Open Door Baltimore Testifies Before Maryland House of Delegates

Maryland State House

Open Door Baltimore Chief Executive Officer, Bill Simpson, testified before the Appropriations Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates on March 14, 2012.  At the request of Baltimore City Delegate, Keiffer Mitchell, Bill spoke in support of House Bill 1322, Family Investment Program – Assistance Determination – Child Support.

Delegate Keiffer Mitchell

If enacted, the bill will prohibit the inclusion of a child support payment due under a court order, but not actually received, as household income in determining whether an applicant meets the eligibility standard for assistance under the Family Investment Program or the amount of assistance to be provided by a local department of social services.

In his remarks, Bill told the committee that passage of HB1322 would “address a particularly egregious unintended consequence of the federal welfare reform act enacted in 1996 . . . in our desire to ensure that fathers provide for their children, we have inadvertently placed impoverished mothers in an untenable situation in regard to public assistance.”  That is because under current Maryland law, local department of social services are required to use the court-decreed child support figure, and not the actual amount received by mothers, as the basis for all public assistance calculations.  Several of Open Door Baltimore’s clients have been negatively impacted by this law.

We’re In!

Thanks to the heroic efforts of our wonderful staff, board members and our many friends from across the region, Open Door Baltimore successfully moved from Fayette Street to North Milton Avenue yesterday.  A special shout out to the team of young men from The Church at Covenant Park in Ellicott City, a second team of young men from Kairos Baltimore, and some special volunteers from Greenridge Baptist Church in Clarksburg.  Thank you Jon, Eric and Tim for coordinating your helpers.  They were terrific.  Thank you Adrian for renting and driving the truck.  Thank you Andrew for driving up from Alexandria, VA to help out poor old Dad.  Finally, we need to recognize the efforts of Becky, Deneka, Libby, Mike and Dan who planned every detail of the move.  We’re in and ready to go.  Our new address is 901 North Milton Avenue, Suite 320, Baltimore, MD 21205.  Come see us!

Open Door Baltimore is Moving on March 3rd!

Weinberg Building, 901 North Milton Street

It’s official!  On Saturday, March 3rd, Open Door Baltimore will begin the week-long process of moving our office from 2611 East Fayette Street to 901 North Milton Street.  As you can see from the picture, we will be exchanging our current row house headquarters for a more traditional office suite on the third floor of the Weinberg Building on North Milton.  We had a great 3 1/2 years on Fayette and will always be eternally grateful to our landlord Steve Molling and the Liberty Learning Center for making our stay there so pleasant.  Steve and LLC are one of America’s great urban heroes.  If you’re looking for a place to get involved serving kids in the city, please give Steve a call.

For us, it was simply time for a change in our office setup — things fell into place when our friend Delegate Hattie Harrison introduced us to Ed Sabatino and Jeff Thompson, our new landlords at the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition (HEBCAC).  Ed and Jeff have been great to Open Door Baltimore throughout our searching process.  We look forward to the new friendships and partnerships that will come our way by moving into the Weinberg Building.

Happy Birthday Dr. King!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 83 years old today.  Because he left us at the age of 39, we remember him 44 years later as a young man in his prime.  In a year when his legacy was memorialized in stone on the Washington Mall near Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, we want to revisit one of Dr. King’s most important initiatives.  In November 1967, just five months before his assassination, Dr. King and the leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference met in Frogmore, South Carolina to plan “The Poor People’s Campaign.”  As the civil rights movement continued to evolve in the late 1960′s, Dr. King and the SCLC recognized that a nation with 25 million people (13% of pop.) living in poverty desperately needed to expand its definitions of civil rights, economic rights and national security.  It was their intention to bring poverty to the forefront of the nation’s consciousness through a series of marches across America.  The first march occurred in Marks, Mississippi on March 18, 1968, a long-time hotbed of racial tension.  It was a march in support of sanitation workers that brought Dr. King to Memphis, Tennessee later that month.  Though Dr. King never made it out of Memphis, The Poor People’s Campaign entered Washington D.C. on May 12, 1968 and established “Resurrection City” at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial.   As the nation honors Dr. King this week for his leadership on civil rights, we think it is important to recall those days from 44 years ago when the nation focused on the poor.  Today, 47 million Americans live in poverty, 1 in 6 of us.  While Americans don’t march like they used to, it’s humbling to reflect on a time when leaders like Dr. King made it their business to stand up for the less fortunate.  Happy 83rd birthday.

Globalization 3.0: Where are the Jobs?”

“The sad irony is that America’s inner cities are the perfect setting for a manufacturing renaissance and jobs explosion in the 21st century.  After decades of cruel and debilitating poverty, millions of urban Americans who would give their right arm to land a fulltime job that pays $10 or $12 an hour.”

This is an excerpt from our newest short essay found in our “What We Think” dropdown at the top of our Home Page. 

Announcing “Red Day” 2012

Open Door Baltimore is pleased to announce that our 3rd Annual “Red Day” community engagement day will occur on Thursday, May 10, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Red Day is a corporate partnership with Baltimore area Keller Williams realtors and their many partners (agents, brokers, lenders, construction companies, property managers, etc.).  Last year, over 300 Red Day volunteers provided an all-day “Field Day” for 650 children at the William Paca Elementary School in McElderry Park while also making major repairs and improvements in the school.  This year, Red Day will provide field days and school repairs for Wm. Paca E.S. and our newest school partner, Dr. Bernard Harris Elementary School in the Oliver neighborhood.

Red Day 2012 is currently recruiting individuals, businesses, community organizations and congregations to join in the fun as sponsors, volunteers and donors.  If you’re looking for a highly-effective, well-run, “feel good” event to participate in this spring (Baltimore weather is so nice in early May after the long, cold winter), this is definitely for you.  Please email Becky at bcrow@opendoorbaltimore.org for more information.  And remember to check back regularly for updates on Red Day 2012!

Happy New Year from Open Door Baltimore!

2012 slipped in overnight.  Despite the winter chill, New Year’s Day 2012 ushers in a bright new chapter in the life of Open Door Baltimore.  New partnerships, new jobs for our clients, new volunteers and mentors, new directions for our clients . . . a fresh and exciting newness all around.  When you’re a nonprofit organization in today’s economic climate, you’re just glad to be around for a new year!  As you look for something new to support in 2012, give Open Door Baltimore a close look.  You may just find the something “new” you’ve been looking for to give your life a little extra zest, a little more purpose, a little more satisfaction.  To our old friends and new friends, have a Happy New Year!

Open Door Baltimore Logo

The Monthly Poll (Jan 2012): Getting Involved at Open Door Baltimore

650 Christmas Stockings for Baltimore Children

In December 2011, Open Door Baltimore prepared and delivered 650 Christmas stockings valued at $20,000 for needy children in Baltimore.  In addition to our immediate clients, we were blessed to bring Christmas cheer to children at Baltimore’s House of Ruth, Delegate Hattie Harrison’s East Baltimore Christmas Outreach, the Larry Young Christmas Party (see separate post dated 12/18/11), the Mentoring Male Teens in the Hood program headed by Cameron Miles, the Collington Square Christmas Party sponsored by Episcopal Community Services and Baltimore City Councilman Warren Branch, and the door-to-door Christmas ministry of Pastor Joel Kurz and The Garden Church in West Baltimore.  A wonderful group of community partners that truly reflects the depth and breadth of our vision to be a “greater good” nonprofit organization.  Thank you staff, volunteers, donors and board members for rising to the occasion!