Urojas Ministries: serving the community with prayer and preparation


By Oakland Post Staff
Saturday, May 16th, 2009 15:58:29


OAKLAND — When Dr. Jasper Lowery first opened his doors to community members and recently released prisoners in 1998, he had no idea it would turn into his life's work. But as Lowery is the 1st to point out-the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Lowery founded the Urojas Community Services as an informal way to help the people around him who were falling through the cracks of the traditional rehabilitation and social services organizations.

"It wasn't a program" Lowery maintains. "It was just us helping people."

Now, 11 years and 1500 people later, the West Oakland community center has blossomed into an oasis for the downtrodden,
with a complete resource network offering health care screenings, reentry programs and housing assistance.

Urojas offers programs daily to anyone who needs help. But as a community organization itself, there's still a long way to go.

In August 2008, Lowery and his staff of volunteers began walking the streets of West Oakland, taking their message to their neighbors that needed to hear it the most.

Initially Lowery says that young people standing on the street corners and the community members who could most benefit from their services were reluctant to speak to them.

He says it took months for people to even open up enough to return greetings, and many more before they would listen to his offers of help.

"There's another culture in the community and just setting up the program and thinking they're going to come to it isn't going to work" Lowery explains. "It's a slow dance, but now I have loved ones who will come up to me for a job or for services."

This experience drove home just how much work needed to be done in communities like East and West Oakland, and also highlights a fault in the model for public funding for programs like Urojas.

The implementation period required for these street level programs is often not considered when judging their effectiveness, and administrators often require quick results to continue funding.


Lowery says Urojas is in the process of applying for grants and establishing itself as a 501 (3) c nonprofit, but with the exception of a single $900 donation a year ago, the program has recieved no outside funding and is supported solely by and his wife, Dr. Victoria Lowery.

But lack of funding hasn't been enough to deter the Lowery's, who say that they will continue doing God's work.

"My commitment to my city speaks for itself" Lowery states. "My ministry is on the ground level, we've stayed on the ground level, and we're going to stay on the ground level."

For more information on Urojas Community Services or to donate visit their website at www.urojas.org

_______________________________________________________________________