Ujamaa Place

Last updated
Ujamaa Place
Founded2010
Type(IRS exemption status): 501(c)(3)
Focus Education, Employment, Ending recidivism
Location
Coordinates 44°57′26.61″N93°10′46.26″W / 44.9573917°N 93.1795167°W / 44.9573917; -93.1795167
Area served
Saint Paul area
MethodDonations and Grants
Key people
Otis Zanders, CEO
Website ujamaaplace.org
Formerly called
Awali Place

Ujamaa Place is a non-profit organization, it was launched in 2009 to fill a gap in social welfare programming and services for African-American men in the age group of between 17 and 28 years old in St. Paul, Minnesota. [1] Ujamaa Place took over the services offered by a previous form of the program, Awali Place. Ujamaa Place replaced Awali, when Awali lost its funding due to the 2009 budget cuts. Ujamaa Place received its non-profit status in 2010.

Contents

History

In 2009, a group of leaders in the St. Paul African-American community, including the St. Paul Chief of Police John Harrington, executive director of the St. Paul YWCA Billy Collins, St. Paul City Council Member Melvin Carter III, Thad Wilderson, Mary K. Boyd, the NAACP, and several members of the Black Ministerial Alliance and the Council on Black Minnesotans, identified that there was a significant gap in social welfare delivery system and programming for its population in Saint Paul, which needed immediate attention. The organizers realized that without intervention from a program like Ujamaa Place, this would become a “lost generation” of young men who either die at a young age, or are incarcerated for most of their lives.

A similar program to Ujamaa Place was developed by Twin Cities RISE! (TCR!) and piloted in St. Paul in 2008 and part of 2009. In 2009, TCR! determined that the program (Awali Place) would be part of a budget reduction since it was not closely aligned with their core mission. A group of concerned citizens (several of whom are mentioned earlier) decided to collaborate and establish Ujamaa Place to further develop the program and build on the good work conducted within the Awali Place program. Ujamaa Place received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in April 2010 and opened its doors at 1885 University Avenue in St. Paul in November 2010.

Program

Ujamaa Place programming is made available at no cost to participants, but it is a program that demands mutual accountability. It helps men develop the skills it takes to be a successful individual, father, employee, and citizen. [ citation needed ]

Trained coaches develop high-context relationships that are individualized for each participant, this rather than applying a prescribed approach to all. Coaches often overcome similar obstacles in their own lives, providing inspiration and models of empowerment for participants.

To graduate from the program, an Ujamaa Place participant must demonstrate job skills, empowerment skills and life skills through the following:

Ujamaa Place is not a holding place, but a place of new beginnings and transition. Graduates continue to successfully hold jobs and are enrolled in job training programs in which they gain the skills necessary to secure high skill jobs with benefits.

Board of directors

Development Strategy Committee

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Mary's University of Minnesota</span> Catholic university in Winona, Minnesota, US

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, (SMUMN) is a private Catholic university with an undergraduate residential college in Winona, Minnesota; graduate and professional programs in Winona, the Twin Cities, and Rochester; and course delivery sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as Jamaica. The institution was founded in 1912 and is associated with the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the De La Salle Brothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Tier High Adventure</span> Scouting adventure program in Minnesota and Canada

Northern Tier High Adventure is a collection of high adventure bases run by the Boy Scouts of America in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota, Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park and Canadian Crown Lands, Manitoba's Atikaki Provincial Wilderness Park, Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, and points beyond. Northern Tier is the oldest of the four National High Adventure Bases operated by the Boy Scouts of America; the others currently in operation are Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, Florida Sea Base in the Keys, and The Summit in West Virginia. The oldest, largest and most prominent of the Norther Tier bases is the Charles L. Sommers National High Adventure Base. Central to its programs is trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) and Quetico Provincial Park

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Rice (politician)</span> American politician (1819–1889)

Edmund Rice was an American politician. Rice served in the U.S. Congress in Minnesota's 4th District from March 4, 1887, to March 3, 1889.

John "Bah" Harrington is an American former ice hockey forward and is currently the head coach of the Minnesota State Mavericks women's ice hockey of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Paul's College (Virginia)</span> Defunct private historically Black college in Virginia, U.S.

Saint Paul's College was a private historically black college in Lawrenceville, Virginia. Saint Paul's College opened its doors on September 24, 1888, originally training students as teachers and for agricultural and industrial jobs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Independence College and Community</span>

Minnesota Independence College and Community (MICC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit vocational and life skills training program for autistic and neurodivergent young adults. Since their founding in 1996 (formerly Minnesota Life College), MICC has remained dedicated to helping participants make successful transitions towards independent living and self-sufficiency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breck School</span> Private school in Golden Valley, Minnesota, USA

Breck School is an independent college-preparatory preK–12 school in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. It was founded in 1886 and is affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school includes a Lower School consisting of grades preschool through four, a Middle School consisting of grades five through eight, and an Upper School consisting of grades nine through twelve. Breck School is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntington Bancshares</span> Bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is an American bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company is ranked 521st on the Fortune 500, and is 26th on the list of largest banks in the United States.

