In a large room, around 30 participants sat in two semi-circles of foldable chairs facing a panel of people invested in Baltimore and connected to UMBC. Despite the perfect spring break weather, these UMBC students weren’t on vacation. Instead, they gathered around three blue coffee-stained rugs of different shades and sizes with brightly marked poster paper on the walls depicting the community standards like “Take space when you need it,” “Listen non-judgmentally,” and “Don’t be afraid to ask questions.” Pens move steadily across the pages of students’ decorated notebooks. 

It was the first day of Alternative Spring Break (ASB), a week-long program hosted by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life and coordinated by Faith Davis ’22, sociology and biological sciences, the Center’s community civic engagement intern. “Our program is student-led, so it evolves and takes new forms every year,” explains Davis. “By staying in Baltimore, we are able to equip participants with the tools and knowledge to contribute to sustainable change regarding the social issue their group focuses on. We believe that students are capable contributors to a better world, and ASB orients them to become aware of that.”

“Alternative Spring Break is about opening the door to sustained engagement in Baltimore,” said David Hoffman, Ph.D. ’13, language, literacy, and culture (LLC), and Romy Hübler ’09, modern languages and linguistics, M.A. ’11, intercultural communications, Ph.D. ’15, LLC, director and associate director ofthe Center, respectively.“Participants learn about the systemic and human dimensions of issues affecting the city, make connections with people doing creative and important work, and discover opportunities to make their own meaningful contributions.”

Learning to ask good questions

This year ASB consisted of three student-led groups: Immigrant Health Equity, K-12 Education Equity, and Transformative Justice. The first session of the week: “Contextualizing Baltimore,” allowed for all of the students to engage with the content together. Campus and community leaders discussed the reality of Baltimore City as separate from the negative stereotypes that are sometimes associated with it. 

“Baltimore has a very rich history… the persistence of the negative narratives are by design,” Eric Ford, director of the Choice Program shared. “When you hear stuff you should always question what people mean and who it’s coming from. Ask questions not just of people with the title, but also with the people who don’t.”  

David Hoffman introduces panelists, from l-r: Eric Ford, and UMBC professors Jodi Kelber-Kaye, Kate Drabinski, and Felipe Filomeno.

Throughout the week, UMBC students in each of the ASB groups would follow Ford’s exhortation and ask hard questions—of their community guides and also of themselves, ultimately using the week to begin building relationships with organizations focused on education, provision of services, and advocacy. 

Approaching education critically

As Retrievers know, learning is a continuous process, and the Immigrant Health Equity group exemplified that by seeking more in-depth knowledge of the immigrant communities in Baltimore. They traveled to a small museum situated next to a beautiful little church to hear a speech about immigrant trends from the beginning of America to current times. 

Inside the museum, students gather around the different stations before heading into the city.

At the end of the lecture, Mokeira Nyakoe ’23, health administration and policy—one of the student leaders—shot her hand up, inspiring others to follow. Students raised critical questions about the information they were given and continued to interact with the docent as they queried for more in-depth information on Black immigrant experiences and the historical context and impact on current immigrant restrictions. After the facilitation ended, students actively reflected on the history they heard—and didn’t hear—by traveling to different parts of Baltimore with immigrant communities and supporting local businesses.

New ways to dream

Learning in many ways is a foundation for bringing about the changes you want to see. The Transformative Justice group went to meet with H.O.P.E (Helping Oppressed People Excel) an organization dedicated to providing relief and advocacy for previously incarcerated individuals. 

Students walk to Emmanuel Episcopal Church where H.O.P.E operates.

Antoin Quarles, the founder of H.O.P.E, met with the students in midtown Baltimore, guiding them through an ornate building that reached for the heavens. Inside, the walls held both the solemn faces of long-dead church leaders and colorful Black Lives Matter flyers with pictures of Quarles standing side-by-side with Maryland leaders. 

Quarles started the session by sharing his past. What started as a heartbreaking story—the result of generational trauma and systemic racism which had transformed the streets of Baltimore into “a battleground” and left Quarles in prison multiple times—eventually evolved into a story of direct advocacy, when Quarles founded H.O.P.E. “Whether it be finding housing, auto insurance, or a job, prison puts a noose around your neck which you can never escape from,” Quarles relayed. 

The Transformative Justice group poses with Quarles in the center.

