Our Mission
A group of Master's students from the psychology department at Loyola University Maryland and one of their professors came together after recognizing the need to respond to the emotional, mental, and physical distress and unrest marginalized communities face daily. On April 27th, 2015 some of the Baltimore youth loudly expressed feeling disconnected, hopeless, angry, and silenced through initiating an uprising. While some call it a riot, there are community members, historians, national leaders, and advocates that refer to the events as both an uprising and the beginning of a revolution. When all eyes turned to Baltimore, the city and neighborhoods throughout used this as an opportunity to be heard. Soon, people were coming forward to tell their stories, revealing the truth about the city's issues with poverty, access to food, education, resources, job opportunities, and police brutality. Finally, it could no longer be ignored.
Motivated by the events of the Baltimore Uprising, a student and professor met to debrief, which led to a class discussion. The outcome: the creation of Charm City Initiative (CCI). The topic of conversation that first meeting, and for many other meetings to follow, has been centered around our highest concerns: the Baltimore youth and providing outlets for them to feel acknowledged, supported, and heard. Collectively, CCI came up with quite a few long term and short term goals, all focused on encouraging unity, fostering empathetic environments, and promoting awareness. Our objective now is to achieve these goals and help create long-lasting, purposeful, and meaningful change both inside the classroom and outside in the community.
Motivated by the events of the Baltimore Uprising, a student and professor met to debrief, which led to a class discussion. The outcome: the creation of Charm City Initiative (CCI). The topic of conversation that first meeting, and for many other meetings to follow, has been centered around our highest concerns: the Baltimore youth and providing outlets for them to feel acknowledged, supported, and heard. Collectively, CCI came up with quite a few long term and short term goals, all focused on encouraging unity, fostering empathetic environments, and promoting awareness. Our objective now is to achieve these goals and help create long-lasting, purposeful, and meaningful change both inside the classroom and outside in the community.