Support Safe, Year-Round Learning for East Baltimore Youth

 Invest in Safe, Year-Round Learning for Children in East Baltimore!

A very generous donor has given us a matching grant of $25,000! 

Your donation will help us unlock the matching grant. 

The Kirk P. Gaddy Youth and Community Center (formerly and affectionately known as “The Club at Collington”) has offered an oasis of love and learning in one of Baltimore’s toughest neighborhoods for over 20 years with afterschool and summer programs. Operating out of four connected rowhomes in East Baltimore – where the sound of gunfire and the experience of tragedy are sadly familiar – The Club performs small miracles daily, wrapping its arms around youngsters exposed to trauma. During the school year, Club Scholars, ranging in age from 5 to 14, attend after school, get a snack and dinner, space to do their homework, tutoring, coaching, and fun activities. In the summer, scholars come all day for a safe, and enriching experience. They are served breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner.

The Club has lost its main funding sources, so Director Ms. Vanessa and her helpers are raising funds to offer the program, staffed by experienced teachers/coaches. The Club was recently rechristened as the Kirk P. Gaddy Youth and Community Center and became an independent nonprofit and will be applying for grants to sustain its work. That takes time – meanwhile, dozens of Scholars and their parents depend on The Club. Please, do what you can to support The Club today. 

Families contact us nearly every day to ask if they can enroll their children. We served 60 Scholars in the summer of 2024 with 6 former scholars as YouthWorkers. We have started our school year program with 20 Scholars with the goal of growing to serve 65 students. 

As Ms. Vanessa, who has led The Club for ten years, explains: “Our role in East Baltimore is more than an afterschool and summer program. It’s a place where youth can gather to be safe, where they have the opportunity to speak about violence, drugs, their fears, their strengths and their role in society. They share their hopes and dreams. The Club gives them a safe space to be listened to and be respected.”