most to residents, held a voter registration drive, built a
home. He knows the city as well as people who have spent
community garden, and organized a forum for mayoral
their whole lives here, and he has become a real player in
candidates that was covered by the Baltimore Sun and other
community service and social justice circles,” says Sanford
media. They also campaigned for a city bottle tax that would
J. Ungar, president of Goucher College and a member of the
raise funds to improve city schools.
Intersection’s board of directors.
This fall, the Intersection is focusing on supporting
“What is unique about the Intersection is that Zeke
the controversial Maryland Dream Act, which grants
and his colleagues have figured out how to get young
lower tuition to Maryland universities to the children of
high school students to take pride and ownership in their
undocumented immigrants who meet certain requirements.
neighborhoods. There is nothing quite like seeing him
“Finding authentic platforms where your voice can be
surrounded by a pack of what he calls ‘my kids.’ ”
heard is a critical component in confidence-building and for academic success,” says Khalilah Harris, founder and executive director of the Baltimore Freedom Academy. “Students thrive in the Intersection. I have seen this
A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT “PROBLEMS” “AS A TEACHER, I HAD TO STEP BACK.”
happen with every kid who comes to the Intersection, whether they attend this school or not. It is really important
The son of a psychiatrist and a professor at the Smith
for students to have an outlet where they partner with
College School for Social Work, Berzoff-Cohen entered
adults and have their voices heard in meaningful ways.”
Goucher thinking he’d be a writer. Then, in his junior
Berzoff-Cohen, as the organization’s executive
year, he and his cousin, Zachary Shapiro ’08, ran a writers’
director, spends about 30 percent of his time fundraising
workshop for boys living in a West Baltimore foster home.
and hopes to expand the program from 44 students to
And he changed his goal.
100 next year and 300 by 2015. (Co-founders Stern
The boys in the foster home had extraordinary stories
and Mumby have moved on to other jobs, but serve as
to tell, but many were unable to write more than a sentence
Intersection board members.)
or two, Berzoff-Cohen says. “I thought about how I had
“Zeke came to Goucher as a quiet young man from
been privileged enough to have an excellent education and
western Massachusetts, and he quickly made Baltimore his
23
“Zeke and his colleagues have figured out how to get young high school students to take pride and ownership in their neighborhoods.” Sanford J. Ungar President of Goucher College
photo by Michael Navarre