While also assisting with resources like expungements, clothes, and backpacks, the organization’s main focus is advocacy. Spearheaded by Quarles, the organization fights for changes in housing, insurance, job market, and hospitals relating to the treatment of formerly incarcerated individuals. “Before, I wouldn’t ask myself, ‘Did I like prison? Did I consider [going to prison] normal? Was I scared?’ Those were questions I didn’t ask myself,” says Quarles. “But now, I would lose my mind because of the freedom I have learned to have for myself. Before, I felt comfortable living terribly.” Quarles sees it as his life’s work to support other released folks in walking down a different path. 

As UMBC students listened to Quarles’ overview of what H.O.P.E has accomplished, ASB student leader Wendy Zhang ’23, psychology and economics, immediately inquired on how students could get more involved. “The way you dream is determined by what you are exposed to,” reflected Shaniah Reece ’23, information systems, as the students sat arranged in a semicircle around Quarles. 

A need-based community approach 

Meanwhile, the K-12 Educational Equity group toured Lakeland Elementary and Middle School. Colorful artwork decorated almost every inch of the school and the students conversed freely in Spanish and English. The school was described by the ASB students as a “happy and inviting” place. 

Ramona Dowdell, the community school coordinator, explained the importance of a community school. Lakeland Elementary and Middle is interwoven with the surrounding neighborhoods, which largely are home to an underserved Central American immigrant population. On top of the academic work that a school usually does, Lakeland—in partnership with UMBC and other organizations—also provides bilingual education, a food pantry, communal baby showers, college advising, giveaways of backpacks, uniforms, and more. Because the school is connected to the parents and guardians of their students in multiple ways, Lakeland can provide programs and resources based on their unique needs.

During the tour, ASB participants walked past the MedStar mobile health center to unload a van full of grocery bags to a table set up right outside the school, where people from the community could grab what they needed. UMBC students saw the patch of dirt that come spring would transform into a garden, a soundproof studio where kids could record songs, and space for residents of the area to do their laundry. 

Throughout their time there, students were warmly welcomed and given more information from the principal, Dowdell, and Brian Francoise, project director of Lakeland Community and the STEAM Center, one of the many members of UMBC tied to the community of Lakeland. 

While reflecting on the group’s experience, Karen Griffin ’23, biology, began to ask more questions like, “Why is there not a push to have more community schools around Baltimore? What would my childhood, as someone who grew up low-income in Baltimore City, have looked like if my neighborhood had a community school?” 

Investing in the communities around you

ASB participants, leaders, and staff from the Center for Democracy and Civic Life pose together at the end of the week.

UMBC’s 2022 ASB took the first steps of building and maintaining long-term relationships with Baltimore organizations and deconstructing the idea of the city that often finds its way to the front pages. Together, participants unpacked ways to build trust with the respective communities their groups worked with, while not assuming what those needs are.

“The idea of an ‘Alternative Spring Break’ on college campuses has been around since the 1980s and was meant to provide students with a meaningful alternative to going to the beach all week” explains Davis, the student organizer. “The idea has since been commercialized, and many schools travel to a location, hours away, do service with an organization, and then return to their home campus. The ASB program at UMBC is unique because the goal is not to find something to fill your spring break but to use your spring break as an introduction to how meaningful change is made in Baltimore City.” 

*****

Header image provided by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life.

All other photos by Charis Lawson ’20.

As we send this year’s group of Alternative Spring Breakers off on their service learning trips, we thought we’d take the time to spotlight one of the wonderful people who donated to ASB.  Kirsten Brinlee, program manager for the Baltimore Collegetown Network and friend of UMBC, tells us about how she decided to give, and why the cause is so close to her heart. 

What is your relationship to UMBC, and how did you become involved with us?

When I first moved to Maryland in 2012, I was working for Johns Hopkins University in service-learning, and one of my job responsibilities was to serve on the Service-Learning and Civic Engagement conference. In 2013, UMBC served as the host institution. I would attend planning meetings and many of my first colleagues and friends were from the staff at UMBC. In 2014, I made the transition to my current role as Program Manager at Baltimore Collegetown Network, where I collaborate with 14 institutions, including UMBC.

Can you share a favorite memory from your time here?

Being a member of the 2013 Service-Learning and Civic Engagement conference is one of my top memories at UMBC. I remember being so impressed by the passion and values-focused keynote address given by Dr. Freeman Hrabowski.

