SLYC: St. Luke's Youth Center

Jon: 00:00:12

Welcome to Good News being brought to you by Listening for Clues.

Lauren: 00:00:18

We are Lauren Welch and Jon Shematek..

Lauren: 00:00:21

Deacons in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Jon: 00:00:25

We sure are.

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And today we have some good news brought to you from SLYC St.

Jon: 00:00:32

Luke's Youth Center.

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And our special guest today is Amanda Gardner Talbot, who is

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the executive director of St.

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Luke's Youth Center.

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A nonprofit organization in West Baltimore.

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SLYC Empowers and employs local residents to develop programs that address the

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specific needs of their community.

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SLYC fosters civic engagement, advances education creates economic opportunities

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and nurtures individual's self-direction.

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Amanda's a Baltimore city native.

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She has strong connections to the city and to the Episcopal diocese of Maryland.

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Her grandparents, Annie and Ed, helped establish the Church of the Guardian

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Angels Food Pantry and thrift shop.

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And her father Van served as Dean of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore.

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I will add Amanda that van was the beloved dean of the

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Cathedral for a number of years.

Jon: 00:01:39

Welcome, Amanda.

Jon: 00:01:40

It's so good to have you with us today.

Amanda: 00:01:42

It is good to be here.

Amanda: 00:01:44

Thank you for having me, Jon and Lauren.

Lauren: 00:01:46

We are really happy to have you, Amanda.

Lauren: 00:01:49

And before we get to everything you're doing today with

Lauren: 00:01:52

SLYC, tell us how SLYC began.

Amanda: 00:01:55

Sure.

Amanda: 00:01:56

So SLYC began out of programming that had been taking place in St.

Amanda: 00:02:01

Luke's, west Baltimore on Carey Street for decades.

Amanda: 00:02:05

The congregation there had dwindled over the years.

Amanda: 00:02:10

And my dad, when he left the cathedral, Went to St.

Amanda: 00:02:14

Luke's to support in mission and community.

Amanda: 00:02:18

And so he asked me as a teacher at the time, a public school teacher to

Amanda: 00:02:23

come and support with the community engagement by starting a summer camp.

Amanda: 00:02:28

Okay.

Amanda: 00:02:28

So I met with the school, and this was in 2015.

Amanda: 00:02:31

I met with the leadership at the local elementary, middle school,

Amanda: 00:02:35

Franklin Square, elementary, middle.

Amanda: 00:02:37

And out of that meeting, the social worker helped.

Amanda: 00:02:41

Us develop a program that's an arts integrated camp called Camp Imagination.

Amanda: 00:02:47

We inspire a love of reading and writing through the Visual and performing arts.

Amanda: 00:02:53

So it's a program that started one week out of the year.

Amanda: 00:02:57

It was actually connected to the reading camps that are throughout the diocese.

Amanda: 00:03:02

And since then we have grown.

Amanda: 00:03:04

Immensely.

Amanda: 00:03:05

We became a 501(c)3.

Amanda: 00:03:08

Unfortunately, during the pandemic, St.

Amanda: 00:03:11

Luke's church was closed as a worshiping community, but

Amanda: 00:03:15

SLYC has continued to thrive.

Amanda: 00:03:17

I was teaching at the school for a while.

Amanda: 00:03:21

That's when parents in the community became a part of it and really have

Amanda: 00:03:27

taken over the leadership of the work.

Amanda: 00:03:30

And I have since left my teaching career and community school coordinator

Amanda: 00:03:35

career to focus on SLYC full-time.

Amanda: 00:03:38

So that's our beginning.

Amanda: 00:03:40

So,

Jon: 00:03:41

Wow.

Jon: 00:03:42

So Amanda, can you tell me a bit about kind of the population that you serve?

Jon: 00:03:47

For folks who may not be familiar with West Baltimore?

Jon: 00:03:50

Cuz we do have kind of a nationwide and even international audience these days.

Jon: 00:03:53

Can you just describe a little bit about the situation that that these

Jon: 00:03:57

young people find themselves in?

Amanda: 00:04:00

Sure, sure.

Amanda: 00:04:01

So SLYC St.

