By Ted Carter
Imagine a place where education, community, growth, and leadership development all converge. Well, it’s not just an idea anymore. It’s being done at The CommuniVersity in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland.
The CommuniVersity is being developed with the look and feel of college campus comprising of three buildings that will offer programs and services for both youth and community members of all demographics, activity-levels, socio-economic levels, and faiths.
Pillars of The CommuniVersity
The following areas are the important pillars of The CommuniVersity:
Housing
With 55% of renters in the area spending more than 30% of their income on housing, affordable housing is at the foundation of progress for residents of The CommuniVersity. With rent being comparable in cost to other locations in the same geographic area, The CommuniVersity offers strong step forward for housing security with on-site access to training, leadership development, and much more.
Training
Training services will enable residents and members of the community with critical skills in the following areas:
- Life skills training that include communication, adaptability, and leadership development
- Vocational skills training in the areas of computer programming and coding, construction, carpentry, urban agriculture, transportation, and logistics
Leadership Development
The CommuniVersity has a unique take on its leadership development program using basketball as a method of teaching core leadership skills such as trust, conflict management, teamwork, and strategic thinking.
Economic Development
The CommuniVersity helps to bring together the tremendous assets in the region that include $36.7 billion in private sector output, the intellectual power of 12 colleges and universities, and 60 Federal agencies and laboratories.
In addition, The CommuniVersity is focused on economic drivers to sustain its programs that include indoor vertical farming and energy independence through on-site solar power.
The SI3 Group and The CommuniVersity
Our Managing Executive, Ted Carter recently commented on the opportunity to work with The CommuniVersity. “I’m honored to support Charles “Choo” Smith at the 2nd Annual CommuniVersity Retreat. Anchored by a youth empowerment center and 200+ units of market rate housing, CommuniVersity will be transformative to West Baltimore.”
The SI3 group is providing pro bono real estate & economic development and consulting services to Choo Smith to assist in the realization of this transformational community centered project for Baltimore City.
About The SI3 Group
The SI3 Group focuses on assisting clients in navigating and achieving results for clients who operate at the intersection of business, government and community and seek to achieve equitable results. Our commitment and experience and expertise in community and economic development and other disciplines accelerates our clients’ ability to achieve results in this manner. To learn more about how we can help your community development initiative, please contact us.