Harambee

What Is Harambee Youth Training?

Harambee is a Swahili word which means "let's work together to get this task done!" It started as a small ministry of New City Fellowship Church (NCF), but has grown into a separate 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization which partners with many other local churches, businesses, and organizations. Harambee uses volunteer community service projects and classroom training to give at-risk urban youth an opportunity to learn a healthy work ethic, self-discipline, confidence, and team dynamics as well as profitable skills in the construction trades.

Harambee is a part of our commitment to the West End and Hamilton Heights neighborhoods of Saint Louis city. Since 1996, teens from these neighborhoods have worked in connection with NCF in landscaping, general property maintenance, roofing and light construction (painting, tuckpointing & framing). Many of the young people who participate with Harambee are also connected to Restore St. Louis through other ministries like Firm Foundation Tutoring.

How Harambee Works

Harambee has grown incredibly over the years, enabling us to not only mentor more youth than ever through our summer program (73 in 2005, 86 in 2006, and 99 in 2007) but also to continue to work with up to 20 of those teens throughout the school year in our after-school program. The opportunity has become available in the last few years to work on the homes of elderly and disadvantaged neighborhood residents for free. In addition, these longtime community residents are able to build meaningful relationships with the youth who are rebuilding their homes.

Summer Program

For eight weeks each summer, teens from several St. Louis neighborhoods come together to learn tuckpointing, teamwork, and a biblical work ethic. The young people are divided into several crews with two adult crew leaders and one supervisor to train and mentor them as they volunteer on the homes of others in the community.

Harambee hires a temporary full-time staff of 15-20 adults each summer to help run the volunteer projects and mentor the youth. In addition, participants are given the opportunity to earn a "back-to-school" stipend by attending life skills classes one day each week. All this is covered by funds raised from partnering individuals, corporations, and local government agencies.

Information and applications for the 2008 summer program are available in the downloads section from until the deadline, March 31st.

After-School Program

The purpose of the after-school program is to allow some of the summer participants to continue to learn the basic life skills needed to become responsible adults and grow and improve in both their personal and professional relationships.

At the end of the summer program, the crew leaders evaluate the participants and make recommendations for those who are good candidates to receive further training throughout the school year. Only 24 participants are given this special opportunity.

The after-school program operates for a total of 24 weeks throughout the school year, divided into three 8-week sessions. The young people continue to improve their tuckpointing skills by working on the homes of community residents who are eligible for free work. During the winter months when it is too cold to tuckpoint, the youth provide basement grouting for homeowners and some even spend time indoors learning the art of bricklaying. As with the summer program, participants are given the opportunity to earn an education stipend by attending weekly life skills courses.

Topics covered in the Basic Life Skills Course:
Owning and maintaining automobiles, banking, building good credit, understanding authority structures, dealing constructively with conflict, writing résumés and cover letters, interviewing, budgeting, living healthy lives, and stewardship of resources.

There are no applications for the after-school program since participants are chosen by crew leaders and staff at the end of the summer program.

How You Can Help

Fundraising Events

The 6th annual Benefit Dinner & Auction will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008. Come join us for a delicious prime rib dinner and a fun, live auction! This is a wonderful way to get connected with Harambee. Tickets are only $15 per person ($120 for a table of eight). A poster and informational brochure are now available in the downloads section.

The 2008 Benefit Golf Tournament will take place on Friday, May 30, 2008 at The Norman K. Probstein Golf Course at Forest Park. Enjoy a relaxing day on the greens and a delicious lunch for a good cause! A poster and informational brochure are now available in the downloads section.

Cash Donations

The educational stipends paid to the youth participants, the materials and equipment used for volunteer community service projects, and the wages and salaries of our crew leaders and support staff make this program an ambitious one to properly fund. We need the monetary resources of individuals and corporations to leverage the funding we receive from local government agencies.

Other Donations

We can also use donations of tools & equipment, materials, gently-used vans & trucks, and other items. Our "wish list" varies at different times of the year, so please call us to find out our current needs.

Volunteer Opportunities

Your time is a valuable resource that you can share with Harambee. We need teams of volunteers to carry out the planning and implementation of our annual fundraisers, and we would love for you to come join us by working alongside our youth on the homes of community residents.

Prayer Requests

The most important way you can help Harambee is to pray! Pray for the young people, that they would know and understand in their hearts how much God loves them and allow Him to work in their lives so that they can become the men and women He created them to be. Also pray for our staff and our especially for our summer crew leaders as we begin to form this valuable team of mentors and trainers and look ahead to the intense summer days.

Downloads

Note: All document downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
 >> Click here to download this free program.

Contact: Aaron Henning, (314) 726-2302 ext. 25

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