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Gordon Thayer also directs the American Indian Housing and Community Development Corporation, funded by the St. Paul Companies and Dain Rauscher. Full-time medical care and case managers helped 100 homeless alcoholics last year, and 15 people who had made up to 75 detox or emergency room hospital visits per year made significant changes in their lives.

Erickson says that when business owners return to the inner city, they have an opportunity to act redemptively. They can begin to "reweave what has been unraveled" in the last 35 years as people with skills and resources have vacated metropolitan areas all over the nation.

"What this has produced is a metropolitan doughnut, with a hole in the inside. What we're seeking is an English muffin, or better yet, a Bismarck, with the goodie in the middle. And it can happen like that," he says, snapping his fingers, "if business folks join us at the table."

Todd Svanoe (storycraft1@yahoo.com) is an urban reporter who covers effective faith-based ministries around the nation.

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Minnesota Public Radio had a report on Urban Ventures last year.

The Twin Cities Urban Reconciliation Network site offers more information about the organization and its leadership, and has a way to sign up for its newsletter.

The Christian Community Development Association site has several pages on community development, the CCDA, and member organizations, including the Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation. The CCDA's sister site, Urban Onramps, includes links to relevant media articles and organizations.

Previous Christianity Today articles on urban community development include:

Taking Back Fresno | Working together, churches are breathing new life into a decaying California city. (Mar. 10, 2000)

Apostle to the City | To urban expert Ray Bakke, cities are the laboratory of God's mission in the world, not a problem to be solved. (Mar. 3, 1997)

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May 21 2001, Vol. 45, No. 7