2017 CIIP Program Book 2017 CIIP Program Book | Page 5

Community Partner: 29 th Street Community Center
Intern: Leena Aurora
Site Supervisor: Elyse Preston
What is the 29 th Street Community Center?
The mission of the 29th Street Community Center is to offer a space for meaningful community
building and high quality enrichment programming that adds value and vibrancy to surrounding
neighborhoods and the Barclay Elementary/Middle School.
"There are only 2 full-time staff members at the center. So, my tasks include anything and everything: from
administrative tasks to just unlocking the gym closet when kids want to play basketball. The center hosted four camps
this summer, and in the evenings, the center is home to various evening programming powered by the community:
Zumba and yoga classes, a break dancing group, and more. Community associations also use the space for their
meetings, some of which I had the chance to attend.
Prior to CIIP, I was unfamiliar with a powerful concept known as community organizing. Community organizing,
though, encapsulates something that I had been deeply passionate about: the power of people coming together,
working to better themselves and their peers. My in-depth community organizing experience this summer came from
my two biggest projects: supervising six high school interns from the YouthWorks program, and organizing a
community health fair.
In the YouthWorker’s five weeks, I challenged and taught them, while they did the same for me. They’ve all grown up
in Baltimore city, and gave me more p erspective on that experience than anyone else I’ve worked with. Their largest
project of the summer was to identify an issue that they saw in their community, and come up with a solution that
THEY would implement. They chose violence. In the end they hosted a community walk, pointing out what they
believe contributes to violence, as well as solutions; stops included a liquor store and a park that they had cleaned up
during a previous summer. Over 40 people came out, including a councilwoman from a nearby district. She, as well as
others, were so vocal in discussing these issues that the walk went 40 minutes over the schedule.
My other big project was in organizing a community health fair with Yamini, the CIIP intern from Charm City Care
Connection. There is so much that I can say about it (flash flooding, a missing grill the morning of, countless emails),
but it was a success. Turnout was so robust that we actually ran out of school supplies and food to give away, having
bought for 80-100 people. We were able to help everyone who came, including a group of people who were
experiencing homelessness, who came 5 minutes before the fair was supposed to end. Nearly everything had been
packed up, but we set to work in finding them any leftover food. The case manager from Charm City Care Connection
was able to have private meetings with each person, and actually was able to set many up for ongoing care. As one
man left, he asked me when the next fair was; I was sad to tell him that the event is “only” once a year. I grinned at
his retreating figure as he yelled back to me, “Well, I’ll see you then!” -Leena
• Supported community center,
in summer camps and adult
programming, administrative
tasks, managing social media,
and outreach.
• Organized and led
professional development
workshops in topics like
college preparation, job
etiquette, and financial
literacy.
• Supervised and facilitated
"Youth Against Violence"
community walk led by the
YouthWorkers.
• Lead organizer for community
health fair/ summer
celebration at the center, with
turnout of over 100 people.
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