URBANPROMISE
“The right professional and mission-aligned support…”

 
Jodina Hicks, Executive Director

From humble beginnings in 1988 as a grassroots spin-off of an evangelical educational association, UrbanPromise has evolved into a diversified youth serving organization equipping children and young adults with the skills needed for academic achievement, life management, spiritual growth, and Christian leadership in the highly challenging environment of Camden, N.J. Working in a city that has been labeled as America’s poorest and most violent, UrbanPromise today operates private elementary, middle and high schools, after-school programs, summer camps, teen job training, outdoor expeditionary learning activities, a fine arts program, and mentoring opportunities for hundreds of youths.

When Executive Director Jodina Hicks – who had been involved with UrbanPromise from its earliest days and for the next 12 years – returned to the organization in 2010 after a 10-year hiatus, she found a nonprofit facing serious issues. “Our financial situation wasn’t great. We had been running deficits for two years and had expended our reserves cushion, plus we were dealing with the recession,” she recalls. “In addition to needing to increase our revenues, my first task was to do an assessment to determine our situation and to put controls and accountabilities in place over our revenues and spending.”

With its rapid growth, UrbanPromise had become necessarily more complex. Today it has a budget of over $3 million, 70 full-time employees and interns, and is the largest employer of teenagers in Camden. It has launched satellite programs in Trenton, Wilmington, Miami, Vancouver and Toronto, and international affiliates in Malawi and Honduras.

“We had started out as a grassroots organization and created things as we went. But we had reached a point where we now needed to be more strategic and plan for the future. We found that we didn’t have the expertise or training internally to strengthen our financials quickly.”

An accountant recommended Your Part-Time Controller. Eric Fraint met with the group and Hicks recalls three specific reasons why the relationship was love at first sight:

“I was excited about having the opportunity to work with a financial group that specializes in nonprofits. YPTC provides much greater vision, knowledge and insight than if we were working with a one-person, stand-alone firm,” she says.

“Two, having an outside, objective look helps keep us sharp and accountable. And three, we really like Eric and his people! We feel like they’re doing us a service and partnering with us, and they’re constantly honest and open with us.”

YPTC Associate Cheryl Miller comes in one day a week. “She was an immediate hit,” says Hicks. “Everyone in our leadership system has been continually amazed that we have such a nice accountant who talks to us and doesn’t make us feel dumb. She makes budget reviews and accounting exciting!”

Miller helped UrbanPromise immediately achieve a major first step: the organization finished its fiscal year in the black. “She got our new systems and controls in place to give me the oversight I need to get a good view of where we are and to allow our directors and staff to have good information.

“I couldn’t be happier. She has very quickly gotten us into a good place financially,” Hicks adds.

“With Cheryl I have no worries and YPTC gives her direction in areas I couldn’t provide her with. We now have the right professional and mission-aligned support that we didn’t have a year ago.”