Kate Ostrowski
he University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and Southwest Baltimore communities came together on Oct. 24, 2019, to celebrate the new Community Engagement Center (CEC) — the cornerstone of UMB’s Community Campus. Renovations at 16 S. Poppleton St., the historic site of the new center, have been underway since the kickoff event, and the CEC is on schedule to open to the public in summer 2020.
As renovations continue, the community has literally been paving the way for an enduring partnership. Last fall, UMB leaders named the front sidewalk outside of the new building “Welcome Way.” Friends of UMB have a unique opportunity to help pave the Welcome Way entrance by sponsoring inscribed bricks to be laid in front of the facility. This symbol of permanent partnership with our community will greet CEC visitors each day.
The new CEC will be close to seven times larger than the current center, which opened in 2015. Since then, the CEC has recorded nearly 40,000 visits from men, women, teens, and children who engage with its services and programming. Located immediately west of UMB’s academic campus, the CEC is where UMB helps its neighbors find jobs, gives children a safe place to learn and play, hosts health and fitness programs, and connects neighbors with various resources.
You can be a lasting part of this joint legacy by helping to pave Welcome Way with one of three options:
$50
Pay It Forward
Donate a brick to be engraved with the name of a West Baltimore child, family, or community member.
$100
Name One, Give One
Your name, or the name you choose, will be inscribed on a brick. You also will make it possible for the name of a West Baltimore child, family, or community member to be inscribed on a similar brick.
$250
Paving the Way to Community
Your name, or the name you choose, will be inscribed on a paver brick.
For more information on the Welcome Way initiative, visit www.umaryland.edu/giving/welcomeway.
Welcome Way brick orders conclude March 31, 2020.
