In May 2012, Baltimore City Department of Parks and Recreation announced a proposed decrease in their service footprint as they reduced the amount of recreation centers they were supporting from 55 down to 31. 24 recreation centers were slated to be closed or taken on by private operators including the recreation center attached to Liberty Elementary School and serving students in the Forrest Park community. When members from the community discovered the Liberty Rec Center was on the closure list they instituted a campaign to save the recreation center. In partnership with BCPSS, Liberty Elementary School, and a host of program providers, this community group has worked to rebrand and repurpose the new Liberty Rec and Tech Center into a provider of student after school supports and community wrap around services designed to bolster the neighborhood.
The Liberty Rec And Tech Center now provides a full slate of supports designed to provide wrap around services for students and parents throughout the neighborhood. Through the engagement of partnership programs, the center now supports GED classes, a full service food pantry, workforce development seminars, after school programming, technology classes, parenting classes, a Head Start program, league basketball and volleyball, ceramics classes, visual arts programming, zumba, dance, aerobics, and fitness classes, a community pool, a sewing circle, and space available for community rentals. It is our hope that this comprehensive system of supports will bolster student educational attainment, build stronger communities, reduce neighborhood challenges, and inspire an innovative vision for what community engagement in Baltimore could look like.
The Liberty Rec And Tech Center now provides a full slate of supports designed to provide wrap around services for students and parents throughout the neighborhood. Through the engagement of partnership programs, the center now supports GED classes, a full service food pantry, workforce development seminars, after school programming, technology classes, parenting classes, a Head Start program, league basketball and volleyball, ceramics classes, visual arts programming, zumba, dance, aerobics, and fitness classes, a community pool, a sewing circle, and space available for community rentals. It is our hope that this comprehensive system of supports will bolster student educational attainment, build stronger communities, reduce neighborhood challenges, and inspire an innovative vision for what community engagement in Baltimore could look like.
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Rationale
The Liberty Rec and Tech Center services a community where close to 94% of students live well below the poverty line. Many of these children lack basic resources like food, after school tutoring, and enrichment programming. Their parents have a strong desire to support their children in any way possible, but often lack the skills and opportunities to provide robust supports to improve themselves and improve opportunity for their kids. In a city where there is a focus on youth violence, but little discussion of quality supports for our children, particularly during the critical time period from 3:00-7:00, the Liberty Rec and Tech Center seeks to become a provider of substantial supports for kids and families. The Liberty Rec And Tech Center is positioned to be the first of its kind providing the depth and intensity of supports in a repositioned recreation center using a community schools model. It serves as a potential model for how we can support the 23 other communities experiencing recreation center closures and can be transformative as we look to bolster community support for schools. |
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Milestones
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Current Usage
While we are still a young organization, we already have many successes that we hope to build on with the assistance of additional partners and increased financial support. To date, we have instituted the following programs and have met the following important milestones.
While we are still a young organization, we already have many successes that we hope to build on with the assistance of additional partners and increased financial support. To date, we have instituted the following programs and have met the following important milestones.
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