Amanda: 00:04:03

Luke's is located in Poppleton, which is a neighborhood in southwest

Amanda: 00:04:08

Baltimore, adjacent to Franklin Square.

Amanda: 00:04:12

We are just west of MLK Boulevard for locals and south

Amanda: 00:04:17

of the highway to nowhere.

Amanda: 00:04:19

So we are in a community that is in the inner city and has experienced a

Amanda: 00:04:26

lot of challenges over the years and decades, our families that we serve.

Amanda: 00:04:33

And it's, you know, I don't even wanna say we serve our families.

Amanda: 00:04:36

Our families run the program.

Amanda: 00:04:38

So our families and youth come from generational poverty.

Amanda: 00:04:45

The impacts of under-resourced communities.

Amanda: 00:04:50

We have families who have experienced so much in their life and had

Amanda: 00:04:57

so many challenges and yet are able to thrive in so many ways.

Amanda: 00:05:04

They have so many aspirations for themselves and their families, and

Amanda: 00:05:07

yet because of the lack of financial resources and the lack of access to

Amanda: 00:05:14

good education and opportunities are not able to achieve the things in life

Amanda: 00:05:20

that they really would like to see for themselves and their children.

Amanda: 00:05:24

And so what SLYC has become under the leadership of the families as a place

Amanda: 00:05:30

that removes those barriers and bridges, the gap of access to resources so that

Amanda: 00:05:37

families who want to pursue education, who want their children to do various

Amanda: 00:05:43

things That they get those opportunities.

Amanda: 00:05:46

And so yeah, the population we're dealing with are people who have a lot of passion

Amanda: 00:05:51

and heart and not a lot of access.

Lauren: 00:06:00

So, Amanda,, how do you help them find the access?

Amanda: 00:06:06

When I started working in West Baltimore, I had been a teacher

Amanda: 00:06:09

in Anne Arundel County for about 12 years, and when I was teaching there,

Amanda: 00:06:15

I was able to do what I was taught to do I was able to apply that and the

Amanda: 00:06:21

majority of my children were meeting grade level expectations when I arrived

Amanda: 00:06:27

to West Baltimore to teach there.

Amanda: 00:06:31

It became very clear to me that the children in that community are

Amanda: 00:06:35

perfectly capable of achieving the same academic outcomes, but they're, they

Amanda: 00:06:42

weren't, and I was the same teacher.

Amanda: 00:06:45

I had the same background and expertise that I did in Anne Arundel

Amanda: 00:06:49

County, but because of the children having so much that they've dealt

Amanda: 00:06:55

with around poverty and trauma that.

Amanda: 00:06:59

Really I needed to focus from purely academics, health, safety, social,

Amanda: 00:07:05

emotional, and there are so many resources that families and individuals

Amanda: 00:07:14

need in order to thrive in those ways.

Amanda: 00:07:18

I think as someone who came from a family with financial resources and access, All

Amanda: 00:07:24

of those foundational things were met.

Amanda: 00:07:27

So when I showed up at school, I could take in the information

Amanda: 00:07:31

because I knew that I was going to have a meal when I got home.

Amanda: 00:07:34

I knew I wasn't worried about the safety of myself or my family, so I felt like.

Amanda: 00:07:44

I had a special ability with my access and my privileges to open up doors.

Amanda: 00:07:52

Not for people, but just connect people, connect resources, and not

Amanda: 00:07:59

from the perspective of what I saw the community needed, but what the

Amanda: 00:08:03

community are saying that they need.

Amanda: 00:08:06

So,

Jon: 00:08:09

So that's great.

Jon: 00:08:10

Amanda.

Jon: 00:08:10

I'm hearing a, a very significant thread as you're talking about your

Jon: 00:08:15

experience with SLYC around relationships.

Jon: 00:08:19

Can you tell us if there were any specific challenges around gaining

Jon: 00:08:23

trust cuz you were coming from outside the community this is culturally you

Jon: 00:08:28

know something that you may not have had direct experience with yourself.

Jon: 00:08:32

And so how, did that play out for you?

Amanda: 00:08:35

Yeah, so it's interesting.

Amanda: 00:08:37

I grew up in Baltimore City.

