This Is What 30 Years of Investment Looks Like [video]
In 1997, Carlos Armenes walked into Urban Ventures thinking he was signing up for a soccer club. Thirty years later, he's still here - but now as a business owner, father, and mentor who employs 40 people and provides affordable housing for 14 families in the same South Minneapolis neighborhood where someone once believed in him.
This is his story:
"The investment someone made back then didn't just help me stay busy a few summers 30 years ago. It changed the trajectory of my life." - Carlos
Carlos arrived in Minneapolis with a backpack, no English, and no connections. Today, he and his wife run Roots Wellness Center and partner with Urban Ventures to provide workshops for small businesses and online safety training for parents.
The relationship didn't end when the season did. That's what lasting impact looks like.
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All right. So, I'm Carlos and I'm an Urban Ventures-aholic. So, you're supposed to say hi, Carlos. All right. Thank you.
My name is Carlos Armendariz. Today I'm 41 years old, father, small business owner, and someone deeply committed to mentoring people, especially those who remind me of who I once was. But that journey didn't begin in a boardroom or in my own business. It started in an abandoned-looking lot that we used as a football pitch just a block and a half away from here where the school stands now, nearly 30 years ago, long before I understood what mentorship really meant.
I moved to Minnesota from Guadalajara, Mexico in April of 1997 and started attending Folwell Middle School here in Minneapolis. A friend named Orvin, who I still play soccer with every Saturday, invited me to join a soccer club, Urban Stars. I thought I was just signing up to play football, but instead I stepped into a community that permanently shaped my future.
On that team, we were coached by a young Brazilian coach named Jeremy. What I later came to understand is that Jeremy, as well as so many others here at Urban Ventures, weren't just coaches—they were mentors. During car rides to faraway early tryouts and practices, Jeremy talked to me about college scholarships. He talked to me about family. He talked to me about purpose, and even planted a seed that one day I could own my own business.
I only played for Stars a couple of seasons, but by the third season, Jeremy was driving me to elite tryouts, making sure I didn't just dream bigger, but that I actually stepped into bigger opportunities. For the next four years, I was able to travel around the US playing with elite football clubs and also representing Minnesota in regional tournaments. I was able to try out for the regional team and even the US national team, resulting in receiving many opportunities to play Division One football.
Around that same time, I met Susanna Espinosa, who ran the Urban Ventures Learning Lab, a place where students could come and do homework after school and learn the new world of dial-up internet, if you remember that. Since 1997, Susanna has continued to support my family in different ways, proving that mentorship at Urban Ventures doesn't end when the season does. It continues through life.
Through the years, my mother assisted in the Mexican Independence Day celebration preparation, and last year we came full circle. Roots Wellness Center, the community organization my wife founded 10 years ago, partnered with Susanna and Urban Ventures to provide small businesses in the area with a workshop to implement social media applications into their business practices. We also partnered with Franklin to teach parents about online safety for their kids.
Today, after having a successful 20-year career in corporate America, I run my own business along with my wife. We have a mental health agency and intentionally invest in mentoring others because someone once did that for me. Urban Ventures didn't just help me in middle school. It helped me define the kind of man, the kind of father, and the leader I strive to be decades later.
I have learned that mentorship is not limited to classrooms, office spaces, or official titles. It happens on a football pitch, in a tech lab. It happens on a quick ride or in a simple conversation with a young person who just needs someone to believe in them more than they believe in themselves.
Now, I was in sales for a long time, so with that in mind, I'd like to speak directly to the donors here in the room. If you're wondering about your ROI—that's my salesman in me—your return on investment, please look at me. I'm a first-generation immigrant who arrived in Minneapolis with a backpack with a few clothes, no English—you've probably heard that before—no friends, no comforts. The investment someone, maybe sitting in the room here, made back then didn't just help me stay busy a few summers 30 years ago. It changed the trajectory of my life.
Today, through Roots Wellness Center and the property management company my wife and I founded, we employ over 40 people. We provide affordable housing for 14 families and a space for three businesses to thrive in our community. Because of what was poured into us decades ago, we're able to operate and own our agency, Roots Wellness.
Something to understand is that mentorship is always happening. It can happen outside in the streets with negative influences, or it can happen in the field, in the tech labs, in the classroom. The youth in this community just need an opportunity to connect with someone special that will impact their life positively the way I did with Jeremy and Susanna Espinosa.
I came to Urban Ventures thinking I was going to join a soccer club. What I found was access to a community, purpose, direction, and most importantly, opportunity, along with a network of mentors who modeled what it means to lift others when they need it the most.
As I end, I want to thank Jeremy, who's not here, Susanna, Urban Ventures, and also I want to thank you all in advance for the difference that you're about to make in this community. Thank you.
Your gift, matched! Through December 31, every $2 you give becomes $3 of lasting impact.
Learn more and make your matched gift at urbanventures.org/lasting-impact
