WELCOME!

"I am because we are" 

Welcome to the Ujamaa Place Blog. We hope you will get to know our organization with our postings. More important we hope you will get to know the Ujamaa men better and many people who help them transform their lives.  Ujamaa is Swahili and means family. Roy Barker one of the early leaders at Ujamaa suggested the name.

"We have a model that works, it addresses all the needs, and it's an intense process," says Otis Zanders, chief executive officer and president of Ujamaa Place in St. Paul.

Many lack a high school education; they're homeless, unemployed, have mental health and or chemical health issues and are burdened with prison records.

John Harrington, one of the founders of the organization, said as St. Paul police chief, "We can not incarcerate our way out this problem."

Zanders points to important factors of the Ujamaa Place approach, "our growth involves important partners, corporate and foundation support, we strive to empower our men, we work to repair the damage, erase barriers, remove obstacles, create level playing fields, we want the men to feel safe and live in a safe environment, we focus on stewardship, being a good person, a good father.  And it working.”

Zanders continues, "Our record reflects success because we work diligently on our plan for transformation."

The new blog is entitled, "I am because we are" (it's a simple statement of profound understanding of human inter connectedness).  This Swahili phrase drawn from Ubuntu philosophy speaks about wholeness, and about compassion.  Thank you for reading our first Ujamaa Place blog.   

We look forward to your feedback!

For more information please check out our website at www.ujamaaplace.org