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Neighborhood Eviction 1433 w. Lombard St

Today, the homeowner at 1433 West Lombard Street just a few blocks from the market and right on the square (Union Square Park) was evicted by the City Sheriff’s office. What’s bittersweet about this is the eviction was successfully blocked only yesterday by Occupy Baltimore protesters who organized and rallied over 100 people to prevent this woman from being put out on the street. Unfortunately, the court ordered eviction was not to be stopped as seen this morning around 11am when several officers accompanied by a representative from the bank who financed the mortgage on the house descended upon the property. At this time, the woman, 64 or 65 years old, is on the curb with her belongings with no where to currently go.

What’s interesting about this sad turn of events is the conflicting information leading up to today’s eviction:

Protesters reported through social media that this woman was unjustly served an eviction even though her mortgage was modified by her mortgage lender. Yet, the Baltimore Sun and a local TV station reported she did not receive a modification, and owed over $50,000 in back payments. What’s more, no one responded to our requests for clarity on this (neither the Sun reporter nor the Occupy movement indivduals organizing the rally to save her home). SO we can only believe that misinformation is floating around regarding why this woman was so deep in foreclosure (3 years to be exact, widowed, and w/o rental income that the property once produced). We only hope the owner has made prior arrangements for housing given today’s eviction.

Time will tell if the house will sell to a responsible homeowner, who will live in it and grow to love the neighborhood as many of the residents in the 1400 block of Lombard do.

A Historic Run to Trim a Historic Disease in a Historic Neighborhood

When you read the statistics regarding the health of our children, it’s enough to make any loving parent or teacher stop and give pause to the health disparities facing populations at risk for diet related diseases. Obesity, in particular, is one that grips cities all across America. Baltimore City children are close to the top leaders of obesity in this country, with fifty-percent of all high school students in the city already obese. That’s roughly over 12,500 high school students from grades 9 to 12, and heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in this town. So with so many children circling the drain of future health problems and potential death at early ages of life, what’s to be done about it? Certainly, neighborhood corner stores are not changing their products in reaction to this issue. Lose money? NAH! Children should know better than to eat only junk food. If that were true, then many of the corner stores would be out of business.

This Sunday, one neighborhood will show that it cares enough to save our children from an unhealthy life through the first annual Sowebo 5K Landmark Race to encourage the community to engage in tackling childhood obesity. With months of planning, and strategic positioning among corporate sponsors and two partnerships, this organization hopes to draw as many supporters and participants as possible. $25 registration for this event ends today at 11:59pm. But late-comers can register on the morning of the event for $30 per person. Children are also allowed to race for a nominal fee.

As a neighbor, I can say that this event is a worthy cause. One that can serve its overall purpose if it’s pulled off right and has enough participants and support from the overall community. The apathy in the neighborhood may dampen the mood of some residents who would rather focus on worrying about where their next paycheck or their next fix is coming from. But the unity of friends and members of the Neighborhood Association as well as neighboring community associations and schools may be the foundation necessary to carry this race through this historic part of Southwest Baltimore. Hopefully the outreach has been enough to penetrate the division among neighborhood leaders and residents who may not feel included in events that are going on in the community because outreach to neighbors has not been as inclusive over the years. Like children bursting into the living room to grab presents at the crack of Christmas dawn, one would wish this also for children to burst onto the scene of the 5K race for the children’s run.

For more information about the race, and how you can sign-up to race before the registration fee spikes, visit www.sowebolandmark5k.org

Stockton Street Peace Garden

Baltimore is a complicated town with some rough edges. Just ask anyone who has been around for more than a decade in this city, and they’ll probably tell you this and more. But there are some areas where this isn’t so true. And it doesn’t have to do with beautiful homes maintained up in Union Square or Bolton Hill. Rather, hidden gems, such as the peace garden I discovered recently on South Stockton and Lemmon Street.

The beauty of this diamond in the rough emits a calming effect that immediately lightens personal moods like a psychiadellic (sp?) drug that I could probably buy just around the block on South Carey Street. What’s surprising about this garden is the relative and steady quiet that exists in the garden given that it exists in the city and is flanked by two busy high-traffic streets. Maybe God vacations there from time-to-time to take a break from all His needy children, commanding peace and quiet when He’s there.  

This oasis in the urban desert was quaintly tucked away between Pratt and Lombard Street, surrounded by slummy properties, unmowed vacant lots owned by the city, and up-and-coming strips in pockets of Hollins Market. The small pond at the center of the garden serves as the main focal point, flanked by logs crafted for seating on both sides of the pond. A 5-foot man-made boulder sculpture sits a few feet from the pond on the edge of the garden facing Stockton Street, defining it’s perimeter. The small access panel embedded below the sculpture and flanked by beautiful shrubs and bushes, has a deadbolt lock on it. Possibly a panel hiding the valve that turns on some sort of watery spring in the pond? Gladly, the garden doesn’t contain any gating or locks, and is open to all who wish to enjoy its splendor.