Project SERVE (Service-Empowerment-Revitalization-Volunteerism-Employment) is a community-based program that works in the City's underserved neighborhoods and trains disadvantaged residents with marketable skills while they revitalize their communities.

The program partners with Baltimore City to complete outstanding work orders in city schools. Project SERVE also partners with East Baltimore Development, Incorporated (EBDI) to assist with the revitalization in the neighborhoods near Johns Hopkins Medical Institute and Medical School. Project SERVE members are also rehabilitating a historic firehouse on Caroline Street in partnership with East Harbor Community Development Corporation. The firehouse is being turned into a community center for residents of the Perkins Homes community.

While making major improvements to impoverished neighborhoods, Project SERVE is bringing positive change to participants' lives. Many participants come to us from substance abuse centers or have spent time incarcerated. They are using this opportunity to create a future for themselves and their families while giving back to the community. Over the past three years, 75% of Project SERVE graduates have remained employed. Project SERVE, in partnership with the Respect Outreach Center, is implementing an ex-offender reentry initiative. Through this partnership, Living Classrooms is helping individuals to transition from incarceration into Project SERVE and then into employment. The initiative will track participants and provide case management for three years after leaving Project SERVE.

Contact: Fred Hawkins fred@livingclassrooms.org