ABOUT HUB WEST BALTIMORE CDC
HUB West Baltimore grew out of extended conversations with community organizations like the Edmondson Community Organization. Those conversations, along with meetings with city government leaders in economic development, housing and planning, identified a need for a community development corporation (or CDC) to focus on the immediate area around the station - some of the most disinvested census tracts in the state, yet an area with tremendous strengths and unlimited potential. The specific needs identified by those city and community leaders for the focus area included:
A Unified Voice: a loud and media-savvy voice from the community, speaking as one, arguing in favor of equity-aware development - both commercial and residential
A Development-Ready Project Partner: a community planning and project partner with fluency in revitalization, affordable housing and transportation that’s ready to work on Day 1 with developers, homeowners and government partners
Greater Grant-Getting: a community grant-seeking organization that can successfully go after larger and potentially transformational federal and foundational offerings
A Cultural Catalyst: a “Friends of” culture-focused organization that will help grow the numbers of festivals and markets, and facilitate the creation of as much green space and recreational opportunities as possible
Moving forward on those four items will be the core of the organization’s mission.
As of early 2022, HUB West Baltimore officially became a unit of the newly-revived and revitalized Edmondson Community Organization. Together, the two linked organizations - one part focusing on development (HUB) and one on community cohesion (ECO) will work to bring rapid, equitable, transformational revitalization to the neighborhoods around the West Baltimore MARC Station.