Upower: 2024 President’s Council Community Leadership Award 🏆

Upower WINS 2024 President’s Council on Sport, Fitness, & Nutrition Community Leadership Award Upower is honored to be one of twenty awardees of the 2024 Community Leadership Award from the President’s Council on Sport, Fitness & Nutrition. Upower’s Executive Director traveled to Washington, DC, to receive the award and connect with other inspiring organizations dedicated to uplifting…

Upower’s Field Trip to Seahawks Training Camp

We are thrilled to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Seattle Seahawks for hosting our Seattle Housing Authority program participants at their training camp. This incredible opportunity was made possible through Upower’s partnership with the Seahawks, allowing kids from the Seattle Housing Authority’s Highpoint community in West Seattle to experience the excitement of watching their…

The 2023-2024 school year was Upower’s most impactful year to date! What are Upower Youth Saying about Upower this Year?     To learn more about our 2023-2024 impact, read our 2nd Annual Report! 2023-2024 Annual Report Upower Shoe Drive! Support Upower students’ back-to-school needs by donating new or gently used sneakers to our SHOE…

Upower Summer Programming

A New Season of Possibilities Dear Upower Community, As the warm days of summer unfold, we are excited to welcome this season of change and growth. We extend heartfelt congratulations to all the 2024 high school graduates! Your hard work and dedication have paid off, and we are eager to see the incredible paths you…

Happy Women’s History Month! As we step into March, we’re thrilled to honor and celebrate Women’s History Month with you. This is a time to recognize the incredible impact that women have had on shaping our world, both in the past, present, and the future ahead. Throughout this month, we invite you to join us…

Happy Black History Month

History Black History Month originated in 1915 by historian and author Carter G. Woodson who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now known as the association for the Study of African American Life and History. Dr. Woodson initiated the first Negro History Week in February 1926, selecting the week of…

Dodge for a Cause One Month Countdown

Hey Dodgeball Squad, Get ready to unleash your inner dodgeball champion because Dodge for a Cause is just ONE month away on March 14th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.! We hope you’re stretching those throwing arms and preparing for a night of epic dodgeball showdowns, all for a good cause. Word on the street…

Happy New Year! 2023 Upower Recap

Happy New Year!   As we wave goodbye to 2023, our hearts overflow with gratitude for your incredible support during a year packed with milestones for Upower! Looking ahead to 2024, we’re excited for what’s in store and can’t wait to continue playing together. Thank you for being an essential part of our story as…

You’re Invited: Dodge, Dip, Dive, Donate for a Cause with Upower

(tag, you’re in) It’s time for our annual Dodge for a Cause fundraiser! Let’s rally together to support underserved youth in our community with every throw, dip, and dodge. Register below! REGISTER HERE For additional details, please reach out to noel@u-power.org via email.  

Save the Date… Dodgeball is Coming

Get Ready to Dodge, Dive, Duck, and Make a Difference! Get your dodgeball squad assembled, folks, because the grand return of Dodge for a Cause is on the horizon! Mark your calendars for March 14, 2024, because that’s when we’re unleashing dodgeball mayhem! We’re not saying you need to practice your dodge, dip, dive, duck,…

Upower’s Annual Report 2022-2023

Hi Upower Community, After years of development and preparation, we are proud to share our first-ever Annual Report with you. We want to highlight that 66% of our participants are of a protected status, juvenile justice, or undocumented youth, and unfortunately, their responses cannot be published publicly but are being utilized for internal review. The…

Highpoint Summer Basketball Program

Ready for round two? Upower summer basketball programming is back at Highpoint Community Center. The program offers a great opportunity for young basketball enthusiasts between the ages of 13 and 18 to improve their skills and have a memorable summer. Upower focuses on providing quality basketball instruction while also fostering a positive and inclusive environment for…

Upower recognized in BMC Public Health Research Article

Upower published a research manuscript with Seattle Children’s Center and Highline School District for our work during the COVID-19 Pandemic, distributing play kits to PE classes at Glasier Middle School. Click below if you would like to read more about it! Upower’s Publication

Thank you!

