Standing outside of a once-bustling recreation center in a West Baltimore neighborhood, Tracey Malone reflected on the community that she grew up in. “Sandtown-Winchester community is a loving community. It is a community where neighbors care for each other, you know each other,” Malone, who is now the executive director of the Sandtown-Winchester Community Collective said.
Though brightly colored murals wrap around the retaining walls of the recreation center, the doors are closed. The city closed the recreation center in 2021, leaving the neighborhood’s young people with few places to go. “I grew up here. I grew up in Lillian Jones Rec Center,” Malone said. “My mom still owns a home here, and my brother was murdered in the same community. And I am here giving back to this community, because he was a kid that gave back.”
Sandtown was once a thriving locus of Black cultural life in Baltimore, but over the years, fell into disrepair and decline. For some who are invested in the neighborhood, as Malone is, the still-shuttered recreation center has become a visible symbol of persistent challenges. And the rec center’s future is a sign of what the future of Sandtown could look like.
“Where’s the hope? Ten years later, we’re still standing here,” said Malone. “And where’s the hope? Where’s the change?”
Ten years ago this month, the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray put the neighborhood of Sandtown-Winchester in the national spotlight. But Sandtown’s struggle long predates Gray’s arrest and death…