Catholic Charities of Baltimore officially opened its new $35 million intergenerational center on May 21.
The Carolyn E. Fugett Intergenerational Center was created to offer care for all ages — from Head Start to senior care programs. It intends to bring the greater community together through weekly activities, sports teams, art classes, and career guidance.
Kevin Creamer, director of the center, told EWTN News that Catholic Charities of Baltimore has been working to bring generations together through community sites for about 10 years.
The new facility started "as an outgrowth of some of the early childhood supports that we were offering across the agency," he said.
Catholic Charities is "one of the largest Head Start providers in Baltimore City," with "13 unique locations and a little under 700 children and families being served there," Creamer said. "So we have a good grasp on the impact of that early childhood support."
"But we've tried to be intentional as we've grown with families and seen those families age out of Head Start and move on to school and eventually careers and college — the benefit of the wraparound services that Head Start provides."
He continued: "So the question … presented itself: 'How can we be more intentional about bringing services to attach, so that families aren't losing the support structure of Head Start or don't have an ability to connect in-house to services?'"
The facility, named after community leader Carolyn Fugett, was ultimately a way to answer the question.
Catholic Charities acquired the project site, which was previously an elementary school, in 2021. Construction for the project took about three and a half years.
"The center itself is a byproduct of our Centennial and Capital Campaign," Creamer said. "Catholic Charities Baltimore turned 100 in 2023, and a campaign was launched to spearhead three milestone projects for the agency."
The campaign raised a little over $100 million, which, along with the Fugett Center, contributed to the Gallagher Meaningful Day Center, a center for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and the Cherry Hill Town Center, a community gathering space.
The center has also been funded by private fundraising with a number of partners to support activities and programs.
Community engagement all under 'one roof'
The intergenerational model allows for multiple program partners to be present and offer activities to different age groups all under one roof.
"We knew we wanted to bring in what we had already been doing well in the neighborhood: our food pantry program, our Head Start programming, some of our behavioral health services," Creamer said. "But to fill in the gaps around that model, we needed to defer to the expertise of the leaders in the neighborhood."
Creamer began talking with community partners and leaders "to make sure that we got this right and that there was room in the project scope for the interests of the community."
"The loss of recreation centers and access to things like after-school basketball and basketball leagues was something that came up a lot in those conversations," he said.
So basketball became "a big driver," Creamer said. "PeacePlayers is our in-house basketball partner," and "they'll be running youth programming from [ages] 5 to, really, 25" at the center.
Starting this summer, PeacePlayers will use the Fugett Center as one of its locations for a free program for kids and a coaching and leadership development program for teens and young adults.
A "lack of senior programming space and activity space" also came up when leaders spoke with neighbors, especially since the center is "located right next to Rosemont Tower, which is a 200-unit Housing Authority building largely for seniors," Creamer said.
To address this, the facility has "five community classrooms that'll house a rotating curriculum of classes" including "senior dance class, musical theater, chair yoga, candle making — all free of charge to our neighbors."
It will offer community art projects led by outside vendors but will also engage the community with volunteer-led classes, as neighbors hope "to lead crocheting classes or jewelry-making classes," Creamer said.
"We want to empower residents to also give back their gifts," Creamer said.
The space will also provide "access to the internet, to learn computer skills," Creamer said. It has a computer lab to offer "digital literacy instruction, job preparation, resume writing, and interview training."
Named in honor of a lifelong 'community leader'
The center is named after Carolyn E. Fugett, "who is the mother of Reginald F. Lewis ... who was an entrepreneur and a lawyer — widely considered the first Black billionaire in U.S. history," Creamer said.
Fugett "was a community leader throughout her entire life" who "passed about three years ago at the age of 97."
"She did not ask for credit" and "she preferred to operate in the backdrop but was such a wellspring of compassion."
As "a big advocate of child education," she worked with bishops, schoolteachers, and principals to help Catholic schools integrate coming out of segregation.
"So when we thought about the early childhood education piece, the beacon that we want this community center to provide to the neighborhood, she represented all of what we hope to be."
"A handful of the team attached to this project were at her funeral service at St. Edward's Church, which is right across the street from the [center]," Creamer said.
"We came out of that service after hearing the outpouring of love from her family and from the community at large, and the first thing you see walking out of those church doors was the building that was being constructed."
"Sometimes God speaks very clearly, and it's hard not to listen," he said.
"We're honored to bear her name, and we're excited to carry that torch. She's shown us who we have to be, as has the community. We just need to keep listening and keep rising to the occasion," Creamer said.
