The Urban Impact Community Fund was incorporated as a non-profit organization in York County in 2009 to act as catalyst to raise money to provide scholarships for York City students who wish to pursue higher education, but have a financial need to accomplish this goal.  Although the Urban Impact Community Fund is an independently operated organization, it is an initiative of 3Cord Inc., the educational management company that has established New Hope Academy Charter School and the alternative educational programs Challenge Academy and Impact Academy.  Urban Impact Community Fund is a friend of New Hope Academy Charter School and will raise funds in the name of New Hope as designated.

Through discussions with local non-profit leaders as well as 3Cord Inc., it was determined that the Urban Impact Community Fund would also act as a vessel through which a continuum of services could be provided for youth from birth through college and career.  This initiative is a result of the successful model implemented in a 97-block area in New York City known as the Harlem Children’s Zone.  This organization floods the area with educational, medical and social services that are provided for little or no cost to the children and families within the neighborhood.

We asked ourselves – why not do the same in York?  We realize that this is a huge undertaking, and we strive to partner with existing organizations for planning, funding, and service delivery.  To ensure success, we will work first to anchor the neighborhood where our largest school, New Hope Academy, is located.  Dubbed the King Street Corridor, we hope to revitalize and create safe passage from Hartley Street to Penn Street.   To do this we will to convene a consortium of public and private organizations as well as community leaders and neighbors in the King Street Corridor to strategize and implement revitalization of the area.  As this area thrives we will expand the initiative to the surrounding neighborhoods.