VISION URBANA

Vision Urbana, Inc. (VU) was founded in 1993 as a faith-based initiative of the Primitive Christian Church, a long standing institution in the Lower East Side (LES) with a 60 year history of service, led by well-respected community leaders such as the current Senior Pastor Dr. Marcos Rivera, who is widely esteemed by local faith and political leaders, who currently sits on the NYCHA Faith based Advisory board and sits as the Chair for Vision Urbana, Inc. VU was Incorporated in 1996 as an independent NYS nonprofit and a federally tax exempt 501c3 organization. Since 1998, Vision Urbana has successfully operated a range of programs that help hundreds of low-income and economically distressed seniors, families and at-risk youth annually in the Lower East Side. These programs address issues of youth violence, poor educational attainment, lack of employment, health disparities and mental health, and the need for social and recreational activities, as well as mentorship, parent/family counseling, and youth leadership development. After spending more than ten years providing after school programming from 2000 to 2010 at Corlears Middle School (formerly JHS 56 located on the Lower East Side- the La Guardia Houses, and serving approximately 150 6th – 8th graders annually. Vision Urbana expanded its services to reach hundreds more teens after the tragic death of 16 year-old Raphael Sadonte Ward. In 2013, Vision Urbana, Inc. founded a unique and culturally sensitive mentorship program called the Empire Mentorship Initiative. Since 2018, VU has served District 1 residents through our food pantry at 64 Essex Street. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, VU pantry was the only one that did not close its doors while pioneering the “Pantry Express,” a home-delivery model of pantry that exploded VU’s reach from 200 residents to 2,000 residents.