Neighborhood Zones

NEIGHBORHOOD ZONES LASTING CHANGE DRIVEN BY RESIDENTS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS

United Way’s Neighborhood Zones are resource and service hubs that provide holistic, multigenerational support for residents and help break down barriers to economic, health, and educational equity.

Neighborhood Zones emerge from listening to what people want and need to succeed on their terms and are cocreated by residents, neighborhood leaders, local businesses, and other nonprofits. Because of this, the resources and services provided vary by location.

In this Neighborhood Zone update, we welcome you to each of our current locations: Brooklyn/Curtis Bay, Poppleton, and Columbia to learn about what’s happening in each community where networks are strengthened as an important way to improve the quality of life for each neighbor.

BROOKLYN NEIGHBORHOOD ZONE

The Neighborhood Zone in Brooklyn offers a Family Center within Benjamin Franklin High School, providing on-site childcare for student-parents so they can stay in school and graduate, as well as housing and employment assistance, a dropout prevention program, mental health services, access to fresh and healthy food, and more.

Since its inception, 53 studentparents graduated from our Brooklyn Family Center. During the 2021–2022 school year, we served 17 infants and toddlers along with 25 parents, five of whom earned their high school diploma in June. Graduating while raising a child is not an easy feat, especially during a pandemic. "My daughter has learned so much—from tracing her name to saying her numbers 1 through 10. Wow! This program helps me to be a better woman and a much better mom to my daughter. I am so very grateful for all of you."

—LIDIA

Our Neighborhood Zones don’t address just one issue: we look at the whole person, or the whole family, and provide the services or resources needed to get that individual or family on track for a stronger future—because stronger neighbors mean stronger neighborhoods.

POPPLETON NEIGHBORHOOD ZONE

At the newly opened Poppleton location, we learned that the community has struggled against structural barriers for decades. United Way’s Neighborhood Zone services in Poppleton complement those of our partner, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, which operates its Community Engagement Center in the neighborhood. Opened in 2015, this Center promotes neighborhood and economic development.

We offer a Family Center for student-parents at the nearby Excel Academy modeled after our Family Center in Brooklyn; there is a United Way 211 Helpline staff person to connect residents to critical resources in person; and we’re providing housing assistance so that families avoid evictions, and their children don’t suffer academically from untimely school transfers.

In its first school year, we served eight infants and toddlers and five student-parents. Three parents graduated, one will attend college, two will transition to the workplace, and two other students attended summer school to earn their diplomas in time for August graduation—we’re rooting for them! Nineteen other studentparents received holistic support and resources. "Before the Family Center, I never trusted anyone, especially with my daughter. I didn’t know what it felt like to be genuinely loved until I met all the ladies and students at the center. You all really love me. Yes, unconditionally."

—MONYEA COLUMBIA NEIGHBORHOOD ZONE

In Fall of 2022, we opened our third Neighborhood Zone in Columbia. Howard County is known for having one of the highest median incomes in the state. But it also has one of the highest costs of living, making it a difficult place for low- to moderate-income families to get ahead. Higher than average childcare costs in the region place an additional burden on families who are already struggling to make ends meet.

The Columbia Neighborhood Zone includes a Family Center, providing discounted childcare and early childhood education to eligible families, as well as eviction prevention assistance; job readiness and budgeting classes; individual, family, and group counseling; food assistance; legal aid referrals; and more.