BALTIMORE — The $4 million investment into nine local non-profits is one step closer to eliminating more vacant houses in Baltimore City and revitalizing neighborhoods.
This milestone has been years in the making for many local organizations.
“The ultimate goal is to be able to walk from Penn Station to Hopkins and not ever see another vacant abandoned house again," says Regina Hammond.
A goal Regina Hammond says she believes will happen as long as more support to fight vacant housing is given to Baltimore City.
Regina lives in the Johnston Square neighborhood, a neighborhood she says needs a lot of work.
“I live here; I live right on the other side of the wall inside that development, and I was here when nothing was happening, and I knew something had to happen," says Regina Hammond.
Hammond is the Executive Director of Rebuild Johnston Square Neighborhood, which partners with ReBUILD Metro for block-by-block redevelopment in her neighborhood.
She says JPMorgan Chase choosingReBUILD Metro to get grant money is a huge benefit to the community.
“So, to have that type of investment coming into Johnston Square and to give the people who live here hope as far as being able to upgrade their homes that they’re living in to be able to get more homeowners to come in the neighborhood, it’s wonderful,” says Hammond.
ReBUILD Metro has already started a number of projects in Johnston Square. It has rebuilt over 30 vacant rowhomes in the last twelve months.
In south Baltimore, another non-profit is hoping to make similar changes.
“We're focused in Brooklyn and Curtis Bay in the southern part of Baltimore and Brooklyn Park in the northern part of Anne Arundel County, and those are areas that don’t have that much investment going in; it’s been a long-disinvested community," says Meredith Chaiken.
The Greater Baybrook Alliance organization is in an expansion phase; Chaiaken says the immediate focus is to grow the staff to find vacant homes for redevelopment.
“We’re going to be using that to create a new position, someone who’s focused primarily on mitigating residential vacant properties," she says.
She says having the financial support from JPMorgan Chase will help speed up the expansion.
“To be able to focus on the work instead of fundraising, it’s just huge for an organization of our size.”
With the new position, the Greater Baybrook Alliance plans to help redevelop vacant lots that tend to attract crime in southern Baltimore neighborhoods.
Right now, JPMorgan Chase hasn't explained how it will split the $4 million between the 9 organizations.
The funding is part of JPMorgan Chase's $8.4 million commitment to supporting economic and community development in Baltimore City.
