Programs and Projects
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Since 1968, the Neighborhood Design Center has provided pro-bono planning and design services to over 1,800 community initiatives that have helped communities build new playgrounds, reclaim vacant lots and abandoned buildings, revitalize commercial districts, create community  master plans, and beautify their neighborhoods.  We do this through three program areas and various special initiatives:

Community Design

Providing architectural, site, and graphic design services for a variety of projects, including the adaptive reuse of buildings, parks and playgrounds, school gardens, and streetscapes.
       - Cafritz Facade Improvement Project (Prince George's County)

Community Planning

Helping communities develop neighborhood master plans and other planning studies.
       - Creating a New Main Street: Re-imagining Northwood Plaza Shopping Center (Baltimore)
       - Central Kenilworth Avenue Revitalization Study (Prince George's County)

Education and Civic Engagement

Offering workshops, seminars, and lectures, serving on city / county coalitions, panels, and committees, and partnering with other organizations to help educate the public about the value of good design and planning.

GREENDC
Helping communities become more livable, healthier, and economically viable by promoting sustainable practices, offering educational workshops on a variety of "green" topics, and providing green design services.

 

The Value of NDC's Services

The pro-bono services that the Neighborhood Design Center provides are tools for community engagement, empowerment, and investment.  Since 2003, the Neighborhood Design Center assisted over 375 community revitalization projects in our Baltimore and Prince George’s County offices.  Working along side our staff were nearly 500 volunteer architects, planners, landscape architects, graphic artists, and other design professionals who donated 28,000 hours of professional services, totaling $1 million.  As a result of the plans, drawings, and technical assistance provided by NDC, groups were able to leverage $8.6 million in grants and public funding toward realizing their projects.  This means that for every dollar that NDC receives in funding we are able to raise an additional THREE DOLLARS that goes directly to the communities we assist .  Successful projects include:

In Prince George’s County, several projects that NDC assisted received over $750,000 in State funding for implementation, including a library and multi-use center for the residents of Mount Rainier, a new daycare center for working families in Walker Mill, and the creation of a memorial garden honoring African-American veterans in the Town of North Brentwood.

Several NDC projects helped residents in the Baltimore neighborhoods of Irvington, Midtown Edmondson, Station North, and Operation ReachOut Southwest reclaim vacant lots, improve housing, and implement block projects - receiving over $30,000 in grants from the Baltimore Community Foundation and Parks and People Foundation.  Additionally, plans for the renovation of parks in the neighborhoods of Reservoir Hill, Old Goucher, Madison Park, and Sandtown-Winchester helped residents secure over $300,000 in funding, in-kind assistance, and support from the Department of Recreation and Parks to upgrade these important community spaces.

Working with Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity, NDC volunteers prepared plans for the renovation of ten rowhouses in the Washington Village / Pigtown neighborhood in Baltimore.  NDC’s Prince George’s County office has also worked with affordable housing non-profits including Housing Initiative Partnership, Ardmore Enterprises, and Prince George’s Habitat for Humanity.

A team of architects helped prepare plans for turning a former firestation in Brentwood into a new Town Hall and community center.  The Town used NDC’s work to successfully secure a Community Legacy grant of $110,000 for the renovation.

In partnership with “Supporting Public Schools of Choice”, NDC provided facilities planning assistance to four charter schools to help them explore options for renovating or expanding their current buildings or finding a new location.

The Community Mediation Center won a national competition to receive donated renovation services for their building.  NDC worked with the Center to develop plans for renovating and expanding their offices, including recommendations for making the building greener, more sustainable, and energy efficient.  The Mediation Center will use the plans developed by NDC to apply for a State Bond Bill in 2009.

In 2007-2008, NDC assisted with a Façade Improvement Project that included over fifteen businesses in the gateway Arts District along Route 1.  Business owners will use the drawings to apply for grants and funding to upgrade their shops and restaurants as part of an area-wide economic development effort.

NDC worked with hundreds of students and teachers at 10 Baltimore public schools to develop master plans and plant school gardens, including Abbottston Elementary, Cross Country Elementary, Medfield Heights Elementary, Thomas Johnson Elementary, and Yorkwood Elementary.  Over $100,000 in funding and in-kind services were raised as a result of NDC’s assistance.  Additionally, the plans and drawings that NDC prepared for the Mt. Washington Outdoor Classroom helped parents and students raise over $175,000 for construction.