When we began our work in the southeast section of Oliver in 2006, abandonment consumed every block. Aside from the community churches that had upheld Oliver for decades, no one would think of investing their time and money into this part of Baltimore. Except for us.

Leveraging $1.2 million that the local churches had pooled, we raised an initial $9.3 million and began to rebuild, one house and one block at a time. After 13 years of investment and steadfast commitment, the neighborhood has been reborn with stable blocks and almost no abandonment. For the first time in 50 years, small developers and homebuyers are investing in Oliver, and the area has shed its status as a racially concentrated area of poverty.

For decades, disinvestment in Greenmount West began on its east side, along Greenmount Avenue and across from historic Green Mount Cemetery. The distress in this area both harmed the health and safety of local residents and undermined any chance that they could benefit economically from the assets just blocks away, which included Baltimore Penn Station and several arts establishments. In 2009, Greenmount West community members sought our help in changing their outlook.

Over 6 years, we invested in a 3-block area at the root of the area’s disinvestment. We led creation of 14 for-sale homes, 9 single-family rentals, two modern apartment buildings for lower-income artists and families, and a park and splash pad. Today, eastern Greenmount West is a self-sustaining market—a truly mixed-income community full of opportunity.