What made you decide to give to Alternative Spring Break, specifically?

My first exposure to Alternative Spring Break was when I worked at the University of North Texas’ Center for Leadership and Service. I had never experienced ASBs at my undergraduate institution, but in my work at UNT, our office managed all of the ASBs for the university. I went on my first ASB to St. Louis and we worked with youth. It was one of my most memorable experiences from UNT. When I moved to Baltimore, I was attracted to my position at JHU because it included ASB management. What I loved about JHU’s program was that they were all locally focused. It helped me learn about my community and realize that meaningful service doesn’t have to take place far away from your own community, and in fact it’s more sustainable and impactful to work with your own community.

For this specific ask, one of my Collegetown LeaderShape students reached out to let me know she was participating in an ASB program at UMBC. Collegetown LeaderShape asks students to identify their passions, create a vision, and impact their communities. An ASB is a direct way for students to get involved in service and their community and I want to support those initiatives.

How do you hope your support will impact students?

I hope that my support demonstrates how I continue to live my own values around service and meaningfully engaging with the community.

Why do you think it’s important to give back?

It’s important to give back because it was other people’s generosity and kindness that created opportunities for me. I want to be able to pay forward the experiences I’ve been able to have for another generation.

As we wrap up our spotlight on Alternative Spring Break, we’d like to talk about another trip that impacts our Maryland community. The ARC of Carroll County serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout their local area, providing resources for employment, education, transportation, and community living.

On this ASB trip, students will have the chance to work directly with the people the ARC supports, building bonds and breaking down stereotypes about disability. Your gift will  go towards supplies, food, lodging, and transportation for 12 students who are bound to remember this trip for the rest of their lives.

To donate to the ARC ASB trip, click here. To hear from the student leaders themselves, click the video below:

This week, we’ve been focusing on UMBC’s Alternative Spring Break trips, which give students the chance to go out into the world, make a difference, and learn more about issues affecting society on their week off in March. Today, we’re shining a light on the Public Health trip.

Through this service-learning opportunity, students will learn about the Maryland through hands-on service projects in free clinics and health-focused nonprofit organizations throughout the city of Baltimore. This year’s trip, in particular, will focus on the issues of childhood obesity and food deserts in Baltimore.

As with the other trips we’ve featured this week, any financial contribution you might make is much appreciated, and will help cover the cost of supplies, lodging, food and transportation for 12 students. To give, head here. To hear straight from this year’s trip leaders about the positive impact of the Public Health trip, give this video a watch:

Here on the giving blog, we’ve been giving you an look at UMBC’s Alternative Spring Break programs, which give students a chance to participate in a service learning project over the March holiday. This next trip takes students right into the city of Baltimore, where, over the course of one year, at least 30,000 people will experience homelessness at one point.

Over their spring break, students will work on various projects throughout the city, and learn about how its homelessness problem intersects with poverty, crime, and other issues facing Baltimore. Your gift will go towards supplies, lodging, food, and transportation for 12 UMBC students.

To give to the Homelessness ASB trip, head to GiveCorps. To learn more about the trip from this year’s student co-leaders, take a look at this video:

As we near the end of the calendar year, we’d like to remind our community of the many places their gifts might go this holiday season. This week, we’ll be focusing on next year’s Alternative Spring Break trips. These provide a wonderful opportunity for students to spend their week off doing good for the communities and gaining a new understanding of the world.

One of these trips will take students to Patch Adams’ Gesundheit! Institute. They’ll interact with patients, help maintain the grounds, and learn about Adams’ humanistic model of health care and the Institute’s approach to social justice. In past years on this trip, students have visited veterans’ hospitals and retirement homes in the area, tended to organic gardens, and kept the Institute’s rural West Virginia campus clean and bright.

Your donation will go towards the cost of supplies, lodging, food, and transportation for 12 students over the upcoming spring break. To give to the Gesundheit! trip, head to the GiveCorps site. For more from the students themselves, take a look at this video!

Here at UMBC, we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of spring; spring means mild temperatures, longer afternoons, outdoorsy fun, and, of course, spring break.

For most, this much needed respite from school is chance to take a mini-vacation, but for our amazing students, spring break is an opportunity to give back to the community through week-long service engagement trips. This year UMBC is offering four different Alternative Spring Break trips, and they all could use your support.

Please consider funding these wonderful opportunities.

