Students, faculty and staff participate in engagement, service with eight city organizations
Ka’rin Peoples helped those in need dig through the clothes she folded to discover treasures just outside J.O.Y. Baltimore on North Charles Street. Jason Whiting freshened up the gardens at Project PLASE’s Old Frederick Road location. Mychaela Roth navigated stones, branches and trees as she picked up trash strewn alongside a section of Jones Falls off Falls Road.
Roughly 80 participants signed up for The University of Baltimore’s annual Community Service Day, an initiative organized by the Rosenberg Center for Student Engagement and Inclusion.
"Community Service Day is a UBalt tradition we are happy to bring back," said Malissa Rivera, the center's coordinator for service learning and student engagement. "This day provides our campus community the opportunity for participants to interact with the Baltimore community in a meaningful way."
Students, staff, and faculty were split into eight groups to serve the community. Additional partners included Brighten A Day, Lori’s Hands, Maryland Center for Veterans Education, Maryland New Directions and Sharp Dressed Man.
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For graduate students Ethan Liftofsky and Talia Martinez, Community Service Day was a great first step to finding volunteer opportunities in the city.
“It's a good time to meet people, give back to the community and do something nice,” said Liftofsky, an M.S. in Applied Psychology student, Counseling concentration.
Martinez, a dual degree student studying law and negotiations and conflict management, is new to Baltimore and appreciated the change to meet new people at UBalt and in the city.
“I think it's awesome that the University of Baltimore engages in these community service days because I don't know a lot of community service opportunities, and this is a great way to connect me to organizations in the community that really need help.”
Community Service Day is a great example of how the University of Baltimore engages with Baltimore residents and the organizations within city limits, said Roger Hartley, dean of the College of Public Affairs who volunteered to help clean up along Jones Falls.
“Service is not just one day a year, or a couple of days a year. What we do at the University of Baltimore, in our teaching, research and service work is massive engagement around the state and the community in Baltimore.”
Hartley co-leads a new engagement task force with Nicole Marano, vice president for Student Success and Support Services, that is working to highlight the many examples of engagement work happening at UBalt—a key goal in the University’s Strategic Plan.
Embedded within programs and as extracurricular activities, these opportunities—ranging from paid internships part of the Community Development Fellows Program to the skill-building Court Navigator Program—help students build their networks, gain workforce experience, and make an impact that helps build a stronger Baltimore.
Giving back to the community where he was raised is what encouraged Jason Whiting, a B.S. in Business Administration student specializing in finance, to sign up for Community Service Day.
“As a student, being able to serve is really a privilege and a great opportunity,” he said.
Diany Estrada, a B.A. in Psychology student, appreciated how easy it could be to support the community. She joined the group that stayed on campus wrote and decorated notes that would be shared with senior citizens.
“When I saw I could make cards to help people feel better, I just decided to come help out,” she said. “I think it's a good outreach for people to who don't know what to do to help.”
Mychaela Roth, a B.S. in Forensic Studies student, enjoyed the Community Service Day last year so much that she didn’t hesitate at the chance to return to Jones Falls to help more.
“I just want to help make a better community for Baltimore,” she said. “I think it's really important not just because it helps us get involved with the community, but it helps us learn more about each other.”
Barely into the event, Ka’rin Peoples, a two-time alum of UBalt’s criminal justice programs now working toward a graduate certificate in the Trauma-Informed program, already couldn’t wait for the next service day.
“I think it's amazing,” she said. “I hope that we do days like this more often and get more of us out in the community.”
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HELPING HANDS
UBalt joined Lori's Hands, an organization that supports independence of community members with chronic illness, to remove trash and weeds from a neighborhood alley.
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sERVING OUR CITY
A group of UBalt students joined J.O.Y. Baltimore, a grassroots organization whose primary goal is to end youth homelessness, to hand out critical goods and clothes to city residents.
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Beautifying baltimore
Staff and students used their green thumbs to clean up the gardens and other outdoor spaces around Project PLASE (People Lacking Ample Shelter and Employement).
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Showing love through art
In partnership with Brighten A Day, UBalt community members dropped in the Learning Commons to write special messages and decorate cards to be shared with area seniors.
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Cleaning up jones falls
Keeping the Jones Falls beautiful is a tradition within a tradition at UBalt. Professor Stanley Kemp brings his Environmental Sustainability students to the creek side, located a short walk from campus, to better understand and appreciate the urban environment.