The 2015 Baltimore unrest highlighted the need to address disparities in opportunities for young people – especially those in neighborhoods with the highest rates of disconnected youth. This group, 15- to 24-year-olds not working nor in school, did not have access to the people, organizations, or experiences that could help them build the knowledge, skills, and sense of purpose needed to thrive as adults.
KaBOOM! led the effort to bring normalcy, particularly for kids and youth, to turmoil-filled Baltimore. The Play More B'More initiative is designed to leverage KaBOOM! community-built playgrounds to catalyze the creation of a purpose-driven career development program for Baltimore youth.
KaBOOM! connects youth interns to opportunities for community service, employment, and education through leadership roles in improving their own neighborhoods. Through partnership with Baltimore Corps and The Family League, KaBOOM! recruits youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; who are in or aged-out of foster care; or, who have been in contact with the criminal justice system. Following their internships, KaBOOM! connects the youth to opportunities for education and work, through assistance from the Baltimore City Office of Employment Development.
Play More B'More mobilizes multi-sector partnerships to put kids first, giving underserved youth an opportunity to create kid-friendly communities. By rallying broad-based grassroots participation in community-build playground projects, the initiative creates great places to play where they are needed most; provides pathways to opportunities for disconnected youth; and, builds leadership to foster strong, healthy, and safe Baltimore neighborhoods.
All kids deserve the smiles, joy, and real benefits of balanced and active play – especially those impacted by trauma. Finding ways to create a sense of normalcy is critical in a rebuilding process post-crisis. As the people of Baltimore worked to reunite and restore normalcy in 2015, KaBOOM! was inspired to take action and ensure that kids didn't get left behind.
Playgrounds provide kids with a safe place to positively cope with the stress of recovery and reclaim the playful childhood they deserve. Play is a first step towards normalcy for kids, particularly when a play space is created as a safe, caring environment in conjunction with the youth and adults in the community.
Play also helps rebuild communities. It teaches resiliency as it encourages kids to come together and face the reality of a difficult situation. KaBOOM! wanted to ensure that the youth in Baltimore did not get left out of the equation, and, in fact, were engaged with the solution and the rebuilding process.
In partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Mayor Rawlings-Blake and the City of Baltimore, Baltimore City Public Schools, Baltimore Crops, business leaders, and youth-serving organizations across Baltimore City, KaBOOM! developed the Play More B'More program. An incredibly unique, multi-sector partnership program, Play More B'More is building kid-friendly communities while engaging "disconnected youth," young people ages 15-24, struggling to connect to education and employment and living in neighborhoods impacted by poverty.
Implemented in 2015, the program worked with disconnected youth across Baltimore to engage them in leadership trainings, workshops, seminars, and opportunities to help lead playground builds across the city. These builds allowed them to connect with major businesses, community leaders, organizations, and taught valuable skills that could later be applied in school or work. It also creates a new cycle of at-risk youth being employed and utilized as a part of the solution for rebuilding the community, rather than being targeted as a part of the problem. In turn, they become the leaders and role models for kids who use the play spaces, acting as examples of future opportunities that exist for the kids.
The Play More B'More initiative addresses city challenges that are not unique, but utilizes solutions that are. The work in Baltimore set the stage for driving greater change through public-private partnerships, particularly with the Baltimore City Public Schools. The program provided a unique chance for organizations all across the city – non-profits, civic, private, and more – to come together to help ensure a positive future for the youth and children of Baltimore. In the future, the hope is that other cities will be inspired to discover ways that play can be a catalyst for positive change in their communities as well.
In Baltimore, five playgrounds have been built, 8,680 kids now have a safe place to play in their community, and 53 interns have gained indispensable life skills. There are six additional KaBOOM! playground builds scheduled for Fall 2016, with interns serving as co-leaders.
As a result of Play More B'More, interns can see a brighter future and have a positive impact on their community. Over 90% state that they have improved or greatly improved readiness for succeeding at school or a future job search. Nearly 90% have greatly improved leadership skills. 100% have greatly improved confidence that they can take control of their future.
Volunteers, parents, teachers, and community members have also benefited. At Gilmor Elementary School, located in the community most impacted by 2015 unrest, a playground build brought together volunteers and youth interns to be a part of the solution for community healing. The build inspired organizers to get more involved in the school, and soon after, a Parent-Teacher Association was established.
The results of the program have been enormously successful, with interns moving on to job placements, higher education, and leadership roles. Interns have served as KaBOOM! spokespeople, sharing the stage at conferences such as Independent Sector to talk about their experience. Intern Samirah Franklin states, "I am very grateful for the opportunities and benefits the Play More B'More initiative has brought my way." The program has ensured a brighter future for residents all across Baltimore – especially vulnerable, at-risk youth.
