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.

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.

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

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!

Thank you radio host Larry Young and the staff at 1010 AM WOLB Baltimore for inviting Open Door Baltimore to take part in your annual Christmas party for needy children in West Baltimore on Friday 12/16/11.  ODB delivered 100 stockings valued at $4,000 to the Shake & Bake Family Fun Center on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Helping offset our cost were our steadfast partners at Kairos Baltimore, The Church at Covenant Park (Howard County) and Greenridge Baptist Church (Howard County).  We were also blessed by the support of Darlene Harden and the teachers and children at the Bethel Baptist Elementary School in Laurel, MD.  A special thanks to our cast of elves Libby Moreton, Patricia Mueller, Becky Crow, Deneka Rosenburg, and Elizabeth Crow for giving 60 hours of heart and soul to gather and pack stocking items.

(L-R) Bill Simpson and DeBora Smith from Open Door Baltimore with Larry Young and The Coach at the Larry Young Radio Show (Baltimore 1010 AM - WOLB) Children's Christmas Party in West Baltimore, 12/16/11

Larry Young is a force to reckon with — a man on a mission who uses his considerable talents and influence every day to make Baltimore a better place to live.  Thank you, Larry.

Thanks also to cohost “Coach” and producer James Johnson for making us feel so welcome and to Shake & Bake Director Mark Hunter for running a world-class organization for the children and families in his community.

Finally, a special thanks to our good friend Debora Smith for hooking us up with Larry and for helping ODB every day in countless ways!