Who We Are
The Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center at UMB was launched in January 2019 with funding provided by the Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention. Administered by the Carey School of Law, the ROAR Center is a collaborative project established to build upon the vast expertise and deeply-rooted community connections of UMB through collaboration with many of the UMB Schools – law, nursing, social work, dentistry, pharmacy, and medicine and community-based organizations - to provide expertise and services to the clients of the ROAR Center and broader Baltimore City communities.
The need for the ROAR Center is great in Baltimore City. Although anyone can become a survivor of a crime in our city, far too many Baltimore City residents are exposed to challenging environments or circumstances in which the crime rate is high. Those impacted by crime do not know where to turn to for help or may distrust seeking help from the police or the criminal justice system, due to their own or observed experiences with the system. To add to this, a very large number of crime survivors – especially those from marginalized and under-served communities such as people of color, LGBTQ individuals, those living with a disability, immigrants (especially undocumented), individuals who are experiencing a mental illness and/or a substance abuse disorder, and individuals engaging in sex work, living in poverty, or experiencing homelessness – do not ever report the crime to police due to distrust, fear, shame, cultural norms, lack of understanding of one’s rights and/or not wanting to get the person who committed the crime in trouble. And, for some survivors who do make a police report, studies show that very few of those crimes are criminally prosecuted. As result of these and many additional factors, most crime survivors in Baltimore City do not receive legal and supportive services related to the victimization they experienced.
Because we believe in the power of access to legal and wraparound services in a seamless manner, the ROAR Center is dedicated to providing our services to our most vulnerable area residents and communities. Studies show that individuals who live in marginalized and under-served communities are at greater risk of being victimized by crime and that once someone is victimized, they are much more likely to be victimized again. The experience of revictimization can create complex and layered issues for individuals and their families and act as a barrier to accessing support. We believe survivors of crime can be given an opportunity to rebuild and reclaim their lives.