On Monday, 2016 OSI Community Fellow Debbie Ramsey and her granddaughter Ghadir Smallwood appeared on the NBC game show The Wall. Debbie started Unified Efforts, an out-of-school program aimed at reducing summer learning loss, as part of her Fellowship. Debbie and Ghadir, who also volunteers with Unified Efforts, appeared on the show to kick off their 2021 capital campaign to help fund a new home for Baltimore’s youth on the site of three recently purchased vacant lots in the Penn-North Community.
The program opened with a profile the work Debbie has done with Unified Efforts and highlighted her groundbreaking work as the only female, Black police officer in her district in the 1980’s, calling her “an institution in the city of Baltimore” and a “trailblazer in the way she served with a connection to the people that was rooted in the mutual respect for a great city, one that she wanted to see thrive.”
“At the end of the day, it’s all about love of community,” Debbie said, when asked what motivated her. “I am Baltimore.”
You can watch the entire show here (and find out if Debbie and Ghadir’s unified efforts paid off). And pay special attention to Debbie’s Baltimore love in the intro!
