We have received bank loan approval for the new community center. As we moved forward to initiate the project in the fall of 2008, we took the time to evaluate the new building in light of our current ministry situation and the current economic situation.
Urban Impact is an urban ministry of 20 years which serves this community on a variety fronts. We have seen our ministry grow since Katrina and with people coming to faith monthly.
We are blessed to have a ministry with assets and no debt; however, at our current ministry level, we are encountering a monthly ministry operation shortfall which we feel needs to be addressed before moving forward.
One thing we are sure of, once the building is complete ministry demands will expand significantly. If we do not address this monthly ministry operations deficit now, we will have 
to face an even a greater one once the building project is completed.
We have witnessed at least four churches of greater membership and physical facilities struggle the first couple of years following their facility completion. It is our desire to build out a position of financial strength not to be overly burdened with a short fall in our operations budget.
We know this is what God is calling us to do at this time, before moving forward. For this reason, we are delaying the start date of the project. UIM is committed to building a new ministry center. Growth in all ministry areas dictates that we will need to begin building as soon as possible.
In our community, the porch is the hub of family activities, where grandmothers watch their grandchildren play, neighbors swap stories and parents rest after a hard days work.
For seven years, our present facility has been our porch, our gathering place.
While this facility has served us well, it has limited our ability to expand our impact on the neighborhood for several years now. For example:
Building a Bigger Porch