Opening Important Doors
We're building digital equity in West Baltimore & challenging food insecurity
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Project Waves team installing wireless antenna on the UMB Poppleton parking garage |
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In this part of the world, September has long been considered the season to harvest America's wealth of abundant food. Yet now that autumn has begun and the COVID-19 pandemic remains rampant throughout the world, it raises new challenges for everyone. In response, Promise Heights has increased our efforts to ensure that children and families of Upton/Druid Heights will thrive while overcoming generations-long systemic inequities, as current needs are more urgent than ever.
Yet here's the best news: we're making significant headway!
This month's newsletter introduces a featured series that we'll regularly update in the future. Bridging Baltimore's Digital Divide brings BIG news from October 2 which brought internet connectivity to homes throughout Upton/Druid Heights! We plan to continue these efforts until everyone in Promise Heights needing internet access will have appropriate service for their entire family. Our progress has been rapid, so in the coming months we'll share behind-the-scenes insights to illuminate our hard work. Simply put, we're excited to aid in equipping students with essential technology at the start of the 2020-21 school year!
As well, don't be surprised to find us singing the renowned traditional song, "I'm on my way, to freedom land, I'm on my way to freedom land, I'm on my way..." because in recent months we've been awarded grant funds to finance the community-driven Freedom Food Program that sources and provides their choice of fresh and healthy food from local Black-owned vendors to 100 families in Upton/Druid Heights and 15 memberships to CSA boxes/Buying Club access.
Each community support represents our innovative teamwork, and while we're also tackling other essentials, we're excited that the 2020-21 academic year is bringing such important growth.
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Bridging Baltimore's Digital Divide |
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(Our first in a series of features sharing news of expanded internet access throughout Baltimore) |
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“At this point, we’re advancing a multifaceted approach. We’re installing towers on taller buildings to broadcast wireless internet signals to individual homes. Yet wireless infrastructure is incredibly fragile, and in the long run, it’s a temporary solution. In the future we’ll likely be looking for more viable ways beyond antennas.” |
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Barnard Smit, UMB Program Coordinator at the Community Engagement Center (CEC)
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View of West Baltimore from Exelon Building |
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View of receiver at a West Baltimore home |
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This study identified specific inequities that neared a crisis level last March, given that Baltimore City Public School students were suddenly forced into remote learning after the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly closed all schools. Vast numbers of kids instantly found themselves at home without any means to access their online lessons and classes, making academic achievement that much harder for those living on the “wrong” side of the digital divide.
Clearly the first half of 2020 illustrated America’s vast technological chasm, whether people live in either rural or urban settings. Yet in our case, this crisis also launched a series of revolutionary and exciting solutions for people living in Baltimore’s most under-resourced neighborhoods, quickly transporting them to 21st Century services that the United Nations declared to be a basic human right in 2011.
We're proud to have quickly recognized the need to intervene and find solutions in Promise Heights before the City schools closed in March. Since that time, we have proactively worked to achieve viable solutions for each student and family in Upton/Druid Heights while maximizing and building essential partnerships.
During the coming months we’ll share details about these issues, advances, and updates, while tracking successes and progress. So please stay tuned to our new series, Bridging Baltimore’s Digital Divide. (Read the first story in this new series.)
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Ending Food Insecurity: Freedom Food
Savoring the power of strengthening community
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Recent reports have shown that currently 1 in 6 people in this nation struggle with hunger in households that have been unable to provide enough food for every person to live healthy and active lives. Food insecurity is one way to measure and assess the risk of hunger in America.
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“It all started for me because we had a parade, and after...a young lady came to ask if I would want to come to an outreach meeting to talk about living in a food desert. Did I want to take part? I said, ‘Of course I do! I live here, so I understand the problem of not having adequate food!’ I struggle, sometimes to make sure I have enough food for myself and my children. You know, I grew up in poverty, so I don’t want my children to experience what I experienced, and I’m doing the best that I can.”
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Cynthia Banks, Promise Heights Parent Leader at Furman L. Templeton Preparatory Academy |
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Promise Heights' new Freedom Food program started with an impetus rooted within the community during the summer of 2020, when so many families were pushed to a new level of need due to the pandemic. Schools were closed. Many families had lost jobs, or, as essential workers, were putting in extra hours. Meanwhile, the lifeline of school-provided meals meant that children needed to venture out several times each day simply to eat.
We listened to community members who were seeking better options, learned about their needs and they guided us towards ways that we could best support their efforts. We looked for corporate support and were fortunate to receive it from the Fund for Educational Excellence that gathered eleven local corporate donors to build a COVID-19 Food Stability Fund. The community group that did all of the planning called it the Freedom Food Program, and they found creative ways to support local food providers.
We're thankful to many people who were key players at various moments in the planning: the Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church and its Pastor Andrew Connor, the church’s members and leadership, as well as to Reverend Michele Ward and Chrystie Adams; Chef Tommy Lyons, Phyllis Felton, Vonzella Parker, Jennifer Gaither; Pedestal Gardens; B’more for Healthy Babies Breastfeeding Support Group/Black Breastfeeding Week participants; Promise Heights staff Stacey Stephens, Jilian Kreuger, Meaghan Tine, and Cynthia Banks; and so many others who were involved along the way.
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YOUTH VOICES FROM UPTON/DRUID HEIGHTS
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Children's lives have dramatically changed since the pandemic first closed schools last March, and now that kids have been back to (virtual) school, we're launching the first of many conversations with the youth enrolled in our Upton/Druid Heights Community Schools.
“How has the COVID-19 pandemic made this past summer unlike any other in your life? When you're a grown up, what do you think you'll remember about summer 2020?”
"This summer was different from any other summer because I stayed home with mom.”
– Kindergartener, The Historic Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary
“I am going to tell my kids that my summer was spent in quarantine in the house so they better not complain about being bored!”
– 11th grader, Renaissance Academy High School
"I was supposed to start a football league
and it got cancelled, so hopefully it starts
in the Spring."
– male student, Renaissance Academy High School
“I miss being in the school and being able
to see everyone.”
– female student, Renaissance Academy High School
Please keep an eye out for November's question-"What are you most thankful for as Thanksgiving nears? How will you try to make this year's celebration extra special?"
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Express Your Voice: Voting in Maryland
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The State of Maryland has a featured "MD VOTES" secure website with all pertinent dates & deadlines |
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If you've been living under a rock, perhaps you've missed that an important election is less than a month away? Seriously though, since so many people are choosing to vote by mail, recommendations have gone out advising people to register and vote as early as possible.
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Please stay up to date with our news and join our lively social media conversations: |
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