Learning About Community Needs and the Baltimore Builders Program in Brooklyn, MD

Abstract

This report summarizes the activities and results from research conducted during the Spring semester 2022 as part of a graduate course in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). The asset-based and community-based research methods used built upon the relationships established between UMBC and community partners in Brooklyn and Curtis Bay since 2015. From January to May 2022, several UMBC graduate students and their professor (see report authors) spent over 150 combined hours in the Baybrook community volunteering, conducting research, and speaking with community members and leaders in community-based organizations. Their first introduction to the community was a walking tour with Jan Eveland of Action Baybrook, who explained many of the community’s assets and highlighted the work she is doing to rehabilitate vacant homes. Next, Charles DeBarber welcomed the students at Filbert Street Garden and they canvassed the surrounding blocks to hand out flyers about services offered at the garden.