Twice a week, all summer, at three parks all over Portland, 4WU provides safe, fun soccer for kids of all ages and skill levels. The kids get real games with positive support from volunteers of all ages, including local high-schoolers, at locations they can walk to. The parks–Vance, McCoy, and Powell–are strategically located to serve the apartment complexes and neighborhoods where most of Portland’s recent immigrants and refugee families live, and summer soccer is the foundation of what we do.

Aside from the obvious benefits that come from safe play and positive guidance, this is also where we find our kids and where they find us. Part of what 4WU does is identify kids that can play at a more competitive level, and connect them to leagues around the city, negotiating down their fees, paying those fees (often more than $500 a season), and providing safe transportation. And it all starts with summer soccer in the park.