Amanda: 00:08:39

I went to Baltimore City Public Schools, and by high school I was

Amanda: 00:08:43

often the only white girl in a class.

Amanda: 00:08:45

And so I often have found myself throughout my life and career of being in

Amanda: 00:08:50

spaces where I am actually the minority.

Amanda: 00:08:53

And I think that taught me early on that, you know, everyone has.

Amanda: 00:09:00

Individual experiences in life and stories to tell and share.

Amanda: 00:09:06

And I think that I approach things with a very curious demeanor because I am,

Amanda: 00:09:13

I wanna understand, I wanna understand why it is that I grew up in the border

Amanda: 00:09:21

between Guilford and GreenMount, and there was a literal wall there with

Amanda: 00:09:26

people who had resources and people who were obviously struggling to

Amanda: 00:09:31

access resources in my own community.

Amanda: 00:09:33

Why it was when I continued my education through middle and

Amanda: 00:09:37

high school, there were fewer and fewer white kids coming to school.

Amanda: 00:09:42

They were going off to the private schools, and so I, I saw the inequity.

Amanda: 00:09:48

I felt the inequity, but I didn't experience.

Amanda: 00:09:52

The negative of that inequity.

Amanda: 00:09:55

And so I think when I started working in West Baltimore and, and I went

Amanda: 00:10:00

there intentionally to understand why it was that these kids I had met

Amanda: 00:10:05

and families I had met through St.

Amanda: 00:10:07

Luke's.

Amanda: 00:10:09

Why it was that these kids were not meeting grade level expectations.

Amanda: 00:10:13

What is going on?

Amanda: 00:10:14

These kids are so bright and these parents are so caring and passionate

Amanda: 00:10:20

and so so I think, and I can't speak for other people, but I recognize the

Amanda: 00:10:26

fact that there are so much more that I don't know, than things that I do know.

Amanda: 00:10:30

And that has helped me build a, the strongest relationships of, of trust.

Amanda: 00:10:37

I think a lot of people in that community trust me like I trust them.

Lauren: 00:10:44

And they trust you because you saw that they knew what they needed.

Lauren: 00:10:49

You weren't imposing something on them.

Lauren: 00:10:53

So that trust was able to be built.

Lauren: 00:10:55

I think that that is a gift that you bring to these families.

Lauren: 00:11:01

Has anything surprised you in this adventure that you've

Lauren: 00:11:05

been on with these families?

Amanda: 00:11:10

Everything.

Amanda: 00:11:11

I mean, you know, everything that you learn that's new is surprising in good

Amanda: 00:11:14

ways and bad ways and confusing ways.

Amanda: 00:11:17

I didn't necessarily go into teaching in West Baltimore with this humble

Amanda: 00:11:23

approach to the teaching part because I had come into West Baltimore with

Amanda: 00:11:28

a solid foundation in teaching.

Amanda: 00:11:30

I knew my craft, I knew I was successful in it.

Amanda: 00:11:33

And so when I started teaching and it wasn't working, it

Amanda: 00:11:38

was just mind blowing to me.

Amanda: 00:11:40

I was like, what is happening here?

Amanda: 00:11:43

And that's when I said, you know what?

Amanda: 00:11:47

I don't know.

Amanda: 00:11:48

What to do and who does?

Amanda: 00:11:52

The other teachers didn't either cuz they were having the same struggles.

Amanda: 00:11:55

I mean, you look at the numbers.

Amanda: 00:11:57

I mean, everyone is having these challenges and when I talked

Amanda: 00:12:01

to the parents, And the parents started to tell me their stories.

Amanda: 00:12:05

When I got to know the kids and the kids were telling me their stories, I, I

Amanda: 00:12:10

recognize there's so much underlying that foundational need that I can't relate to.

Amanda: 00:12:17

So the experts in how to fix communities of poverty are the

Amanda: 00:12:23

people who are living in poverty.

Amanda: 00:12:26

They're the ones who have the answers.

Amanda: 00:12:29

And if those of us who have the resources just kind of listen and follow

Amanda: 00:12:34

their lead, amazing things happen.

