We Are Family Community Development Corporation

Linda E. Mouzon, Executive Director, We Are Family Community Development Corporation

This has really been an exciting year for the We Are Family (WAF) Community Development Corporation (CDC). We’ve worked to fulfill our mission to empower individuals throughout the community and to reclaim and restore dignity to the people and their communities. As you read this report, you will see that we have made great strives though an organization of strong staff and committed hearts to achieve our goals. There are many persons to thank for helping to make the organization’s goals and objectives to better serve our Randallstown community an overwhelming success.

Given the activities and projects you will see reported here, and the demand and competition for meeting space, it was decided that it would be in the best interest of the WAFCDC to pursue the construction of a separate facility to house the myriad of programs that serve the wider Randallstown community. The WAFCDC Family Life Integenerational Center will allow the WAFCDC and its partners to further expand the number of people who participate in the programs as well as the number of programs offered.

This vision was realized when on Sunday, June 22, 2008, The We Are Family CDC officially broke ground at 8615 1/2 Church Lane, Randallstown, Maryland for the Family Life Intergenerational Center - a 26,700 sq.ft, three-story community building, which will offer an array of needed services in the Randallstown and nearby communitities. Thus, our work has only just begun.

We must thank our church, Union Bethel AME Church of Randallstown, whose congregational members, 70 years ago, envisioned the same services that we now are blessed to provide, as well as our visionary pastor, Reverend Charles T. Sembly. Then we must thank our families, friends, staff and supporters for their help. We owe our success to God and to each of you. We look forward to continuing our work and seeing the fruit of our labor in the programs that we provide to the community.

We Are Family Community Development Corporation

We Are Family Community Development Corporation (WAFCDC) is a 501 C (3) non­profit organization, operating under the auspices of the 180 year-old Union Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Randallstown, Maryland (http://www.unionbethelamec.org/).

WAFCDC was established in November 2003, to increase the church's ability to serve its community and to offer a creative array of services and opportunities to residents of the Liberty Road Corridor, helping to build a better community.

The mission of WAFCDC is to provide leadership, training, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities to area residents and businesses. WAFCDC established goals are to:

• Serve as a focal point for development in the Liberty Road/Randallstown Community;
• Offer educational, recreational, and leisure programs designed to increase the well-being of children and young people;
• Create businesses which promote the wealth and economic development of the community;
• Develop and effectively manage affordable adult day services/communities;
• Increase the number of home owners through education, training and financial assistance.

Our objective is to empower communities in Northwest Baltimore County by strengthening the social, intellectual, and economic characteristics of the residential environments through on-going education, training, and development which promotes self sufficiency. Since its inception, the corporation has opened four programs: a Child Learning Center, a Summer Camp, a before and after school program, and a K-12 Christian Academy. WAFCDC has also secured a number of grants that assist in the provision of a wide array of services that target children and young adults including:

• 21 st Century Community Learning Center, a partnership with local elementary schools to provide after school reading and cultural activity program and homework assistance to students in grades 3-5. The program is funded by the Maryland State Department of Education.

• Friday Basketball Program a recreational program funded by Baltimore County Police that targets boys 12-18 years of age, provides mentors, values training, and athletic program.

• Girl's Circle -provides social and assertiveness skills, cultural activities, and career development to adolescent girls from the community.

• Boys to Men Club - a partnership with local middle schools targeting male students in need of academic improvement, appropriate social skills, and values clarification.

• The Young Adult Investor Program (YAIP) is a new initiative, which offers a 2-week education program to high school students in the area. Goals of the program are to prepare young adults for making prudent financial investments, to educate them about investments, and to allow them to earn money toward college tuition. This program is funded by the United Way of Central Maryland.

• First Time Home Buyers Program specifically designed to assist low and moderate income individuals with down payment and closing cost. This program is supported through funds provided by the Baltimore County Office of Community Conservation.

• Basic Needs Program which bolsters services provided by for over 15 years by the Good Samaritan Ministry in which community members who are in need receive utility turn-off and eviction prevention support. These services are supported by funds from United Way of Central Maryland, FEMA, and thE Baltimore County Office of Community Conservation.

