At street level, youth get up-close look at life on the margins

Worship is about showing up and giving yourself to others, not just saying the right words. An immersive learning experience challenges youth to put that idea into practice.

Walking the streets of uptown Charlotte, a visiting youth group spotted signs of homelessness — benches used as beds, worn dirt paths, and bags filled with life’s possessions. The group gazed skyward at high-rise apartments and modern bank towers, a juxtaposition of beauty and brokenness side-by-side.

You’re not here to fix anything, adult guides told the visitors from Assurance UMC in Huntersville. You’re here to notice, to show up, to care.

The experience marked the launch of Brokenomics: Street Level, a Foundation-supported initiative to expose youth to economic disparity through a Gospel lens. Among Scripture passages that framed three days of activities:

• If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness (Isaiah 58:10).
• Speak up for the people who have no voice… Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute! (Proverbs 31:8–9).

Offered in partnership with Collective Renewal Resource, the initiative fits with the Foundation’s mission to equip the next generation for lives of purpose and meaning.

Participants navigate public transportation and search for places in uptown Charlotte to rest and eat for less than $10. They’re encouraged to strike up conversations with people they see along the way. The group from Assurance served at Roof Above’s Day Services Center, Moore Place, and Hope Chapel, the home of a United Methodist ministry called Word on the Street (pictured below).

“Our goal was not to pretend to be homeless,” said Michelle Wilson, director of youth ministry at Assurance. “But to better understand what daily life is like for those who are.”

The message, says Rev. Charles DiRico of Word on the Street, is to “focus less on changing those we encounter — and more on the change that can occur within those of us who have been sent.”

Sleeping in tents on the church lawn (no phones were allowed) illuminated the idea of being exposed and vulnerable. As a culmination, youth stood in Sunday worship to share what they had experienced. A video excerpt is posted below.

“If enough hearts and minds are changed,” Charles said, “perhaps we will end the broken economic structures that keep so many of our neighbors in need.”

Background on the program

In a time of growing wealth gaps and persistent societal stigmas, Brokenomics: Street Level invites visiting youth groups to follow Jesus into spaces of economic disparity and discover a deeper, socially informed vision of God’s Kingdom.

Learning outcomes

Participants will:

• Deepen their faith in Christ through scriptural and theological engagement, reflecting on God’s heart for justice, mercy, and the dignity of every person.
• Explore systemic and personal dimensions of economic disparity, including poverty, wealth accumulation, stigmatization, and mental health challenges.
• Engage directly with the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church, applying them to real-life contexts and ministry practice.
• Participate in contextual ministry with unhoused neighbors, learning through proximity, presence, and shared service.
• Gain intellectual and practical tools to live as thoughtful, relational, and socially engaged disciples—equipped for holistic witness in a broken world.

For more information, please contact Caroline Wood, the Foundation’s Associate Director of Programs. Reach Caroline by email here or phone at 888-450-1956, Ext. 1002.