BALTIMORE, MD (Monday, October 18, 2021) — This morning, Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore City Recreation and Parks (BCRP) celebrated the reopening of Towanda Recreation Center with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Towanda is BCRP’s newest STEM and fitness center to serve the Park Heights community.

Remodeled Recreational Center

Elected officials and community leaders were on hand to commemorate the occasion, including BCRP Director Reginald Moore, Mayor Scott, Councilwoman Sharon Green Middleton (District 6), State Senator Antonio Hayes (District 40), Deputy Mayor for Equity, Health, and Human Services Faith Leach, Creative City Public Charter School principal Traci Mathena, and Towanda Neighborhood Association secretary Joi Dabney.

“This is a great day for Park Heights as we reopen Towanda Rec, my childhood rec center. Whenever we open a newly renovated rec center, it sends a strong signal to that neighborhood and everyone in it, especially our children,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “My vision for Baltimore includes high quality recreation opportunities for young people, families, and older adults across our neighborhoods — particularly in communities like this one that have been historically left behind. This is one of the ways my administration will prioritize Baltimore youth.”

“For twenty-four hours, he said, no transatlantic airships had arrived, and no more messages were coming from England. He did state, though, that a message from Berlin—that’s in Germany—announced that Hoffmeyer, a bacteriologist of the Metchnikoff School, had discovered the serum for the plague. That was the last word, to this day, that we of America ever received from Europe. If Hoffmeyer discovered the serum, it was too late, or otherwise, long ere this, explorers from Europe would have come looking for us. We can only conclude that what happened in America happened in Europe, and that, at the best, some several score may have survived the Scarlet Death on that whole continent.

Following its closure in 2018, BCRP prioritized Towanda recognizing the need for additional recreational access in the surrounding community. BCRP leaders met with the surrounding community to re-imagine how to better utilize the space.

“We now have to re-imagine our spaces to challenge our young people by giving them opportunities,” said Director Moore. “It’s not just the school piece, it’s all of us.”

The ribbon cutting ceremony also featured a performance from the Creative City Public Charter School children’s choir and a tour of the newly renovated facility.

The renovation includes a new fitness area, equipment room, kitchen, multipurpose and STEM rooms and indoor and outdoor basketball courts. BCRP is re-imagining Towanda in three phases first with the recreation center, then with the swimming pool and finally the green spaces on both sides of the facility.

“This Towanda community is smiling now. They have been very patient because the community knows how important this center is in bringing partnerships together,” said Councilwoman Middleton. “This is another clear example of equity and equality in motion.”

Sen. Hayes was particularly optimistic about what’s in store for Towanda. “This is the future of recreation and parks and I’m happy to be here, happy to be a partner with our colleagues in city government to make sure this reality comes true, especially with the partnership of a school right next door,” he said.

About Baltimore City Recreation & Parks

Baltimore City Recreation & Parks (BCRP) is Baltimore’s leading provider of affordable, year-round recreational activities. BCRP builds a stronger Baltimore one community at a time through conservation, well-being and social equity. BCRP manages and maintains 263 parks, 50 recreation centers, 25 miles of biking and hiking trails and more than 5,000 acres of parkland. To learn more about our programs and services, visit bcrp.baltimorecity.gov/.

The post Mayor, BCRP Celebrate Towanda Recreation Center Reopening with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony first appeared on Park Heights Renaissance.

The grant program will provide up to $2,000 toward a renter’s security deposit based on their income. The grants, which will be administered by the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success, will be available only to low-income residents on a one-time basis. Annual funding will come from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and other sources within the city budget.

Council fast tracked the legislation Monday, taking the second and final vote on the measure on the same night. The measure passed 14-0 with one abstention from Councilman Kristerfer Burnett.

Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton, the bill’s primary sponsor, applauded the various branches of city government who worked together on the bill. Like council’s previous attempt to offer other options to cash-up-front security deposits, the grant program is “forward-thinking” legislation, she said.

“It addresses the need, it solves a problem, it helps residents and it helps our city,” she said.

The grant legislation was introduced in June after council’s failed attempt to regulate security deposit alternatives. The alternatives bill, also introduced by Middleton, would have required landlords with 10 or more units who charge a deposit of more than 60% of a month’s rent to offer tenants payment alternatives: either pay the deposit in three monthly installments or buy what is called “rental security insurance.”

Gather more information and access the application at https://www.bmorechildren.com/residents.

CAP centers are currently closed for in-person visits due to COVID-19, but staff are onsite to take calls, answer emails and process applications for energy, water and rental assistance. You can also drop off applications and supporting documents for any of the above programs at any CAP center.

Northwest CAP Center
3939 Reisterstown Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21215
Transit Routes: 85, 83, 82

The post Baltimore City Council passes bill creating security deposit assistance program first appeared on Park Heights Renaissance.