It is with a very heavy heart that the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Office of Community Engagement shares the news of Anita Maynor Warren’s passing. Ms. Anita was a neighbor, regular visitor, supporter, and friend of UMB’s Community Engagement Center (CEC) in West Baltimore.

She had been fighting cancer and spent her final days in hospice care, with her husband Andre by her side at the end. Fortunately, many of us were able to see Ms. Anita over the last few months, prior to the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order, and the visits brought her great joy. 

Ms. Anita was a bright light, a true friend, and a shining example of what the CEC can do for our community — and how much the community can do for UMB. She planted her first garden at the Pop! Farm, worked through our Workforce Wednesday program to land a job at the School of Medicine, participated in our events like lunches and paint nights, mentored UMB students, gave walking tours of the neighborhood, taught the value of community/university partnerships, and even held her wedding at the CEC. She made all of us who knew and loved her better people. She truly represented what we want UMB’s relationship with the community to be.

While we can’t celebrate her life “in person” just yet, we will certainly plan a celebration of her life at the CEC once it is safe to gather. She would want a party, happy stories told, and for each of us to bring a friend to the CEC if they haven’t visited yet! 

Our hearts have been and will always be with you, Ms. Anita.