering holistic reintegration services — including work experience, life skills, employment placement, and social enterprise businesses — for marginalized individuals. Closely mirrors Renewal's integrated services-plus-social-enterprise model at a similar small-to-mid scale.
• L'Arche International: Federation of residential communities supporting people with intellectual disabilities and other marginalized populations through shared living, work experience, and community participation. Comparable integrated residential-training-community model, though focused on a different beneficiary population.
• Emmaus International: Global federation of community-based programs that provide housing, work opportunities, and social reintegration support for people experiencing homelessness and exclusion. Highly comparable to Renewal's combined essential services + work + housing pathway.
• Goodwill Industries International: Nonprofit social enterprise focused on workforce development, job training, and employment placement for people facing barriers to work — including those experiencing homelessness. Operates a job-training-to-employment pipeline very similar in structure to Renewal's work experience and employment matching model.
• The Salvation Army: Global charitable organization providing essential services (meals, shelter, hygiene), rehabilitation programs, and employment support to people experiencing homelessness and displacement. Operates an integrated service model across urban locations, closely aligned with Renewal's bundled approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-renewal-center-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 The Renewal Center Inc