News

As portal to the Julie Community Center (JCC), the door at the corner of East Lombard and S. Washington Street in Baltimore deserves a paid vacation for its work this summer!   Things began with a week of Leadership and Service Training for middle schoolers.   They canvased the community and used photos and videos to document the strengths and weaknesses they observed.   Sessions helped them to better understand themselves and how that awareness impacts them as leaders and colors the quality of their service. The JCC Summer Peace Camp followed with campers from 5 through 12 years old.  Mornings were filled with crafts, sports, health education, STEM activities, fun and games, [...]

BIG NEWS! We are in the process of updating our programming here at the Julie Community Center. It is our mission to serve this community, and in order to do that properly, we want to hear from you! We aspire to be a hub for South East Baltimore community members to learn, grow, and thrive. Whether you'd like to participate in a new virtual cooking class, need help with resume and interview skills, or anything else you've wanted to try, we want to know! If you live in the South East Baltimore community and would like to share your thoughts, please fill out this quick survey below [available in English [...]

We have now heard wonderful news from President Joe Biden that he refuses to reduce the amount of the third round of stimulus checks, giving at least $1,400 to each qualifying resident. He stated, “I’m not cutting the size of the checks. They’re going to be $1,400. Period. That’s what the American people were promised.” In a time where there are so many Americans in desperate need of assistance, there are also many people who simply do not need this amount of money, even though they qualify. We at the Julie Community Center want to do our best to support our neighbors who do need support at this time; and [...]

Below is a reflection on an on-line article by Nsikan Akpan that appeared September 5th on the PBS NewsHour web site, "The hotter the planet grows, the less children are learning.”  The article examines issues associated with student learning and classroom temperature.   Baltimore City School System is given as an example of a system struggling with lost learning time as a result of extreme heat. The author of this reflection, the teacher wearing the sweatband, taught middle and high School students for over 60 years! "Teacher!  Help!  I'm melting to my desk!  Honest!" Groaning, my teens and I point to the oversized poster which reads: PITY*CATS aren’t COOL!  Firmly adjusting [...]

If you could safely stand in the center of the intersection of S. Washington St. and E. Lombard Sts. you would have a historic view of Baltimore.  Looking north and south on S. Washington St. or east and west on E. Lombard St. your view would be dominated by Baltimore’s traditional borders of rowhouses.   However, throughout the city a number of those rowhouses also contain another unique Baltimore tradition, painted window screens! Painting window screens is a tradition initiated in Baltimore City over 100 years ago and the tradition has a well established history.  In 1913, a Czechoslovakian immigrant named William Oktavec was running a grocery in the eastern section [...]