Jon: 00:12:38

This is actually amazing and I think one of the things that's amazing

Jon: 00:12:41

is this, a very common theme that we're finding with people we're talking to

Jon: 00:12:45

that are doing incredible good works in the world is that listening is one of

Jon: 00:12:51

the major keys to making things better

Jon: 00:12:54

I wonder, Amanda can you talk a little bit about what this experience at

Jon: 00:12:58

SLYC has meant to you personally?

Jon: 00:13:00

How has it affected your inner life, or your spiritual life as you kind

Jon: 00:13:05

of gone through these experiences.

Amanda: 00:13:08

Yeah.

Amanda: 00:13:09

So if anyone listening is from the Cathedral, they probably

Amanda: 00:13:13

know me as a child and I.

Amanda: 00:13:17

Went to confirmation classes when I was 13, and I remember deciding at that

Amanda: 00:13:24

point that I didn't wanna get confirmed.

Amanda: 00:13:27

I went to my dad and I said, I don't really know that this is for me.

Amanda: 00:13:32

I know I have faith, I have some belief.

Amanda: 00:13:35

I don't know that this structure of the Episcopal Church is a fit

Amanda: 00:13:39

for me, and my dad respected that.

Amanda: 00:13:43

And so I stopped going to church and when I wound up helping my dad

Amanda: 00:13:50

in West Baltimore to start this community engagement, and I was there

Amanda: 00:13:54

helping with the camp that became an afterschool program that became

Amanda: 00:13:58

family events and all of these things.

Amanda: 00:14:01

I started to see and hear the realities of people in that community.

Amanda: 00:14:10

And I recognized that whereas I might have had a, a kind of insecure faith,

Amanda: 00:14:19

you know, I didn't have to rely on my faith because I had choices and options

Amanda: 00:14:24

in my life and resources and connections.

Amanda: 00:14:27

People who don't have those things have unwavering faith.

Amanda: 00:14:32

Our families who have been through more than I can possibly imagine

Amanda: 00:14:37

have the confidence of faith.

Amanda: 00:14:40

That I would seem like my dad and the people who were very committed

Amanda: 00:14:44

to their faith in the church.

Amanda: 00:14:47

And that's when I recognized and when I was teaching in West Baltimore,

Amanda: 00:14:51

when I did everything that I knew and I was pulling all the resources and

Amanda: 00:14:55

connection that I had, enough was working.

Amanda: 00:14:57

I was like, all I can do is pray.

Amanda: 00:14:59

Like that's it.

Amanda: 00:15:00

That's all that's left.

Amanda: 00:15:02

And sure enough, when you, when you start to kind of like.

Amanda: 00:15:09

Give into that and accept the vulnerability of that.

Amanda: 00:15:13

Then you start to see all the miracles around you.

Amanda: 00:15:17

You start to see that, you know this mom who works six out of seven days a week and

Amanda: 00:15:25

still lives in poverty with five children.

Amanda: 00:15:28

Two fathers have died of gun violence in the city.

Amanda: 00:15:31

She still gets up every day.

Amanda: 00:15:32

She gets those kids to school.

Amanda: 00:15:34

They're fed.

Amanda: 00:15:35

She has hope, she has dreams.

Amanda: 00:15:37

I mean, if that's not Faith and Miracle, I mean, I don't know what else is.

Amanda: 00:15:41

I would, kids at SLYC, do you go to church?

Amanda: 00:15:44

And they say, yeah, every day except for Sunday, you know, and I'm like

Amanda: 00:15:49

to church, you know, I go to church.

Amanda: 00:15:51

This is my church.

Amanda: 00:15:53

My church is the community.

Amanda: 00:15:54

And And so, yeah, that's really the biggest awakening that I've had in

Amanda: 00:16:00

working in this community is I've really found a confident faith

Amanda: 00:16:05

and I've began to recognize the value of the institution of church.

Amanda: 00:16:11

As a space for me to just go.

Amanda: 00:16:14

Sometimes I church hop, I'll show up and I just go and I focus on my

Amanda: 00:16:18

connection directly as opposed to usually there's a lot of noise and

Amanda: 00:16:22

things around me, and I can kind of find that quiet space in church.

Amanda: 00:16:26

As a kid it was an obligation.

