Our Second Decade Campaign: Building Hope for Baltimore
Our Second Decade Campaign is a $7.5 million campaign for the future.
The Center for Urban Families has already touched 14,000 individuals in Baltimore, but many, many more need our services. In the first eight years, our staff grew from six to over thirty, all specifically qualified to do this work.
Yet for the last several years, numerous applicants for services have been turned away because of our lack of capacity. We have set up temporary quarters in different locations. Our building no longer fits our current program goals, and there is inadequate space for the growth we anticipate. We believe it is imperative that all our work be done in one location, where the integration of services is seamless. And as we do this work, we will build a national training and technical assistance model so that other urban centers can successfully emulate our programs in places of need across the country.
Our new facility
CFUF needed to expand our services and develop new programs to significantly increase the number of individuals and families served. It was clear that a new facility would be necessary to meet that goal. Our new home had to be a building that would allow for expanded office, training, and conference space, computer labs, and flex areas that could be adapted for new programs.
Our vision is to serve 20,000 individuals by 2012, doubling our services to the citizens of Baltimore on an annual basis. Our work is critical—for our clients, for our families, for Baltimore, for our future.
The site at 2201 North Monroe Street was chosen after an extensive search for a suitable property. The location in the Mondawmin neighborhood offers our clients safe, affordable, and dependable access via public transportation from anywhere in the city.
The new building will provide 7,000 square feet of specialized skills training space, to complement the attitudinal training focus of our STRIVE program. Specialized skills training is an effective way to increase wages for our clients and facilitate job advancement. With additional training and certification, our clients will become more competitive career candidates.
In our new headquarters, we will significantly increase the number of fathers, mothers, and families that we serve. We will provide many more, and more frequent, classes, offer additional computer training and job search services, increase our literacy programs and G.E.D. preparatory classes, hold on-site job fairs and workshops on housing and financial literacy, and expand customized employer training. These are just a handful of examples of what we will be able to do.
We invite you to join us to make our vision a reality for Baltimore. Click here for more information about giving to Our Second Decade Campaign.