Firstar Corporation was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based regional bank holding company that existed from 1853 to 2001. In 2001, Firstar acquired U.S. Bancorp and assumed its name, moving its headquarters to Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences</span>

The College of Biological Sciences (CBS) is one of seven freshman-admitting colleges at the University of Minnesota. Established in 1869 as the College of Science, the College of Biological Science is now located across both the Minneapolis and the St. Paul campuses. As of June 29, 2023, the dean of the College of Biological Sciences is Dr. Saara J DeWalt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Parks High School</span> Alternative learning center school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

Gordon Parks High School is a public alternative learning center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The school, founded in 1991, was originally the Saint Paul Area Learning Center. It was then called Unidale Alternative Learning Center for several years, after the local strip mall it operated in; this was often shortened to ALC Unidale. In 2007, a permanent building was built for the school and it was again renamed. The school serves high-school-age students categorized as "at risk" or far behind in grade level. It is the largest of seven alternative day school programs in the Saint Paul Public Schools district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Irish in Saint Paul</span>

Irish in Saint Paul, Minnesota have played an integral part in the founding and the growth of the city. The first Irish to settle in Saint Paul were three demobilised soldiers from Fort Snelling who were natives of Ireland. They became the first settlers in the area of downtown Saint Paul. Helped by Archbishop John Ireland, thousands of Irish emigrated from Ireland and Eastern cities in the United States to Minnesota; and especially large number settled in Saint Paul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. Edward Hall House</span> Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The S. Edward Hall House in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, was the home of S. Edward Hall (1878-1975), an African American businessman and founder of the Saint Paul chapter of the NAACP. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places from 1991 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Saint Paul</span> Neighborhood in Ramsey, Minnesota, United States

Downtown Saint Paul is the central business district of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River to the south, University Avenue to the north, US 52 to the east, and Kellogg Avenue to the west. It is bounded by the Dayton's Bluff, Summit-University, West Seventh, Frogtown, West Side, and Payne-Phalen neighborhoods. The West Side neighborhood is on the other side of the river, and can be accessed via the Robert Street Bridge or the Wabasha Street Bridge. Interstate 35E and Interstate 94 run through the north side of the neighborhood, providing a separation between the Minnesota State Capitol and other state government buildings with the rest of downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Stag Leadership Development Program</span> Summer youth leadership program in California

The White Stag Leadership Development Program, founded in 1958, is a summer leadership training program for youth 10 1/2–18 led by two California-based non-profits that sponsor leadership development activities. The teen youth staff of the two programs develop and produce several week-long leadership summer training sessions every year for several hundred youth from Central and Northern California and a few youth from other states and countries. The outdoors program is based on hands-on learning methods to develop competencies.

John Mark Harrington is the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety for the U.S. State of Minnesota, appointed by Governor Tim Walz. He has served since January 2019. Harrington previously served as Chief of the Saint Paul Police Department (2004-2010) and Chief of the Metro Transit Police (2012-2019) in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. He is a former member of the Minnesota Senate who represented District 67, which includes portions of the city of Saint Paul in Ramsey County. A Democrat, he is a teacher and manager at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul.

The New Jersey Women's Hall of Fame was established in 2011, by the YWCA of Trenton, in Trenton, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodswomen, Inc.</span>

Woodswomen, Inc. was a nonprofit organization focusing on education and adventure travel operated by women, for women out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1977 to 1999. Woodswomen was one of the first adventure travel companies serving exclusively women and served more than 8,000 women and 1,200 children in its tenure. It has been referred to as the 'grandmother' of women's outdoor adventure groups.

Hallie Q. Brown Community Center is an African American not-for-profit social service agency located in the Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, US, founded in 1929. Its slogan is 'Lighthouse of the Community'. The Hallie Q. Brown Community Center (HQB) is one of the largest African American non-profit organizations in the state of Minnesota. The center is named for Hallie Quinn Brown (1849–1950) a famous Black educator, activist, orator and writer agitating for civil rights, and women's rights. She also called out the injustices of the convict lease system. The organization supports the community with a full range of services including early childhood education, before and after school care, basic needs, senior programming, historical archives, and anti-racism and equity programming. HQB administers the Martin Luther King Service Center which consists of a little over half of the building and houses other agencies and organizations providing programming in the arts, recreation and other social and civic issues, including the nationally recognized Penumbra Theater Company. The City of Saint Paul administers the Martin Luther King Recreation Center, which consists of the remaining part of the overall building.

Lillian Anderson Turner Alexander (1876–1957) was an educator, social worker, civil rights activist, and club woman active in St. Paul, Minnesota, and New York City. Before 1918, she was known as Lillian A. Turner with her first husband's surname. After 1918, she used her second husband's surname and was known as Lillian A. Alexander.

References

  1. "PHOTOS: Sheila E. Meets with Men of Ujamaa Place". KSTP. Retrieved 2018-04-16.