Real and Lasting Change

Community Engagement Center staff

Since opening in 2015, the UMB Community Engagement Center has joined with neighbors and partners to build a healthy and prosperous West Baltimore where residents have the opportunity to achieve their goals and thrive.

Key programs and accomplishments include:


Community Markets and Meals

Community Markets and Meals served more than 250 shoppers in 2018 and recorded more than $16,000 spent at the Hungry Harvest Produce in a SNAP! Market since April 2017. As many as 120 neighbors gather on final Fridays of the month to share a community meal catered by a local, independently owned business from West Baltimore.


JustAdvice Legal Clinic

The JustAdvice legal clinic offers residents assistance with legal matters from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law students. The clinic has provided legal advice to nearly 400 city residents, saving community members approximately $62,250 in legal fees.


Workforce Wednesdays

Workforce Wednesdays provide community job seekers with employment advice and assist them in navigating the UMB and University of Maryland Medical System hiring process. Since its inception, some 375 people have been assisted with resumé creation cover letters, and mock employment interviews; more than 112 have achieved employment.

The CEC has served as a summer job site for nearly 40 youth in West Baltimore during the past three years, seven of whom returned for more than one summer. Half of the most recent summer cohort is currently employed by the Pop! Farm Fellows program with a living wage stipend during the school year.


UMB Police Atheltic/Activities League

PAL, the UMB Police Athletic/Activities League, is an after school program recently expanded to five days a week serving elementary and middle school students from nearby schools, primarily James McHenry Elementary/Middle School. One of just two PAL programs in the U.S. offered at a university, it provides nearly 30 young boys and girls the unique opportunity to improve their self-esteem, academic performance, and social skills through field trips, community service, sports, and art activities with UMB police officers.


Computer access

Computer access is free and available to many residents on a daily basis, enabling visitors to print, scan, and send documents, take online courses, research, job opportunities, pay bills online, and check email as well as social media.


Health and fitness

Health and fitness classes are offered throughout the week for people of all ages and abilities including yoga, line dancing, Zumba, and martial arts.


Partnerships

Partnerships are fostered in our Community Space, where nonprofit partners, as well as resident-led and UMB-initiated events, are held that are free of charge and open to the public. In spring 2018, the popular Taking Care of Our Own series included health and safety workshops led by presenters from 12 local community-based organizations, nonprofits, and city agencies. In spring 2019, the series featured relaxation techniques led by integrative health practitioners who are trained in trauma-informed care. In total, nearly 250 people have been trained in life-saving emergency response skills such as CPR/First Aid/AED, Stop the Bleed, Naloxone, Bystander Intervention, and Mental Health First Aid.

For more information, please download our Community Engagement Center Brochure.

Company at the CEC

Dancing at the Community Engagement Center

Food at the Community Engagement Center