Please Join Us for the West Baltimore Community Harvest on Saturday, September 19 from 8 AM to NOON!

The West Baltimore TOD/Transportation, Inc is putting on a community harvest at the West Baltimore MARC station lots. The event will include a farmers market, informational booths, a community planning and vision area, and craft workshops for the kids. “There will be something for everyone,” says Joyce Smith, Executive Director of Operation ReachOut SouthWest and co-chair of the West Baltimore MARC TOD/Transportation, “we want to present information that is action-oriented, like Associated Builders and Contractors will be out to talk about their Jump Start construction apprenticeship program, along with Living Classrooms which offers the Project SERVE job training program.” Other groups will include Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore and Habitat for Humanity. One of the highlights will be a farmers market featuring organic and local farmers, and most accept WIC and Senior FMNP checks. For the kids and young at heart, Black Cherry Puppet Theater is scheduled to perform and hold puppet making workshops for the kids. Please don’t forget to check out the community planning and vision area, which will feature the revitalization plans for the West Baltimore MARC area.

The Mural Steering Committee to Hold a Public Meeting and Workshop about the Mural on September 23 @ 6:30 PM

The purpose of the public meeting and workshop is to review the mural steering committee’s findings and recommendations regarding the mural and to hold open discussions about the future plans for the mural on Pulaski Street.

When: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Where: Lockerman Bundy Elementary School

Governor Chooses West Baltimore MARC Area to Announce Baltimore Red Line LPA Support

For the West Baltimore MARC TOD/Transportation board members, Governor O’Malley’s decision to make this major announcement in our backyard speaks to the potential for future transit-oriented development in West Baltimore. For Kirin Smith, a young engineer who resides in the Evergreen area, it means all the hard work is starting to payoff, “for me, it is a recognition of all the work, time, and energy the community leaders have put into plans to help restore West Baltimore to what it once was and envision what it can be again — a great and thriving area of the city.”

The West Baltimore MARC TOD/Transportation Committee Votes to Incorporate in Order to Move Forward on Revitalization Efforts

“As a group of community leaders, we are committed to making West Baltimore a top priority for city and state funding—which is long over due—for improving our surrounding environment. Transit-oriented development is a vital jump start to revitalize our community to a cleaner and greener place to live, and not to mention the economical impact it could bring by way of jobs for our youth and residents,” says Kurt Taylor, President of Pinehurst Protective Association.

As the committee began to evaluate their plans as a group last winter, it started to become clear that there was a need to establish a more formal structure in order to make their plans a reality. “We needed bylaws to make sure we were being fair and balanced, and that every neighborhood had an equal vote and voice,” says Annie Williams, President of Harlem Park Neighborhood Council. So the group worked for three months on getting their bylaws together — reviewing, editing, and reviewing again — until they felt they had a structure which would give each neighborhood strength and independence, and yet establish an organization that would work together in equal partnership for the better of all neighborhoods in the West Baltimore MARC area.

“We look at the incorporation as a formality that needed to happen,” says John Hailey, President of Midtown Edmonson Avenue Improvement Association and co-chair of the West Baltimore MARC TOD/Transportation, Inc. Hailey continued, “and we plan to continue working with all organizations in the area, but officially we are focused on moving forward transit-oriented development and the benefits it could bring to our area.”

Here is a list of the founding members of the West Baltimore MARC TOD/Transportation, Inc.:

Co-Chairs of the Board of Directors:

• Joyce Smith, Executive Director, Operation ReachOut SouthWest
• John Hailey, President, Midtown Edmondson Avenue Improvement Assn., Inc.

Board of Directors:

• John Carrington, President, Bridgeview/Greenlawn Association, Inc.
• Edith Gilliard, President, Franklin Square Community Association, Inc.
• Robert Hunt, President, Alliance of Rosemont Community Organizations, Inc.
• Edna Manns, President, Fayette Street Outreach
• Bertha Nixon, President, Boyd/Booth Concerned Citizens, Inc.
• Rev. Lovell Parham, President, Edmondson Community Organization, Inc.
• Muriel Praileau, President, Evergreen Protective Association, Inc.
• Kurt Taylor, President, Pinehurst Protective Association
• Annie Williams, President, Harlem Park Neighborhood Council

Board Proxy Members:

• Rose Carter, Representative, Boyd/Booth Concerned Citizens, Inc.
• Kirin Smith, Representative, Evergreen Protective Association, Inc.

If you have any questions about the MARC TOD/Transportation, Inc., please feel free to contact either co-chair of the organization. Joyce Smith can be reached at 410-362-3239 and John Hailey can be reached at 443-447-4233, or contact by email at westbaltimoremarc[at]gmail.com. Please check here for current updates on what the committee is doing.