Heart of Camden
Urban Promise Community Center
Erin McGee Ferrell and her husband, Nathan, owners of the CertaPro franchise in Moorestown, NJ, met 17 years ago as volunteers for Urban Promise. Urban Promise began in 1988 in Camden, NJ, to equip children and teens with skills necessary for academic achievement, life management, spiritual growth, and leadership. McGee Ferrell was inspired to get involved with Urban Promise again after seeing the nonprofit featured on a “20/20” special about youth in Camden and Moorestown, as well as on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” which featured an Urban Promise student and his family. Both shows aired on ABC television last year.
"The city is one of the country’s most troubled,” McGee Ferrell says. “But the people in Camden have a wealth of community spirit.” As an artist, McGee Ferrell understands color’s effect on psychology. “Painting and colors affect who you are and how you feel,” she says. Erin and Nathan contacted Mark Kahn of Vineland, Olin Johnson of Princeton/ Trenton, and Ray Breitwieser of Gloucester and Salem counties, who volunteered to help paint Urban Promise’s Samuel J. Paparone Student Center during the holidays.
“I got a call from Erin asking for volunteers,” says Johnson. “It is worthwhile what the organization is doing. Someone has to do it, or it wouldn’t get done.” He contributed the most manpower to the project with four available painters.
The interior had been painted new-construction white when the student center was built. But with the help of CertaPro, its halls are now alive with bright reds, blues, and oranges. Color has completely transformed the overall appearance. The project began over winter break while school was not in session, but the crew had to finish later when some of the students had returned, giving some of the painters the opportunity to interact with the students. “What the kids aren’t missing is spirit and spunk,” says McGee Ferrell, who also volunteers her time as an art teacher at the school.
The organization paid only for materials used in the project. Urban Promise depends on donations and volunteers to help maintain its facilities and continue its work, which includes after-school programs, teen mentoring, summer camps, private education from kindergarten through grade 12, and a program for single fathers. “It really is the heart of Camden,” says McGee Ferrell.
Besides its location in Camden, Urban Promise has centers in Wilmington, DE; Toronto, ON; and Vancouver, BC. For information, visit www.urbanpromiseusa.org.
Painters Juan Diaz, Bernardo Diaz, and Jorge Cordon of Princeton / Trenton transform the halls of the Urban Promise student center.
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