Amanda: 00:16:28

Like now as an adult, it's a choice.

Amanda: 00:16:31

So so yeah, it's been a really interesting path for me and I,

Amanda: 00:16:35

I definitely give my dad props.

Amanda: 00:16:37

I don't know how many priests would say, sure.

Amanda: 00:16:40

Don't get confirmed.

Amanda: 00:16:41

You don't have to go to church.

Amanda: 00:16:42

I get it.

Lauren: 00:16:44

A wise one does though, when your dad was right.

Jon: 00:16:48

No question.

Jon: 00:16:49

No question.

Lauren: 00:16:51

So, Amanda I know that you're working on a project in the next

Lauren: 00:16:57

couple of weeks, Camp Imagination.

Lauren: 00:16:59

Mm-hmm.

Lauren: 00:17:00

Would you like to tell us something about that?

Amanda: 00:17:03

Yeah, I'd love to.

Amanda: 00:17:05

So, like I said, Camp Imagination is an arts integrated camp.

Amanda: 00:17:09

We actually are running five, well, six total weeks.

Amanda: 00:17:13

Camp Imagination is five weeks.

Amanda: 00:17:15

Starting on Monday, July 3rd, and then the last week of it we partner with Children's

Amanda: 00:17:22

Peace Center, which was another nonprofit.

Amanda: 00:17:25

Started in the diocese at the Cathedral, and they have a camp at

Amanda: 00:17:29

Claggett called All God's Children.

Amanda: 00:17:30

So all of the kids that are age appropriate come out and they're either

Amanda: 00:17:35

campers or counselors for that last week.

Amanda: 00:17:37

So it's total of a six week experience.

Amanda: 00:17:40

The first two weeks are gonna be at the Cathedral of the incarnation,

Amanda: 00:17:44

and then we'll be at the Church of the Guardian Angel for the last three

Amanda: 00:17:48

weeks of the Camp Imagination part.

Amanda: 00:17:51

So that part's a day camp.

Amanda: 00:17:52

But we'll have 40 some kids of all ages.

Amanda: 00:17:55

We enroll families, not kids.

Amanda: 00:17:57

So, and it's for life.

Amanda: 00:17:58

So our kids grow up with us.

Amanda: 00:18:00

They're always with us.

Amanda: 00:18:01

And some of our, our older ones will be youth workers working for the camp, and

Amanda: 00:18:06

our younger ones are, are the campers.

Amanda: 00:18:09

So we'll have arts integrated workshops where professional artists

Amanda: 00:18:13

work with the kids in the morning.

Amanda: 00:18:15

Then they have choice time in the afternoon where they get to do

Amanda: 00:18:18

different activities and food and snacks and community and lots of fun.

Amanda: 00:18:25

So it'll be good.

Lauren: 00:18:27

Can you share just a little bit of how important the

Lauren: 00:18:31

arts and music are to any child, but especially to these children?

Amanda: 00:18:38

Yeah.

Amanda: 00:18:39

When Camp Imagination was developed, the conversation with the, the school staff

Amanda: 00:18:43

and in particular the social worker who's still on our board, she's amazing was all

Amanda: 00:18:48

about, well, what are the academic needs?

Amanda: 00:18:52

Yeah, reading at the time and what motivates kids to want to read and

Amanda: 00:18:58

what do the kids like to do and they love music and movement and

Amanda: 00:19:03

creativity and curiosity and fun.

Amanda: 00:19:08

And so we decided to do the arts integration.

Amanda: 00:19:12

I think another element of that is unfortunately, a lot of our public

Amanda: 00:19:15

schools in the city don't have a strong cultural arts or resource curriculum.

Amanda: 00:19:21

So they're not getting that level of engagement in the

Amanda: 00:19:24

arts during the school year.

Amanda: 00:19:26

So it's a way to really give them that experience because we like

Amanda: 00:19:31

to give them the experience in different types of art forms.

Amanda: 00:19:34

So it'll be visual art, drama spoken word poetry.

Amanda: 00:19:40

And music and the kids, you start to see, after the first couple weeks, they start

Amanda: 00:19:44

to gravitate towards one or two, and then we kind of focus on really giving them

Amanda: 00:19:49

more time with those particular artists.

