Members of Sandtown-Winchester United discuss possible ways to make their neighborhood better. (Photo by Lisa Snowden-McCray )
The members of Sandtown-Winchester United, a recently formed community group in West Baltimore, are establishing the infrastructure of what they hope will soon be a far-reaching, all-encompassing way of making their neighborhood better.
The group met August 29 at Jubilee Arts, a community arts space off Pennsylvania Avenue. They meet every two weeks and have been doing so since the unrest in April.
Self-described community organizer Stacy Smith led the group of about 16 people, all Sandtown-Winchester residents, through exercises that would help establish some of the group’s major tenants. Some of the subjects they were asked to tackle included: education, spirituality, fund raising, health and policy.
Smith works with the Baltimore branch of the Association of Black Social workers. She is also a co-founder of the Urban Business Center – a group dedicated to helping small businesses succeed. Smith also teaches policy and social work at Coppin State University.
She said that what she is doing is giving the group a framework – putting hopes and dreams to a concrete plan. She said she’s working to help bring about “clear and consistent vision.”
“It’s meant to be an umbrella group,” she said. Many of the people who attended the meeting are part of other neighborhood groups.
“The talent is in the room,” she said. These brainstorming sessions will help single that talent out and put it to good use.
She said that members felt the need to organize after Freddie Gray’s death and the unrest that followed. “There was a phenomenon of people clustering together,” she said. “People were getting frustrated.”
The next step, Smith said, is establishing a timetable. She and the rest of the group agree that – whether it be federal funds or private donations – the money is coming. “The issue is creating an infrastructure.”
C.W. Harris, founder of Jubilee Arts, said he has been working in his community since 1977. Harris, along with several others, helped found the group earlier this year. Harris hopes to use his experience to help make Sandtown-Winchester United a success.
“They look upon me to be the compass. The one who has the experience. The one who has worked with several organizations to receive support to bring about change in the community.”
Harris said that he is hopeful that their work will establish real, lasting change. “Because of the civil unrest, there is an urgency. I feel the urgency to get things done.”
