29th Street Community Center

Results: Located at the intersection of the Charles Village, Barclay, Harwood, Oakenshaw, Abell and Waverly neighborhoods, the all but abandoned Barclay Rec Center officially reopened under GHCC management as the 29th Street Community Center (29SCC) on May 18, 2013. In the 18 months since its Grand Opening, the 29SCC has become an important asset and pillar of the community. Over 800 community members have engaged in wide range of community building events and low-cost, high quality enrichment programming. These programs are offered Monday through Saturday and include childhood development activities for families with infants and toddlers, a robotics club and music lessons for children, basketball, art, jump-rope and free-gym for teens and pre-teens, and fitness classes like Zumba and yoga and line dancing for adults. This year, with the addition of an Americorps VISTA, we have turned our drop-in after school space into a structured after-school program serving over 40 elementary and middle school students. Because 30% of the residents in the neighborhoods surrounding the 29SCC are living below the poverty line, GHCC has been intentional about providing programming to help break the cycle of poverty, such as free GED preparation classes, adult computer literacy courses, STEM technology classes for school aged children, and tax preparation assistance. In its first year, twenty-nine community building events averaging 100 attendees each were held at the 29SCC. The interactions that take place during these events are essential to building community. Residents from neighborhoods who don’t have many opportunities to interact sit together, talk, learn, and share common interests and goals for their neighborhoods. Parents regularly comment about the importance of the 29SCC in their community and have said to staff, “We are so grateful GHCC took over the [Barclay] Rec Center. Before it was a sad place we would never send our kids, but now we know they are safe and engaged in good activities.” The Baltimore Sun recently highlighted 29SCC: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-development-week-20141020-story.html

Direct beneficiaries per year: over 800 community members of all ages