Open Society Institute – Baltimore
Open Society Institute (OSI) – Baltimore : Audacious Thinking For Lasting Change
Baltimore has long been a city that welcomes new arrivals. According to some historical records Baltimore ranked 2nd only to Ellis Island as a destination for arriving Immigrants. What is less well known, is that while people were arriving in large numbers to Baltimore’s ports looking for rail, mill, and shipyard jobs, it was on these very same railroads that large numbers of arrivals decided to move out of Baltimore in search of greener pastures.
Imagine the first day of school; students energized by their long summer holiday, excited to see friends from the prior year, eager to meet their new teachers, curious about where their cubbies or lockers are, prepared to turn in important information like their health cards for the school nurse and their emergency cards for the office, and ready to get back into the swing of things at school. The first day sets the tone for the year and presents students with lots of critical information: introductions, goals and expectations.
As I walk into the Baltimore City Detention Center for my weekly garden class, a guard remarks on how big the plants are getting. I place my belongings into a bin and get patted down, and another employee tells me about her own garden. I tell her about the direction of the program, and for better serving the juveniles locked up there, facing adult charges. When they get out, I hope to be able to provide them with community service options or assist them in getting jobs in the field of horticulture. My hope for the city is that we can use gardening in schools, churches, and transition environments to heal and build stronger and healthier communities.
We live in a time when the social contract between individual and society has become implicit. We forget that as individuals we engage in our community, our government, and with our neighbors because they are there for our benefit as we are for theirs—to make our lives better than if we went on alone. For the members of low-income, underserved communities such as Brooklyn/Curtis Bay however, this contract has failed.
The voices of young people can have the power to revive and transform Baltimore, starting with its very infrastructure. In Baltimore, transportation creates obstacles for its residents, and this is no less true for its young people. Late buses, skipped stops, and rude drivers are major barriers to students getting to school on time.
During his visit to Baltimore yesterday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a gift of $5 million to the Open Society Institute-Baltimore for its Accelerated Pathways Initiative. This five-year initiative will create rigorous, supportive and accelerated high school options in Baltimore that will significantly increase graduation rates and post-secondary success, particularly for the city’s African-American […]
Meet Daniel Oliver. Daniel is 17 years old, he grew up in Baltimore City attending public schools, and he is presently a junior at Baltimore City College. Danny is a skateboarder and this is what skateboarding means to him: “Ever since I started skateboarding around the age of 7, I’ve seen the world in an entirely different light.”
Teen parents are a much maligned group. We often blame them for their “choice” of becoming a teen parent and then for all of the untoward outcomes that can follow. Our blame, however, is short sighted and wrongly placed. Why some teens become parents is a complicated issue with social inequality and poverty at the heart of the matter.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kid’s Count numbers are out, and once again they expose the hidden shame of the wealthiest state in the world’s richest nation. Maryland ranks only 23rd in child wellbeing, far behind similar affluent East Coast states like Massachusetts (3rd), New Jersey (5th), Connecticut (6th) and our neighbor and business rival, Virginia (14th). With the nation’s best schools, second lowest child poverty rate, and the lowest rate of black children in poverty, why does Maryland rank so low?
Chakel, an 11th grade law program student at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School in Baltimore City, believes she can make her mark through success in school: “Every day, I work on making an impact on the world.” But every day, other Baltimore City Public Schools students struggle just to get to school.
OSI-Baltimore has permanently closed. It has been our honor and privilege to partner with and serve the Baltimore community for the past 25 years.
This website is available for historical purposes. It is no longer being updated.