About Urban Connection

We believe in people the economy counts out

Urban Connection is a nonprofit that empowers vulnerable communities to thrive in the changing economy. This is the story of why.

Photo: Hans and Michelle, founders

The founders

Hans & Michelle

Hans and Michelle have spent about twenty years as professional recruiters — the people companies trust to find their workers. They know how hiring actually works: what gets a person noticed, what gets a resume read, and what happens on the other side of the desk.

They've spent those same twenty years doing something else, too: showing up for people most of the world walks past. That part of their life became Urban Connection.

Our story

Three chapters, one conviction

Skid Row, Los Angeles

It didn't start with a program. It started with meals and presence on Skid Row — showing up week after week for people living through the hardest seasons of their lives. What Hans and Michelle learned there shaped everything since: people don't need to be rescued. They need to be seen, respected, and connected to real opportunity.

Wando International, Uganda

That conviction traveled. Through Wando International, women in Uganda learned the craft of paper beading — a skill they could practice with what they had. They formed collectives, working and selling together, and partners helped carry their work to buyers far beyond their villages.

The pattern was simple and it worked: a gateway skill, a community that works together, and a connection to a market. Women who had been surviving day to day built stable incomes — and some built homes of their own.

Urban Connection, today

Today the economy is changing fast, and the people who feel it first are the same people who always feel it first: hourly workers, service workers, people without degrees or connections. Urban Connection brings the Wando pattern home — a practical skill, a community that walks together, and a connection to opportunity — through free programs like The Modern Job Hunt.

What we believe

Our values

Dignity, never pity

The people we serve are capable, hard-working, and resourceful. Our job is to open doors, not to feel sorry for anyone.

Free means free

Our programs cost participants nothing — no fees, no fine print, no pressure. Help that comes with a hook isn't help.

Show up and keep showing up

Real change happens over weeks and months, not in a single handout. We build programs people can return to every week.

Skills, community, connection

The Wando pattern is our blueprint: teach a real skill, build a community around it, and connect people to genuine opportunity.

Come see what we do

The best way to know us is to join a session — or read what eighteen years of this work has looked like.

Join the Free Program See Our Impact