BUILD Baltimore
Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development
Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) is a broad-based, non-partisan, interfaith, multiracial community power organization rooted in Baltimore’s neighborhoods and congregations. BUILD is dedicated to making our city a better place for all Baltimoreans to live and thrive. For more than 45 years, BUILD has worked to improve housing, increase job opportunities, and rebuild schools and neighborhoods, among other issues.
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We are composed of member institutions—congregations, public schools, and neighborhood associations from across the city—that choose to join in the work of our organization. BUILD is supported by our member organizations and by business leaders, corporations, foundations, and individuals who believe in making Baltimore a better place to live, work, and raise a family.
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We are affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation, a coalition of like-minded organizations in cities around the world.
What We Do
The secret to BUILD’s success lies in our commitment to identify and develop leaders in every community where we work.
We rely on a radical tactic: We meet people face-to-face and build relationships that help to re-knit the frayed social fabric of our life.
Get to Know Us
We don’t seek justice and social change for people, we seek change with people. We tackle big problems by breaking them down into issues that can be addressed. We build power by building community.
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We win our biggest victories by listening to what is needed, finding like-minded people to work with us for change, and engaging leaders who can help us to achieve our goals.
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In the 1980s, we fought bank redlining, developed the CollegeBound Foundation to send more city students to college, and built the first Nehemiah homes, affordable housing that helped to stabilize city neighborhoods.
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In the 1990s, we won a Living Wage for many of Baltimore’s low-wage workers and kicked off a national movement with that win. We recognized a need for after-school programs and more parental involvement, so we created the Child First program, today an independent entity that serves 1,400 youth.
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More recently, we’ve turned our attention to reinvigorating neighborhoods across the city, and we are deeply committed to giving the city’s youth a good future, with an emphasis on recreation centers, jobs, and an end to youth violence.
BUILD's History
1970s
BUILD Begins
Rev. Vernon Dobson of Union Baptist Church, the late Rev. Wendell Phillips of the Heritage United Church of Christ, and the late Msgr. Clare O’Dwyer of St. Matthews Catholic Church assembled the first 10 churches and initial money to form a Sponsoring Committee to start BUILD in 1977.
2014
Turnaround Tuesday
Zion Baptist Church and other leaders in East Baltimore began organizing around issues of jobs and criminal justice reform. This eventually led to the creation of Turnaround Tuesday, a second chance jobs movement. Since its founding, Turnaround Tuesday has placed over 1,800 people - mostly returning citizens - in living wage jobs with employers across Baltimore.
2020
COVID-19 Response
During the pandemic, BUILD leaders delivered more than 10 million meals & 44,500 pounds of meat to families in need. This involved training drivers to build relationships & to identify other concerns that could be addressed (including vaccine hesitancy, healthcare concerns, & more). BUILD also organized to ensure testing & vaccines were available to all, particularly low-income families & communities of color. 8,000+ were tested & 7,500+ were vaccinated at BUILD sites throughout Baltimore.