Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration

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The King Center

Community Outreach

Despite being a full-time interventionist with the Substance Abuse Intervention Service and a student pursuing a master's degree in psychology, Devon Blackwood still finds time for community service. Through the Shiloh Church of God, Blackwood provides free guitar lessons to East Baltimore youth and their fathers, thus strengthening the father-son relationship. Blackwood sits on the board of directors of Sonship Recovery Ministries, a spiritually based substance abuse recovery program, and also gives lectures and presentations about substance abuse recovery. In addition, he volunteers as a reader for The Johns Hopkins Hospital Reach Out and Read program and for the Grant-A-Wish Foundation.

Dr's. Bravo, Ebel, and Sessions are pediatric residents committed to advocating for the health and well-being of children. They have worked for the past year on a community-based project to develop and build a safe, useful, and attractive playground for Harford Heights Elementary School, the largest elementary school in Maryland. The four-acre vacant lot behind the school previously had been littered with broken bottles, crack vials, hypodermic needles, and rusting bits of old fence. The three organized a cleanup of the area and are working on the construction of a playground to serve as a community meeting spot as well as a safe place for children to play. In addition, the three spend time teaching community health workers as part of Project HEAL, an East Baltimore-based effort to educate families about the health of their children.

As a supervisor, Shirley Charles has an influence on those she works with, offering both guidance and support. Charles has also influenced her community by showing the same dedication. Charles is an adviser to the Youth and Young Adult Ministries of Shiloh Baptist Church of Edgemere, MD. She also finds time to serve as a residential assistant at the Eleanor D. Corner House, a shelter for the homeless in Arbutus. In addition, she serves as an on-call driver for pediatric oncology patients and senior citizens, is an active member in the American Business Women's Association, and promotes local voter registration.

Jim Eberwine has assisted in a number of community initiatives around East Baltimore and in Harford County. He helped support athletic programs at the Madison Square Recreational Center, and he assisted the St. Francis Academy with fund-raising efforts. Eberwine has also assisted with after-school tutoring programs at the Dr. Bernard Harris and Madison Square elementary schools. Jim worked with the Amazing Grace Church to promote a basketball league for games to be played at the Tench Tilghman and William Paca schools.He has also been a member of the Emmorton Recreation Council in Harford County for 10 years.

Lynette Fuson has been a key figure in the design and delivery of many programs sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Division of the American Cancer Society. At Camp Sunrise, a camp for cancer patients ages 4 to 18, she has volunteered as camp nurse, co-director, and activities director. She is also co-chair of the Camp Sunrise planning committee. Fuson was instrumental in the founding of SunSibs, a program for the brothers and sisters of cancer patients. Her volunteer work involves interviewing and training counselors, developing daily programs, and serving as a liaison between community donors and the American Cancer Society.

An active member of the New Christian Bible Baptist Church as head of the Sports and Social Ministries, Jerry Harris has volunteered in his community for the past nine years. He regularly works with others to reduce local crime, improve neighborhood sanitation, and make sidewalks handicapped-accessible. Harris also coaches the church's youth basketball team, trains other volunteers, and serves as president of the Woodmere Association, a community association in northwest Baltimore.

Gail Jackson has spent the past 24 years in a ministry with teenagers from every socio-economic background. One of her many goals is to keep adolescents in economically challenged areas of the city off the streets, and to encourage productivity and contributions to mankind. To this end, she organizes youth ministry programs with activities such as "Friday Night Live," athletic nights, nursing home visitations, and soup kitchen ministries that allow the adolescents to see beyond their immediate surroundings as well as to help others.

Charles Johnson volunteers his time in two Baltimore homeless shelters, the Oasis and the Eutaw Center, where he counsels and assists men regarding substance abuse, homelessness, veterans' issues, job readiness, HIV/AIDS and other health-related issues. His work in the shelters is intended to provide basic living skills for those in need. Johnson also believes that shelter residents get caught in a catch-22: no service without I.D., no I.D. without money, no money without services. Consequently, he has worked to eliminate some of the red tape involved for these individuals. Johnson also serves on the board of directors of the Center for Applied Nomadology, the parent group for these two homeless shelters.

Amy Juskowitz firmly believes that children facing illnesses should have the opportunity to experience the same joys and freedoms as any other child. To that end, she volunteers her time at Camp Sunrise, a camp intended to encourage the development and self-esteem of children ages 4 to 18 with cancer. Juskowitz helps to raise funds, coordinate special events, and design and assess the camp program and activities. She also volunteers for special events held at the Child Life Department that provide patients and their families a break from the health care routine and the opportunity to celebrate a family occasion.

Jeri Mancini, a nurse midwife and faculty member in the Department of GYN/OB since 1988, has dedicated her career to increasing access to obstetric and gynecologic care for the women of East Baltimore. She has been the director of the Adolescent Pregnancy Program at the Maternity Center since 1990 and, for the past few months, has been serving as acting director of the center, a free-standing, off-campus women's health clinic on North Chester Street. She was responsible for reactivating the Maternity Center East Community Advisory Board, established to assure that women and families that received care and services at MCE had a forum in which to discuss pertinent health issues. Mancini has worked tirelessly to assure that MCE staff are available to discuss women's health issues and to provide on-site health education.