OpEd: The Constitution is for everyone. Education should be too.

Our city has a crisis that goes far beyond where congregations gather on weekends. Let’s redirect the city’s energies into partnerships that advance our children. By Fernando Cabrera and Jeremy Del Rio Our city has a crisis that goes far beyond where congregations gather on weekends. Forty percent of New York City high school students…

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Why Loving Young People is like City Living

Greetings from Brooklyn, New York, the most populous borough in New York City. Birthplace of Jay-Z and the integration of Major League Baseball. And site of the largest battle of the Revolutionary War. If Brooklyn were its own city, it would be the fourth largest in America. My name is Jeremy Del Rio and I’m an addict — if you can call young people an addiction. …

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Five Ways to Appreciate Schools this Thanksgiving

It’s so easy to get caught up in busyness. Overcommitted, highly passionate youth workers fall into this trap everyday. Considering cluttered calendars, cause the calendar to work for you this month. In ten days, you’ll likely gather with those you love most to overeat and be merry. But the occasion isn’t really about feasting, football,…

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Nothing Like Thank You from a Former Student

This morning I had a pleasant surprise when my FaceBook newsfeed included this Note from a former student. Community Pledge I remember being 15 years old when I first recited this pledge to the instructors at Xcel. Today, this community pledge still remains part of the foundation of who I am and the values I strive…

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UYWI Remembers 9/11: A Place of Hope at Ground Zero

As our nation revisits the horrors and hope of September 11 during this tenth anniversary week, UYWI joins our friends in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, in remembering a God who’s present with us in our suffering. The video below is of Jeremy Del Rio at the 2005 UYWI National Conference, reflecting on…

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Free for All: Youth Specialties Features UYWI’s Innovative Resource Library

In UYWI’s ongoing effort to make youth ministry training resources more accessible to urban youth workers, we forged a partnership in 2009 with “Jesus, Justice, and Technology” innovators Techmission to digitize all of our available training content dating back to 2001 and include it in their growing UrbanMinistry.org resource library. As of this month, 700+…

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Announcing UYWI Northeast

In an ongoing effort to bring training resources closer to where urban youth workers actually serve young people, Urban Youth Workers Institute began implementing various training and mentoring initiatives regionally beginning in 2009. After launching offices in the Southeast (Atlanta) and West Coast (Los Angeles) Regions under the leadership of Anthony Flynn and Dr. Gabe…

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