  Thank you to everyone who participated in Upower’s Shoe Drive. A special shoutout to F45 Central District for donating over 30 pairs of shoes! We have begun to distribute the shoes across all Upower sites, the kids are so excited about their new kicks!

Shoe Drive

Hello King County! Our kids are in need of athletic shoes. We are accepting all sizes – NEW and GENTLY USED. Drop off location: Upower’s Office 1223 E Cherry St Suite B, Seattle, WA 98122. Reach out to Sam – samantha@u-power.org to coordinate pick up or drop off.

Match with Marky!

  2023 Announcement Upower will be skipping our Annual Dodge for a Cause dodgeball tournament as we plan to move it earlier in the year of 2024. So give your arms a rest as we plan for the biggest Dodge for a Cause in 2024! In the meantime, we will be testing some other fundraising…

“Hero of the Deep”

Seattle Kraken Unity Fund: One Roof Foundation donates $32,000 to Upower in honor of Upower’s Program Director, Marisa Patrick – “Hero of the Deep”.

We’re Growing Up

We’ve Moved! Upower team has moved offices into a much bigger space with more room to PLAY. Our new office will provide the opportunity to hold trainings and room for the Upower team to work collaboratively on our newly implemented Upower curriculum and evaluation. Our hope is the bigger office space will provide ample opportunity to…

Dodge for a Cause 2022 Recap

Congratulations to DUCK DYNASTY for the win!   Thank you to all the team captains for rallying your team, and all the players for showing up ready to compete! We hope everyone had a great time playing with us! You all donated over $18,000 in room bringing our total raised for Dodge for a Cause…

DODGEBALL 2022

Back to School

Upower’s summer programming sites were: King County Juvenile Detention Center,  Echo Glen Children’s Center,  YouthCare’s Casa de los Amigos,  Yesler Community Center,  High Point Community Center. We had a blast meeting new youth and connecting with the community this summer! By the Numbers for Summer 2022 Curriculum Rollout: Upower staff have spent the last year…

Summer Basketball Programs

SAVE THE DATE: Dodge For a Cause

We’re Back Better Than Ever

Upower Programs are Back and Better than Ever! As this 2021-2022 school year comes to an end Upower reflects on our programs post Covid-19 pandemic and our impact in the community. Upower has continued our coalition work with King County Play Equity Coalition and participated as a liaison for justice involved youth in Moving in…

Match With Marky!

Mark Paper generously pledged to match up to $25,000 in giving over the month of February in honor of the beginning of his 90th year (his birthday is on February 25th). Mark asked the Upower community to give to assist Upower in addressing disparities to active healthy and matched every dollar up to $25,000! Thank…

Fall Recap 2021

Fall Recap 2021! With Fall comes change. Upower has also changed, scaling back programming, remaining at Choice Academy, Echo Glen Children’s Center, King County Juvenile Detention, and Interagency-Queen Anne. We are taking this time to focus on curriculum development, Upower’s Train the Trainer, and bolstering staff training. We are excited for what lies ahead and…

A Message from Upower’s New Executive Director

Hi Upower Community! I am thrilled and excited to announce my promotion to Upower’s Executive Director; don’t worry Martha Moseley will still be coaching and Upower’s board President. As I transition from Upower’s Director of Special Projects to Executive Director, I wanted to share a little about me. My name is Leighla Webb and I…

Seahawk Players Visit Upower Classes Via The Nature Project

Almost five years ago, former Seahawk Cooper Helfet and friend Charles Post took a hike through Olympic National Park. It was on that hike that The Nature Project was born. Their intention was simple: to create opportunities for underserved youth to experience the outdoor classroom in the company of their heroes, mentors, and professional athletes….

