CityKid Java was created in 2002 by Urban Ventures, a nonprofit organization based in South Minneapolis. CityKid sprang forth as a creative business venture to help our social programs become more self-sustaining. As the competition for charitable dollars becomes ever more intense, this “earned-income” strategy becomes ever more essential.

Since 1993, Urban Venture’s mission has been to help local residents and businesses improve themselves in ways that make the community more livable, sustainable and safe. We accomplish this through these core programs.

• People’s Exchange – Neighbors helping neighbors—providing food, clothing, furniture and emergency assistance to more than a thousand residents in need each year.
• The Learning Lab – A tutoring program that helps hundreds of low-income youth build their academic and technical abilities so they may pursue post-secondary education and become more self-sufficient.
• Urban Stars Athletic Club – Each year more than 500 inner-city kids participate in soccer, basketball and track and field programs that teach life skills and develop leadership through sports.
• GoLATINO! - A collection of programs for Latino families and youth designed to stabilize and strengthen the Minneapolis Latino community. More than 1,500 families participate each year.
• Center for Families – The Center for Families is committed to bringing about positive social change in poor communities by seeking out, guiding, teaching and motivating fathers and mothers to become responsible parents in the struggle to save their children and families from the social ills brought on by family breakdown.
• Kitchen of Opportunities – A collaborative venture with the Second Harvest Heartland that provides on-site culinary-training to prepare students for food-service careers—and feed people in need at the same time.
• Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center – The Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center will be a world class facility that contains a unique collaboration of educational, career and character-building programs. The goal of the Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center is to help youth graduate from high school and go on to some form of post-secondary education.

Go to Urban Ventures website, click here.