Our Mission
Ciudad Nueva Community Outreach seeks to embody the gospel of Jesus Christ by advancing the renewal and development of central El Paso’s Rio Grande neighborhood through the empowerment and transformation of its residents.
Our Vision
Ciudad Nueva Community Outreach envisions a thriving Rio Grande neighborhood with residents participating at every level of neighborhood transformation to cultivate restored hopes and new dreams.
In 2004, we started walking alongside just 10 third graders in the Rio Grande Historic District. Eighteen years later, Ciudad Nueva is building long-term relationships with hundreds of kids and their families through after-school programming, mentoring, summer camps, soccer teams, financial literacy programs, and community dinners. We are empowering youth, supporting families, equipping leaders and strengthening community.
Over the past eighteen years, Ciudad Nueva students have excelled in school and earned academic scholarships to college, youth have grown deep in their faith and now disciple students younger than themselves, parents work hard to learn English and acquire work skills, residents come together to advocate for improvements in the neighborhood, and a mosaic of downtown church denominations work alongside each other with profound care for the well-being of their church neighbors.
What Motivates Us
We have often been asked over the last 18 years about what motivates our community development work in our beloved Rio Grande District. What motivates our work is that we are called to love our neighbors, especially when the need is great.
- Education: 46% of adults have not completed high school, 77% of children are considered to be at-risk of not completing high school
- Income: The median household income is $16,630/year, 24% of households earn under $10,000/year
- Housing: 78% of residents are renters, 58% live in rental units with only one bedroom or no bedroom
- Transportation: 35% have no access to a vehicle, there is no major grocery store within walking distance
- Family: 82% of children are born to unmarried women, births to teenage moms is more than double the national average, 67% of young children live below poverty.
At Ciudad Nueva we envision an alternate future than what the statistics depict. We aspire to cultivate hope and an environment where kids, families and the community are empowered to move toward a successful future where these statistics are no longer a reality. In the beginning we started walking alongside just 10 third graders. Eighteen years later we are working with hundreds of neighbors as we empower youth, support families, strengthen community and equip leaders.