Upower 2020

Upower 2020 Expansion, Collaboration, and Research! Upower 2020 is about growing, partnership building, and delving deeper into exacting facts that support our mission. On King County’s Eastside, we’re increasing programming at the Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie and collaborating with Rainier Athletes to host classes at the Bellevue Family YMCA. Rainier Athletes is a…

2019 Highlights

2019 Highlights More Students Reached, Community Partnerships Strengthened, Funding Goals Surpassed Happy New Year! The year 2019 was big for Upower. It marked our fifth anniversary providing underserved teens access to fitness & wellness classes and resulted in some exciting milestones. Upower set an all-time fundraising record, made possible by generous individual, foundation, corporate, and…

King County Parks Spotlights Upower

King County Parks Spotlights Upower!      “We have developed a series of illustrations to share the amazing work of our grantee partners and the incredible impact you’re having on youth in our community” – King County Parks Click here to read our spotlight!   Back←

YES Initiative Wins Grant

YES Initiative Wins Federal Grant   A result of a collaboration formed via the King County Play Equity Coalition, Upower, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, UW Center for Leadership in Athletics, and Highline Public Schools have collectively won a federal grant for their Youth Engagement in Sports (YES) Initiative – a plan created to improve adolescent…

Dodge for A Cause Recap

Tons of Teams, Funding Record Set   Thank you to all who came out for our 5th Annual Dodgeball Tournament Fundraiser! It was a record year in terms of the number of participating teams and money raised to support of our mission. Our fundraising goal was $150,000 and we reached $134,000! Though short by $16,000,…

Program Update

New Location, New Students As we continue to grow our partnerships with Interagency Academy, King County Juvenile Detention, and Highline Public Schools, we are busy expanding our programming. Upower classes will soon be offered at the Echo Glen Children’s Center and to middle schools students in the Highline school district. Echo Glen is a Washington…

State of Play: Seattle-King County Study Shows Sobering Results

King County Youth Below National Physical Activity Levels State of Play: Seattle-King County is the result of an eight-month of comprehensive research study led by the UW Center for Leadership in Athletics and involving more than 1,600 parents, K-12 students, and coaches through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. On the whole, the study concluded that…

King County Extends Grant

King County Extends BSK Grant   In May 2017, Upower was a recipient of Best Starts for Kids Healthy and Safe Environments – a grant funded by King County to increase access to physical activity and create safe and health promoting environments. This award guaranteed a continued working relationship with Interagency Academy for 18 months,…

Plans for 2019

Welcome 2019 New Locations, New Students, New Projects Expansion may turn out to be the Upower buzzword of 2019 as we’re on track to add two new locations, offer our program to a new demographic, and continue evolving our partner relationships. This year, we are teaching classes at a youth immigrant shelter and launching a…

Zero Youth Detention Blogs About Upower

Trauma-Informed Fitness Leads to Skill Building for Youth Zero Youth Detention has posted blog about Upower that captures the essence of our work in the King County Juvenile Detention Center. Click here to read it! [greenbar] Back←

Our Founder Talks About the Importance of Exercise

Our Founder Talks About the Importance of Exercise UW Medicine Sports Health and Safety Institute is an international education, advocacy, and research organization dedicated to sport safety and the value of sports participation. They made a video featuring our founder and president, Martha Moseley. Watch as Martha describes why exercise is so important. Thank you…

Team Building! Team Boxing!

Team Building! Team Boxing! Professional development day takes on a whole new meaning if you’re a Upower coach. In conjunction with celebrating the end of the school year, our coaches were treated to an afternoon at Cappy’s Boxing Gym spending time together and learning how to box. Afterwards more team building and celebrating ensued as…

Dodge For A Cause Recap

Tons of Teams, Funding Record Set! Thank you to all who came out for our 5th Annual Dodgeball Tournament Fundraiser! It was a record year in terms of the number of participating teams and money raised to support of our mission. Our fundraising goal was $150,000 and we reached $134,000! Though short by $16,000, we…

Upower Board News

Lesa Linster Joins Our Board   We are pleased to announce that Lesa Linster has joined Upower’s Board of Directors. Lesa is the owner of Linster Creative, a full-spectrum marketing and PR agency in Seattle, WA. With more than 20 years’ experience in brand development, media and public relations, strategic marketing, and events, she works…

Upower to Help Bring On Project Play!

Kate to Speak at Forum About Project Play! To help fight the decreasing physical activity rates of King County’s youth, the University of Washington’s Center for Leadership in Athletics and King County Parks have teamed up to bring the Aspen Institute’s Project Play to our area. Project Play is a national initiative that provides stakeholders…

Getting Ready to Plant

Getting Ready to Plant We’re busy preparing for the upcoming growing season by planning spring gardens at our at Juvenile Detention and Interagency Queen Anne locations. Interagency partner Sawhorse Revolution – a Seattle-based nonprofit that teaches high school students carpentry and related job skills – is building new garden beds while the teens help us…

Upower joins new movement: Sound Food Uprising!