First Time Homebuyer's Program

For Information Please Contact:
Yolanda Surles, Program Manager
410-922-9623
ysurles_wafcdc@comcast.net

2008 FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER'S SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

Click Here: Maryland CDA Programs
Click Here: More House 4 Less


The First Time Homebuyers Program, funded through the Baltimore County Office of Community Conservation is specifically designed to assist low- and moderate- income individuals in purchasing a home in Northwest Baltimore County. Participants attend educational seminars, receive one-on-one counseling and financial assistance with the cost of down payment. Closing costs up to a maximum of $10,000 are funded through the Settlement Expense Loan Fund. Through a pilot program sponsored through the Baltimore County Office of Community Conservation, assistance with closing costs is available for some of the participants. Expanded partnerships with BB&T Bank, Mission of Peace Housing Program, and Freddie Mac resulted in the First Time Home Buyers Program being certified by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, having access to tri-merge credit reports, and being a loan originator for mortgage loans.

According to the Business Journal, "Maryland has the highest (regional) rate of foreclosures with 4,016 or one out of 566 households." We Are Family Community Development Corporation will partner with other non-profits, government agencies, and the mortgage industry to: (1) Provide financial literacy training and homeowneship counseling; (2) Challenge lenders to reconsider the way in which they consider stated income in the approval of sub-prime and adjustable rate products; (3) Advocate for passage of legislation to protect families against predatory lending and foreclosure rescue scams; and (4) Implement a foreclosure prevention program that requires mortgage lenders to make homeownership education and counseling mandatory. Our new program is designed to actively address and prevent as many foreclosures in our communities as possible.

First Time Homebuyer's Program Partners

Baltimore County Community Conservation

BB&T Bank

Housing and Urban Development

Freddie Mac

Project RICHES

For information please contact
Ms. Crystal Faison, Program Manager
410-922-9623

Project RICHES (Remarkable Improvement In Children's Education Success) is a 21st Century Community Learning Center that partners with local schools to provide after school reading, cultural activities, and homework assistance to students in Grades 3-10. Operating three days per week, the program assists over 200 students attending Winand, Church Lane, and Scotts Level Elementary, Old Court Middle and Milford Mill Academy Schools. The program is funded by the Maryland State Department of Education.

Homeless Prevention Program

For information please call: 410-922-9621

The Homeless Prevention Program partners with the Good Samaritan Emergency Assistance Program to provide individual and families in

crisis support. This support is given through the emergency food pantry or in the form of monetary grants to prevent eviction and/or utility turn off. The program receives grants from the Maryland Food Bank, the United States Department of Agriculture, FEMA, the United Way, the Baltimore County Office of Community Conservation, and Union Bethel A.M.E. Church.

Union Bethel AME Outreach

Union Bethel AME Church offers a number of programs free of charge to the wider community. These programs include Cub and Girl Scouts Troops that meet weekly. A weekly Health and Fitness program promoting healthy eating and exercise is co-sponsored in partnership with the University of Maryland Health Initiative and the Health and Fitness ministry of Union Bethel AME Church. Karate classes for all age groups are taught by a Black Belt instructor and convene twice a week. The Senior Outreach program meets on Fridays. This program provides transportation to Union Bethel for interested participants and offers exercise, cultural, spiritual and educational programs featuring -- for example, local schools' students, featured lectures, music and literary programs, exercise and a balanced meal.

Community Meeting Center

Union Bethel AME Church provides no-cost meeting space to community-based programs. Mocha Moms, a support group for mothers of color who have chosen not to work outside of the home in order to devote more time to their familites, meets every Thursday for two hours. Narcotics Anonymous, a 12-Step Program and a member of an international community-based association of recovering drug addicts, holds three meetings per week.

We have hosted convocations for Milford Mill Academy, meetings for Baltimore County government, including a Martin Luther King Day celebration, information sessions for non-profits, and two press conferences for Senator Barbara Mikulski.