Amanda: 00:19:52

And that motivates them, like in the, the drama they're writing, their

Amanda: 00:19:56

writing to write their scripts in music, they're writing their music.

Amanda: 00:20:01

Reading out loud expression, confidence.

Amanda: 00:20:04

It's really a great way to teach literacy to kids.

Amanda: 00:20:09

Is through the arts, through anything motivating to them.

Lauren: 00:20:13

They can learn that it's fun, right?

Amanda: 00:20:15

Yeah.

Amanda: 00:20:18

Teaching them anything, they're just learning, which is great to learn.

Amanda: 00:20:22

Yeah.

Jon: 00:20:22

And it's making a difference.

Jon: 00:20:23

Camp Imagination's about to start very soon.

Jon: 00:20:26

If there are folks that are interested in knowing more about that or

Jon: 00:20:30

supporting it in some way, or maybe helping out at the day camp yeah.

Jon: 00:20:34

Is there, is that, is there a need right now?

Jon: 00:20:36

And then once this time passes how can folks really help you and work with

Jon: 00:20:40

you and, and the community the families at SLYC to to keep this work going?

Jon: 00:20:46

So, first of all, help us with Camp Imagination.

Jon: 00:20:48

What, what can people do with that?

Amanda: 00:20:51

Yeah, so I'll ha I'd be happy to send you a link to our website.

Amanda: 00:20:55

It's www.bmoreslyc.org, B m O r e S L Y c.org.

Amanda: 00:21:02

We do have a tab for Camp Imagination with information, and I think the

Amanda: 00:21:05

volunteer signup link is there.

Amanda: 00:21:07

We are looking for people who are interested in coming and help prepare

Amanda: 00:21:12

and serve breakfast and lunch.

Amanda: 00:21:13

And anyone who wants to come by, just visit, play with kids, get to

Amanda: 00:21:18

know the families who are running it.

Amanda: 00:21:20

We are all about building authentic relationships that

Amanda: 00:21:23

don't have a power dynamic.

Amanda: 00:21:25

We want to engage where people are curious, truly interested in

Amanda: 00:21:32

getting to know us cuz we're truly interested in getting to know you.

Amanda: 00:21:36

And then the second part to your question was continuing that engagement.

Amanda: 00:21:40

Yes.

Amanda: 00:21:40

Yeah.

Amanda: 00:21:41

So people ask me all the time, people from different spaces and communities that

Amanda: 00:21:46

wanna come and help in West Baltimore, and I say to them to just show up and listen.

Amanda: 00:21:56

And then somewhere along the line, as you grow those relationships,

Amanda: 00:22:01

you'll hear and see and feel where your, your special gifts.

Amanda: 00:22:08

Fit into the needs.

Amanda: 00:22:11

And I, I love to see when people come up, they'll say, you

Amanda: 00:22:17

know, can I come and volunteer?

Amanda: 00:22:18

Great.

Amanda: 00:22:18

Yeah.

Amanda: 00:22:18

Come volunteer, come hang out, come have dinner with us.

Amanda: 00:22:21

Next school year we're gonna do monthly community dinners.

Amanda: 00:22:24

So we'd invite everyone to come out and just have dinner with us.

Amanda: 00:22:28

And then If you wanna come volunteer, you can come and do something that we

Amanda: 00:22:32

tell you to do, but you could also just come and play games with kids or bring

Amanda: 00:22:36

something you're passionate about.

Amanda: 00:22:38

If you love chess and play chess with kids, they're gonna wind up loving chess.

Amanda: 00:22:43

If you're into horticulture, you're gonna find at least like five kids

Amanda: 00:22:47

there that wanna be, you know, farmers by the time you're done.

Amanda: 00:22:52

So when people bring themselves their authentic selves, it's contagious.

Amanda: 00:22:57

And it's, it's powerful.

Amanda: 00:22:59

So that's how we like people to engage and if people wanna engage in that way.

Amanda: 00:23:03

Once again, it's our website has all the information on how to contact us.

