A grant from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will allow the Urban Renaissance Center (URC), located in Flint’s historic Civic Park neighborhood, to expand its Fruits of Our Labor Program, an urban agriculture and youth workforce program.
“Through this work, we are establishing new pathways to teach, to serve, and to invite people to come unto Christ,” Pastor R. Sherman McCathern, URC CEO, said in a news release. “By engaging in community service, we are living out the Gospel: feeding the hungry, tending the land, and showing the love of Christ in action. This grant helps us turn long-vacant land into places of nourishment, training, and hope.”
The grant, along with other community support and funding sources, will be used to acquire essential equipment and complete urban farm infrastructure. Those improvements will help the program expand food production, job training opportunities, and add to neighborhood revitalization efforts. Equipment URC plans to acquire includes a small tractor with attachments, commercial rototillers and tools, a pickup truck or mini-excavator for site work, a large walk-in cooler for crop storage, fencing, irrigation, soil improvements, and more.
URC estimates that these improvements will allow them to activate and improve approximately 3.5 acres across 31 vacant lots by spring 2026. It will also provide training and employment to local young people ranging in age from 14-5 and increase the volume of produce grown and distributed to families in Flint.
In 2025, the Fruits of Our Labor program grew and distributed more than 2,200 pounds of produce and provided training to 35 young people. They cultivated a 6,000 square foot demonstration site and provided cooking workshops and other resources to the community.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supports a variety of causes globally, including providing funding to fight food insecurity, clean water, maternal and infant care, disaster relief, and more.
The Urban Renaissance Center is a nonprofit organization focused on neighborhood revitalization, food security, youth employment, and holistic community well-being, anchored in the Ubuntu philosophy of collaboration and shared resilience. URC holds long-term leases across Civic Park to support multi-year transformation through urban agriculture, workforce development, and community engagement.
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