UF History

The organization was founded in St. Louis in 1998 by a group of successful St. Louis professionals who were concerned that the youth in the region's core urban neighborhoods were being excluded from the nation's expanding prosperity. It started as an after-school mentoring program stressing a Parent-Mentor-Student relationship. The program emphasized the areas of academics and character development. In 2001, the program became UrbanFUTURE and moved to the Tower Grove neighborhood of St. Louis City. UrbanFUTURE has persevered through district changes and turbulence in educational administration for the past 13 years. UrbanFUTURE has grown to encompass an entire community with a continuum of care ranging from 4th-8th graders. Its programs of tutoring, mentoring and enrichment have impacted hundreds of students in a positive and powerful way. UF will continue to grow to reach more urban students in at-risk areas so that they too can see and believe in their possibilities.1998 UrbanFUTURE (formerly known as Meramec Educational Foundation) is founded in St. Louis by a group of successful St. Louis professionals who were concerned that the youth in the region's core urban neighborhoods were being left out of the nation's expanding prosperity.

UrbanFUTURE Timeline

		1998	UrbanFUTURE operates its after-school mentoring program in the old DeSales School Building at 2652 Iowa in the Fox Park neighborhood. The program consists of a Parent-Mentor-Student relationship and the areas of academics and character are stressed.
		2001	UrbanFUTURE moves its one-on-one programming to a school-based model by partnering with Fanning Middle CEC. The One on One INSPIRE™ Mentoring "pilot" program enrolls select middle school students. The INSPIRE team is composed of the parent, teacher and mentor working together on behalf of each student. UrbanFUTURE Team Leaders oversee each INSPIRE Team. UF receives "Program of the Year" for INSPIRE.
		2002	INSPIRE expands to include all 6th graders at Fanning. Students see a 38% increase in their literacy scores, moving from a 2nd grade reading level to a 5th grade reading level in one year thanks to the influence of the program and the mentors.
		2004	IMPACT™ Tutoring joins the UF line up to help support the INSPIRE teams by offering students homework help and academic tutoring. IMPACT is SES Certified with the State of Missouri. Edward Jones and City Property Company collaborate to cover the cost of UrbanFUTURE's new office space on South Grand Blvd. making UF a fixture in the Tower Grove Community. Walgreens continues its history of support by investing $300,000 and by appointing David Lovejoy, Vice President of Operations to the UF Board of Directors.
		2005	MetLife invests $35,000 enabling UrbanFUTURE to launch a new program called Explore!™ which allows urban students the opportunity to explore a multitude of career options through on-site visits, classroom projects in job readiness and business internships.
		2006	Inaugural Explore! Community Resource Guide, entirely student produced, is unveiled and distributed to the South Grand business district and Tower Grove Communities. UF retains Steven Wernet, Ph.D., St. Louis University to audit and evaluate 5 years of collected data. Findings include significant literacy and GPA increases. Creation of The UF Academy model aligns community resources to support students, families and schools.
		2007	UrbanFUTURE formally "adopts" Fanning Middle School and expands INSPIRE™ Program to Mann Elementary School.
		2008	UrbanFUTURE raises $156,000 in its most successful fundraiser to date. It is help at the home of local philanthropists Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield. The unveiling of the Community Cluster model is greeted with enthusiasm. The model focuses on continuing to provide support to students from the 4th to 8th grade and revolves around a middle school and the elementary schools that feed it.
		2009	The full slate of programs is added at Mann eMINTS Academy and it proves to be a successful year for students, tutors and mentors. Students improved their GPAs and literacy rates.
		2010	Formalized partnership with the Human Development Corporation to be part of a city-wide effort to develop a Harlem Children's Zone-type system in St. Louis.