Amanda: 00:23:08

Darlene Clark, our engagement coordinator, we call her grandma

Amanda: 00:23:12

she is the one that you'll end up speaking to and she will invite you in.

Amanda: 00:23:16

And someone has described her as a human hug, so she's a warm

Amanda: 00:23:20

person, although to the kids.

Amanda: 00:23:22

You can tell who's in trouble because they're sitting on either side of grandma

Amanda: 00:23:26

at any given moment looking really upset.

Amanda: 00:23:28

And Grandma was sitting there but yeah.

Amanda: 00:23:31

So yeah, come hang out.

Amanda: 00:23:32

We're right now.

Amanda: 00:23:33

Yeah, we're doing a lot and we're growing.

Amanda: 00:23:36

We don't even have a space right now.

Amanda: 00:23:38

We're having to commute back and forth to different churches.

Amanda: 00:23:41

St.

Amanda: 00:23:41

James is housing us, so, you know, it's been challenging, but

Amanda: 00:23:46

there's always ways people can find that they fit into the mix.

Jon: 00:23:50

And I'm sure you have need for financial resources as well.

Jon: 00:23:54

Yes.

Jon: 00:23:55

Yes, we do.

Jon: 00:23:55

And, and is that's also of accessible on your website, is that right?

Amanda: 00:24:00

It is, it is.

Amanda: 00:24:01

We employ community parents in the community to do the work.

Amanda: 00:24:06

What we're striving to do is to give a livable, sustainable wage

Amanda: 00:24:11

and employ as many community members as possible to do this work.

Amanda: 00:24:16

And so know a lot of times when people donate, they don't want

Amanda: 00:24:21

money to go outside of programming.

Amanda: 00:24:24

But know that.

Amanda: 00:24:25

The, all the money that's donated to SLYC I'm the only one who does not

Amanda: 00:24:30

live in that community, and it is helping families disrupt a cycle of

Amanda: 00:24:35

generational poverty that has existed.

Amanda: 00:24:38

So it, it's really just by employing each staff member, it's life changing for them.

Jon: 00:24:44

And so I understand St.

Jon: 00:24:45

Luke's is no longer a worship space, but is there some plan for

Jon: 00:24:49

the physical campus or location?

Amanda: 00:24:53

Yeah, it's really exciting.

Amanda: 00:24:55

It has been challenging and a bit scary, but I'm excited.

Amanda: 00:24:58

So St.

Amanda: 00:24:59

Luke's Church was shut down as a worshiping congregation

Amanda: 00:25:02

during the pandemic, and SLYC had gotten our 501(c)3 by then.

Amanda: 00:25:05

So we were able to continue.

Amanda: 00:25:08

We started discussions at that point with the Episcopal diocese to allow us

Amanda: 00:25:13

to stay and allow us to develop it as a community, a space in the vision that

Amanda: 00:25:18

the community needs it to be for them.

Amanda: 00:25:22

So it's the church and the clergy house.

Amanda: 00:25:24

We started on the path of having the community lead the plans for that process.

Amanda: 00:25:30

And then we found out last October that the building was not structurally sound.

Amanda: 00:25:35

So we, St.

Amanda: 00:25:36

James Lafayette Square has taken us in.

Amanda: 00:25:40

For the afterschool program and provided us with a bus to

Amanda: 00:25:43

use for transportation, a van.

Amanda: 00:25:45

So we've been doing that and in the meantime, we now have a 20 year lease.

Amanda: 00:25:51

With the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, that allows us to continue this

Amanda: 00:25:55

community led redevelopment of the campus into a campus of art education

Amanda: 00:26:01

and opportunity in West Baltimore.

Amanda: 00:26:03

Mm, it will be a landmark of repair and renewal in a community

Amanda: 00:26:08

that has endured so much harm.

Amanda: 00:26:11

The church itself.

Amanda: 00:26:13

Is the size of, it's larger than the cathedral.

Amanda: 00:26:16

It's a thousand people and it's falling apart, and that's gonna

Amanda: 00:26:21

become a space for events.

Amanda: 00:26:23

To share the history of the community, to share the history of the church.

Amanda: 00:26:28

The clergy house, which is a, a small school building size that's gonna

Amanda: 00:26:32

be a space for SLYC programming and other nonprofits to house the work.