Puget Sound’s Food is Uprising! Upower has joined the Sound Food Uprising! The brainchild of the Beecher’s Foundation, this 10-year consumer education campaign aims change the demand for unhealthy food in the Puget Sound area through education, cooking, and advocacy. Uprising staff members attend select Upower classes – equipped with cutting boards, utensils, a portable…

Adding JD Classes Expand Our Services Dramatically

New Location Adds 23 Classes! At the close of 2017, we added 23 classes to serve teens in The King County Juvenile Division (Juvenile Detention), tripling the total amount of classes we offer. Juvenile Detention is part of the Interagency Academy network. We are excited about expanding our partnership with IA and providing 120 new…

Trauma-Informed Fitness Coaches Build Our team

A Little Help From A Friend! We’re fortunate to have a leading national organization in our camp. Up2Us Sports is a nonprofit that trains young adults to coach and mentor kids who face adversity. Importantly, Up2Us teaches trauma-sensitive tactics to help youth channel their toxic stress and negative impulses into positive behavior. For recruiting assistance,…

2018 Highlights

2018 Highlights We Grew, Held an Epic Fundraiser, and Received Community Recognition. Upower’s 2018 was quite a year! It marked the addition of two new locations, King County Juvenile Detention and University District Youth Center – thus tripling the number of classes we offer. Meanwhile, we continued serving teens across multiple Interagency Academy campuses and at…

Dodging, Dipping & Diving to Support Upower!

Dodgeball Recap This year’s event reached a whole new level. Held for the first time at Seattle University’s Connolly Center, something about being in collegiate athletic facility seemed to resonate with everyone. Costume-clad teams brought their A-game and played to win it all as exceptionally enthusiastic spectators rooted them on! Many thrilling games ensued. In…

I LIKE Upower Because…

I LIKE Upower Because… We teach classes at Interagency Academy Queen Anne – a campus specifically for teens in recovery from alcohol and drug abuse. To better gauge our programming and out of sheer curiosity, we asked our teens: “Why do you like Upower? And they said: Chris: “I like how Upower puts the emphasis…

Fall Classes Underway

So happy to be back with our amazing Interagency students! [foogallery id=”5335″] [greenbar] Back←

Meet Coach Charleen

Meet Coach Charleen Our rock star. That’s what we call Charleen Kretschmer. Since Upower’s inception, Charleen has volunteered her time and shared her infectious energy by coaching several classes a week, wherever she is asked to go. In the summertime, spotting Charleen is easy. She’s the coach with the “drill sergeant” whistle leading workouts and…

Learn. Grow. Share!

Learn. Grow. Share! A lot is happening in the Interagency Garden this summer! Together with YouthCare Garden Works, we are showing teens how to plant and grow their own healthy food, and how to cook meals from what they harvest. In addition to learning about the garden, our classes are about teaching an interactive healthy…

Battle at the Ballpark

Battle at the Ballpark The Seattle Mariners’ Battle at the Ballpark took place Saturday, July 8. It was a great day at Safeco Field where local teams competed in CrossFit workouts. Upower volunteers were on hand to set up equipment, judge teams and staff our booth. Generously, a portion of the proceeds went to support…

Thank You Brooks Running!

Thank You Brooks Running! Brooks Running kindly donated shoes to our JD teens who promptly made space for them in the gym. We are so appreciative! [greenbar] Back←

Summer Plans

Summer Plans We’re back at Rainier Beach High School for the 3rd straight summer. Our classes take place on the football field and typically attract around 30 teens who are open to trying all kinds of workouts. The group is always diverse and energetic. Our goal is to continue the relationship building, engage more teens…

Upower Awarded Significant Grant

Upower Awarded Significant Grant   We’re thrilled to announce Upower is a recipient of Best Starts for Kids Healthy and Safe Environments – a grant funded by King County to increase access to physical activity and create safe and health promoting environments. This award guarantees a continued working relationship with Interagency Academy for the next…

