University's Partnership with Local Coffee Shop Wins Regional Award
November 10, 2015
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
The University of Baltimore's partnership with CUPS Coffeehouse has been awarded the Campus-Community Partnership Award by Maryland-DC Campus Compact. The award recognizes a partnership that demonstrates an impactful commitment between higher education and the community.
CUPs (Creating Unlimited Possibilities) Coffeehouse is a non-profit coffee shop in Southwest Baltimore, with a mission to employ and empower disconnected youth ages 16-24, so that they may become financially independent leaders within their families and communities.
"The partnership with CUPs Coffeehouse has created great opportunities in Southwest Baltimore. Our students have the chance to connect in a meaningful way with youth in the community, and the youth have outstanding mentors both from UB and community members," said Anthony Butler, associate director of Leadership and Community Engagement in UB's Rosenberg Center for Student Involvement. "We have developed a strong, reciprocal partnership with CUPs Executive Director Holly Gray, a UB alumna, who is working hard to make her community a better place. We look forward to continued partnership, and positive outcomes for Southwest Baltimore as well as for our students."
Gray received her B.A. in 2012. CUPs Coffeehouse regularly collaborate with students from the Universities of Baltimore and Maryland, as well as representatives from Hollins Creative Placemaking Committee, the Baltimore Community ToolBank, Safe Alternatives, Zeskind's Hardware, and the Mayor's Fall Cleanup event.
"CUPS Coffeehouse saw an opportunity to do more than simply employ youth, and established the Southwest Success Mentoring Program with the help of an MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA member in 2013," the Maryland-DC Campus Compact said in an announcement about the award. "This mentoring program matches dedicated UB students and community volunteers with CUPs employees and other neighborhood youth to create caring relationships based on guidance and support. The high quality of the UB-CUPS partnership and achievements truly set this application apart from a strong pool of nominees."
Learn more about UB and CUPs Coffehouse.
The Maryland-DC Campus Compact is the largest higher education association in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. region, with 36 public, private, two- and four-year colleges and universities as members. MDCCC provides leadership to colleges and universities in Maryland and Washington, D.C. by advocating, supporting, and encouraging institutional participation in academic and co-curricular based public service and civic engagement programs.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.