Building a Community Center

Gerrie Okwesa is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Our community is located in inner city Baltimore. A growing revitalization is taking place for residents young and old. However, we are still plagued by drug dealers on every corner who will not go away no matter how hard we work to improve our surroundings. Our street is filled with young children who play on the sidewalks, oblivious to what is really happening around them - still very innocent and alive with the joy little kids should have.

Community Garden
We want to take over an old corner building that is an eye sore to the community, renovate it and make it a safe haven for neighborhood kids afterschool and particularly during summer months. We want to provide experience that enrich the lives of kids in our neighborhood that parents cannot offer; i.e. gardening to grow their own food; fieldtrips to museums and places they have never visited in their own city; technology to help with homework during the school year; art and community theater; but most of all healthy values, respect and the art of living in a healthy neighborhood filled with trees and flowers.

Future Community Center
This will also be a place where art students from a near by art school can display their work and give back by teaching neighborhood kids to appreciate great works of art; where master gardeners can teach the art of growing flowers and veggies to eat; where kids become actors in summer theater; where kids grow up the old fashion way - around a community (village) of people who love them and want them to succeed in life.

Our center can be the hub of all community activities; social gatherings; planning sessions; workshops; holiday activities; family reunions; weekly rehearsals; summer camps; after school activities; sewing and knitting classes - a place where all neighbors of all ages will love and appreciate.