Executive Summary

During the 60 years that the St. Francis Neighborhood Center has served the 21217 area, the institution has been a critical point of service for the community. At times of social unrest such as the 1968 riots and the Baltimore Uprising, SFNC was the only distribution point for the community. We have leadership that lives in the area and attest to the impact that the Center has had in providing a liminal space in which people could seek resources and comradery. In 2009, we launched a new and innovative youth development program, The Power Project, a greening, and community development program, and launched a volunteer program. In 2010, we added Summer of Service Excursion to our youth programming, began offering yoga and nutrition classes, and started job readiness and personal finance workshops; created an inclusion policy for disabled children and began hosting Corpus Christi Catholic Church’s weekly grocery bag program. In 2014, we launched new partnerships with the Maryland Disability Law Center. In 2015, we remained a safe place during the unrest, including providing over 900 meals. In 2016, we launched our capital campaign to renovate and expand the Center. In 2020, we moved quickly to provide over 100 laptops, internet, and continue programming and support virtually during COVID-19. All the Center’s programs collectively serve over 6,000 unique individuals per year, and we saw this number to conservatively double with the completion of the building expansion in 2022.

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