Building Strong Communities: A Visit to Broadway East, Baltimore

All across the country communities are organizing, strategizing and developing ideas to help their neighbors thrive in uncertain economic times. Whether they’re established nonprofits with decades of experience or new grassroots coalitions, these groups are reaching out to the 11th Street Bridge Park as we implement programming from our Community Preservation Plan – our effort to ensure long term residents can stay and thrive in place. Their specific interests are varied but what they have in common is a desire for a plan that helps them reach their goals of community driven change. These inquiries from communities inspired the launch of our Building Strong Communities Technical Assistance Program, a new initiative to support 5 organizations across the U.S. that are working to build equitable, community-led public spaces We would like to thank the Kresge Foundation for supporting this effort, which began with a fruitful visit in early June to our first group, the Broadway East Community Development Corporation in Baltimore, Maryland.

A Vision for Rutland Avenue

The afternoon heat didn’t burn out the excitement of the group when we arrived at 1600 Rutland Avenue, currently the location of a dense, grassy lot that the community is hoping will be converted into a park. We were joined by Living Classrooms and Bloomberg Philanthropies, organizations that partner with Broadway East on a number of projects and who are eager to continue support for the future park. Doris Terrell, Executive Director of Broadway East, gave us a tour of the neighborhood highlighting the lack of tree coverage, persistent flooding, prevalence of vacant homes, and noting the community’s programming desires for green space. These are concerns that Broadway East wants to address and the reason the Bridge Park Team was there along with creating community driven mutli-sector economic strategies for nearby residents. 

The group brought the energy from the Rutland lot to the nearby Collington Square Recreation Center where we met with community stakeholders and city officials that would be key to the work of Broadway East. What became apparent was their desire to contribute to the vision of a thriving Broadway East neighborhood and their appreciation for the tireless work and dedication of Ms. Doris. After a quick presentation from the Bridge Park team, the conversation pivoted to a brainstorming session on ways the Rutland lot could be activated to address some of the issues in the community. There was consensus to focus on six key strategic areas: housing; workforce training; support small businesses and entrepreneurs; environmental justice; arts and culture; and transportation. 

At the meeting the following morning, the group convened at Living Classrooms facility and the Bridge Park team provided an overview of our work highlighting the history of the project, the strategies in our Community Preservation Plan and how our process can be used to shape a plan for Broadway East. A great conversation was had about the small, but tangible actions that could be taken to have a large impact on the vision for the future park. In the end, next steps were identified and there was a reinvigorated spirit of hope and encouragement amongst the group.  

What’s Next

For the Bridge Park team, we were even more energized than when we arrived. As the first city we’ve visited, Broadway East provided an opportunity for us to connect as a team and strategize for the other 4 cities we’ll visit throughout the year. These other four cities in the cohort include: Detroit, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Tennessee; and Columbus Mississippi.  Though our trip to Baltimore was quick, our work there is not done as we will be partnering with them throughout 2025 helping to build their own Community Preservation Plan. We’re looking forward to the continued collaboration with our new partners in Baltimore and to the evolution of the space at 1600 Rutland Avenue! 

We’ll be sharing stories from each of the five communities we visit. Follow along as we continue our journey and see how grassroots leadership is building the future, one public space at a time.