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Welcome! Kid City is a strictly secular project of the Urban Foundation -- please navigate to kidcityhopeplace.org, for the most up-to-date information on Kid City.  

Kid City's mission is to help low-income youth of color to develop personally and professionally within an affirming community.

Most participants at Kid City are first-generation college or college-bound students living in downtown and South Central Los Angeles. Kid City recognizes the problem of educational inequity and severe economic hardship among the communities we serve. We strive to provide ways for students to access opportunities, explore their intellectual curiosity, and discover their ability to advocate for themselves and their communities. 

Kid City does our best to practice these values in all that we do:

• Radical welcome 
• Equity and inclusivity
• Cultural wealth
• Centering youth
• Community
• Knowledge
• Creative Expression

Join our Kid City Alumni Network  

Above, Kid City alum, Gladwin Osakwe, tells the story of how he came to Kid City. Thank you to Gladwin and the filmmaker Kobi Essilfie for this video !

Click here for more Kid City videos! 

Kid City... where “leadership is taking responsibility for the things you care about.”

Take a look at our instagram for current news.

Kid City is not just for kids. It’s a great place for mentors and volunteers to find joy and inspiration. Be a part of Kid City: join our mailing list, mentor a high school student in and through college, participate in our events as a guest-speaker on a career or college panel, and tell others about our work. You’ll find Kid City a wonderful experience, no matter how you decide to participate.Kid City... make it your city too.

We are growing!

Other churches and organizations have asked us to help start similar programs, or expand existing ones. We have the infrastructure, knowledge base, and passion to do it! But we can’t do it alone, and we need regular, ongoing support from people who share our vision. Please help!

Provide a challenge grant to help us recruit new donors and fund our programs. Donate, and invite others to make a one-time or recurring monthly donation on our Donate page. Give an internship to, or mentor a college-bound student. Volunteer in your area of expertise or interest. Donate laptops, musical instruments, or a 15-passenger van.

Thanks to our supporters!

Kid City is a program of the Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation and First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles. It has received funding from First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles, the United Methodist Women of First UMC, Justice and Compassion Ministries of the California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Vesper Society, the California Wellness Foundation, the Weingart Foundation, Dwight Stuart Youth Fund, Annenberg Foundation, California Community Foundation, All Ways Up Foundation, ECMC Foundation, Capital Group Companies, FoxGives of 21st Century Fox, Living Into the Future Foundation, Ross Dress for Less Foundation, the City and County of Los Angeles, California Arts Council, and many generous individual and business donors.

Kid City's music program is supported in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. It is open to all, regardless of religion.

Staff

Contact

•   Email  [email protected]
•   Phone  (213) 749-7371