Homelessness (led by students Markya Reed and Megan Lynch): Participants in this ASB trip will learn about the experience and challenges of homelessness, and reflect on approaches to addressing the issue through public policy and community action. Participants will work with local organizations and people in Baltimore experiencing homelessness.

Click here to donate.

Public Health (led by students Poulomi Banerjee and Monsuru ‘Neyo’ Adekoya): Working with free clinics and other health-focused nonprofit organizations, participants will learn about the state of health care in Maryland, social factors that can affect health, and populations that suffer from health disparities. Through reflection and conversation, the participants will consider approaches to making positive change in this area.

Click here to donate.

Intellectual and Physical Disabilities/ARC (led by student Simin Hossain): Participants will spend time each day at the ARC of Carroll County (which serves people with intellectual and physical disabilities), developing relationships with clients, learning about the population, and dispelling stereotypes and stigma.

Click here to donate.

Alternative Healthcare /Gesundheit! Institute (led by students Tina Nassehi and Lisa Dang): During spring break, students will interact with patients as they learn about the Patch Adams’ medical model–the belief that laughter, joy, and creativity are an integral part of the healing process. Students will also study the Institute’s approach to social justice and lend a hand in maintaining the sprawling 300-acre campus.

Click here to donate.

The Thanksgiving leftovers have dwindled away and many of us have put a significant dent in our holiday shopping lists, having bustled through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Three years ago, Giving Tuesday was established to encourage us to to break away from the consumerism and chaos that has swallowed up our holiday season and return to a spirit of giving.

This year, there are a number of great causes to consider at UMBC for Giving Tuesday.

While many students will enjoy much-needed time off from classes with family and friends over their spring break this March, four different groups of students will be giving back to the community on service trips through Alternative Spring Break.

They need our help.

Each of these trips requires resources. It’s gas for vans or a plane ticket on trips that are further afield. It’s food and accommodations where they’ll be staying. Sometimes, there are even fees associated with the opportunity of participating in the projects. The more we can help them raise now, the less money each student participant will have to pay out of pocket in March. Even a modest gift of $10 or $20 will make a difference.

These students are making an impact in the world beyond UMBC, and they need your support. Please consider donating to one of the Alternative Spring Break projects, or to any of the other worthwhile student-led projects that are affecting change both on and off campus.

Your commitment truly is a gift that will keep on giving, and our communities will benefit from the great work of the students this spring.

Thank you!

Support UMBC Students on #GivingTuesday

UMBC students understand the importance of charitable engagement and giving back: they know that making a difference in the lives of others is what makes the world go around. That’s why we’re celebrating our students and our community on National Philanthropy Day. This special day is a unique opportunity to acknowledge the importance of giving, volunteering, and charitable engagement to our society and our world.

So, in honor of National Philanthropy Day, UMBC is proud to highlight three student initiatives that are lending a helping hand:

Making connections, building friendship.

Students will spend the week at the ARC of Carroll County, where they’ll get to know and offer support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Learn more and support this project.

Examining the stigma, lending a hand.

Students will make a difference right here in Baltimore as they learn about the experiences and challenges of homelessness and reflect on approaches to addressing the issue through public policy and community action. Learn more and support this project.

Clowning around to change lives.

UMBC students explore alternative healthcare and interact with patients to bring laughter, joy, and creativity as an integral part of the healing process. Learn more and support the project.

 Celebrate National Philanthropy Day and support a student project! 

This March, while most college students were enjoying freedom from the classroom or even sunny days on the beach, a number of UMBC students instead chose to spend their week off from school in service learning experiences through Alternative Spring Break (ASB).

These week-long service trips introduce students to the broad range of challenges our society faces and teach them how they can help change things for the better. Thanks to donors like you, our students were volunteering and serving for projects and organizations like: 

• The Gesundheit Institute
•  Through the Eyes of a Refugee
• The ARC of Carroll County
• Will Hope for Change
• A Better Impact

Your gifts ensured that students could take advantage of these life-changing education opportunities, so thank you! They truly will carry these memories and lessons throughout their lives.

“My ASB experience was truly memorable. I loved seeing that small actions can make an impact and I had the best time working with other students in the program,” says student Erin Wells who went on the A Better Impact trip. “I have grown so much from just one week, thank you for this opportunity.”

See more photos from the Alternative Spring Break trips!