Amanda: 00:26:37

So we're working in collaboration with organizations in the area.

Amanda: 00:26:42

Like Southwest Partnership, United Way at Community Associations to really see this

Amanda: 00:26:47

plan through and have it be a place where the community really, they already feel

Amanda: 00:26:52

it's their home and they wanna save it.

Amanda: 00:26:55

They wanna see this.

Amanda: 00:26:55

So really help bring those resources to support the

Amanda: 00:26:59

community in seeing this through.

Amanda: 00:27:00

So it's an exciting project and we've, we've gotten

Amanda: 00:27:04

started, so it's a good thing.

Lauren: 00:27:06

Amanda we've talked about a lot this afternoon.

Lauren: 00:27:10

Is there anything else you'd like to share about the work you're doing, about what

Lauren: 00:27:13

it means to you and and your community?

Amanda: 00:27:17

Yeah.

Amanda: 00:27:17

Thank you.

Amanda: 00:27:18

So, yes, I would like to say to all the Episcopal churches that support

Amanda: 00:27:25

us or that do the work of mission and community engagement, that there is so

Amanda: 00:27:32

much opportunity, I think for churches and nonprofits to work together.

Amanda: 00:27:41

To uplift one another and to continue down a journey together.

Amanda: 00:27:46

And I think it was very sad to me that St.

Amanda: 00:27:48

Luke's was shut as a worshiping congregation.

Amanda: 00:27:50

And my understanding is it's happened other times, like with Paul's place and

Amanda: 00:27:54

other nonprofits, where it starts as a mission of a church and then things happen

Amanda: 00:28:00

and the worshiping congregation dwindles.

Amanda: 00:28:03

The mission grows, and then the mission leaves.

Amanda: 00:28:07

And I don't wanna see that happen anymore.

Amanda: 00:28:10

I feel very strongly that strong churches.

Amanda: 00:28:14

Can support strong nonprofits and, and vice versa.

Amanda: 00:28:19

Nonprofits don't always have to be the recipient of things

Amanda: 00:28:22

like money from churches.

Amanda: 00:28:24

We could be in partnership to do other things to do programming together, to

Amanda: 00:28:30

raise funds to help support property development plans and sustainability.

Amanda: 00:28:35

I am determined to show that SLYC and St.

Amanda: 00:28:41

Luke's Youth Center can continue to be a strong part of this diocese.

Amanda: 00:28:48

Even though we do not have worship, we are a community of unwavering faith.

Amanda: 00:28:55

And, belief and blessings.

Amanda: 00:28:59

And so we are very connected to the churches and they feel connected to us.

Amanda: 00:29:04

I think that moving forward, continuing to build these relationships

Amanda: 00:29:08

with churches and communities is really valuable for all of us.

Jon: 00:29:14

Thank.

Jon: 00:29:15

Thanks so much Amanda.

Jon: 00:29:16

You are a blessing to the church.

Jon: 00:29:19

You're a blessing to the community.

Jon: 00:29:20

SLYC's a blessing to the community.

Jon: 00:29:22

And we very much appreciate your spending the time to be with us today.

Jon: 00:29:26

Tell us all about it.

Jon: 00:29:27

And we will have links.

Jon: 00:29:29

In the show notes for folks that wanna get in touch with you, learn

Jon: 00:29:32

more about the programs or find ways to help support the mission of SLYC.

Jon: 00:29:37

So once again, Amanda, thank you so much for being here.

Amanda: 00:29:41

Thank you both.

Amanda: 00:29:42

It's been a joy.

Amanda: 00:29:43

Anytime.

Amanda: 00:29:45

Happy to come back anytime.

Amanda: 00:29:46

Thank you.

Lauren: 00:29:48

And we also want to thank our listeners and our viewers.

Lauren: 00:29:54

Today, we cannot do this without you.

Lauren: 00:29:56

Please take a moment to comment, like, and share on all your social media platforms.

Lauren: 00:30:05

And until next time, peace and blessings.

Jon: 00:30:12

Good news is being brought to you by Listening for Clues.

Jon: 00:30:16

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Jon: 00:30:21

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