I arrived in Baltimore and at Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in 2009. At that time, I was on a steep learning curve, discovering more about Baltimore and particularly East Baltimore. My wife is a NICU nurse practitioner at Johns Hopkins, and through conversations with neighbors, I learned very quickly that the community was not all warm and fuzzy about Hopkins.
Amazing Grace is a gathering place for Baltimore neighbors, creating safe space for healing, resource sharing, and strategizing about strengthening the community. In those early days of learning, I attended several community events and conversations, some attended by the Urban Health Institute and one convened by UHI as a self-study. I witnessed firsthand the struggle and frustration of neighbors who often felt Hopkins made decisions or implemented programs without respect or regard for the neighborhood. There was a great divide between the working community of Hopkins and neighbors living in the community.
Pastor Gary Dittman connecting with neighborhood youth at a community gathering in East Baltimore.
It was during this time that I met Dr. [Robert] Bob Blum and Amy Gawad and began to see UHI as a vehicle for implementing more just practices and creating a path for stronger relationships and better dialogue between Hopkins and the community.
Honestly, it’s the simple things that can matter the most. The creating and strengthening of relationships within the neighborhood and the Johns Hopkins Hospital and University community is a baseline. There were (and are) growing edges around seeing each other as neighbors. The Hopkins community and the neighborhood don’t always see one another as neighbors with mutual interests and goals.
Much of the work involved discussing challenges and, at times, listening to painful experiences shared by neighbors. The healing of community takes time and energy. It takes courage and institutional humility. One very positive way I saw these relationships being built and challenges addressed was through the Baltimore Dialogues book readings that took place periodically, some hosted at Amazing Grace. These readings specifically addressed issues of race and health disparities.
Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute's Baltimore Dialogues Session.
Amazing Grace also instituted changes in our own values to help foster healing in the strained relationship between Hopkins and the community. We committed to never speak negatively or despairingly about Hopkins to one another unless we were willing to speak the same things to them face to face. This led us toward healthy accountability and away from villainizing Hopkins.
Looking at Baltimore today, this is such a tricky time in our country and in our community. Current shifts in the political climate have deeply impacted the Johns Hopkins University community and have challenged Baltimore’s values of celebrating cultural diversity and opportunity, particularly for our immigrant neighbors. UHI’s efforts to strengthen health equity and safety are especially important in this moment.
While it is politically risky to advocate for vulnerable populations, publicly sharing actual data and verifiable facts, rather than demonizing rhetoric and polarizing narratives, is absolutely necessary. There are bright, brilliant people and organizations doing exceptional work in Baltimore to create space for vibrant, diverse, multicultural communities. UHI’s position as both a convener and a conduit of reliable information can strengthen community cohesion and energize those carrying out this difficult healing work in challenging times.
Amazing Grace is deeply connected to the neighborhood and is convinced that there is a wealth of wisdom centered in the community. Our offerings and resources are based on neighbor-requested programming, and our work is centered on building strong relationships of trust. UHI built those relationships with Amazing Grace and our neighbors when I first arrived. Dr. Blum, Amy Gawad, and others invested time and energy in listening and being responsive to concerns expressed. I appreciated those efforts, knowing the tricky relationship Hopkins has had with the East Baltimore community.