Our Program Expands

Our Program Expands   Upower is now at 6 Interagency Academy campuses. Our newest addition is Opportunity Skyway, an airport-based education program located at Seattle’s Boeing Field that combines academic and vocational learning with career exploration. Upower adds the fitness and health & wellness component. Our workouts take place in an old airport hangar. The…

Thank You Jake’s Pickup

Thank You Jake’s Pickup We’re delighted! Jake’s Pickup will again be providing their scrumptious special “Upower” cookies for our upcoming Dodgeball Fundraiser. When on Bainbridge Island, be sure to visit Jake’s (inside Chevron’s Hungry Bear Market) and enjoy mostly organic comfort food that’s made from scratch. As they say, it’s your fork in the road…

Richard Sherman Family Foundation Grant

Upower Receives Grant from Richard Sherman Family Foundation Upower is honored to be a 2016 grant recipient of Blanket Coverage, the Richard Sherman Family Foundation’s 25 for 25 Campaign. Formed in 2013 by Seattle Seahawk Richard Sherman, Blanket Coverage, the Richard Sherman Family Foundation provides students in low-income communities with school supplies and clothing. The…

Come Dodge for A Cause!

Come Dodge for A Cause! Join us on Saturday, October 14 for Upower’s 3rd Annual Dodgeball Tournament fundraiser where costume-clad teams compete in a lively, fun-filled dodgeball tournament and enjoy great food & drinks! The night will be filled with action-packed games of dodgeball, and when your team is not diving and dodging, enjoy pizza…

Winter Classes Underway

Winter Classes Underway Upower is back in full swing after our holiday break. Classes have started at all locations. As of the new year, Upower has provided 70,020 fitness minutes to 1,030 teens who collectively represent 24 King County-area high schools. We’re excited to keep working with our teens and reaching out to more in…

Awesome dodgeballers!

Thank You Awesome Dodgeballers! You did it! A huge thanks to all the delightful dodgers who came out for Upower’s 2nd annual Dodgeball Tournament Fundraiser. The event was tons of fun and surpassed our expectations. Please know how appreciative we are of your support. Your donations help us tremendously. Because of you more teens in…

60,000 fitness minutes, 1,000 class hours & counting!

60,000 Fitness Minutes, 1,000 Class Hours & Counting! Upower has hit a milestone. Completing summer session, we crossed over the 60,000-fitness minutes mark. That’s more than 1,000 hours of classes delivered to area teens. Our goal now is to reach the 2,000 classes mark twice as quickly. We’re on it! Fall session starts today at…

Summer highlights

Summer Highlights Expanding our community. Furthering awareness about Upower. Working out with great people. This pretty much sums up what we did over the summer. Highlights included our classes at Rainier Beach and Franklin High Schools. Teens at both locations showed up regularly and worked really hard. Their efforts and enthusiasm were inspiring and rewarding…

Angie & Sua get extra credit!

Angie & Sua Get Extra Credit! Upower helps Interagency Beacon teens through many fitness activities such as boot camp-style workouts, yoga, running, weightlifting, tennis and even hip-hop dancing! As we provide new and varied ways to be active, a passion for fitness has stirred in some that extends beyond what we do. Take Angie and…

New Program Locations

New Upower Program Locations We’re pleased to announce new classes at an additional Interagency Academy location and at Highline Public Schools’ Tyee Campus. Both places are unique in their own way and thus provide us the opportunity to emphasize certain components of our programming and explore new ones. At Interagency for example, we offer an…

I Like Upower Because …

I Like Upower Because … Upower now offers classes at Interagency Academy’s Queen Anne location – a school specifically for teens in recovery from alcohol and drug abuse. These students are already familiar with our program, as they’ve going to Upower classes at IA in Columbia City. We asked them to share a little on what they like…

Exciting News to share

Staff Announcement Upower’s new year began on a wonderful note. We’re very pleased to announce that Kate Holman has been promoted to executive director and Corrina Yu formally joins us as program director. Kate started with Upower as a volunteer coach and advanced to become program director. From day one, her commitment to our mission,…