Turnaround Tuesday (TAT), an organization connecting unemployed, underemployed, and returning citizens to opportunities and jobs in and around Baltimore, has expanded to open a fourth community hub at Govans-Boundary United Methodist Church (UMC).
On Thursday, more than 100 leaders from North and Northeast Baltimore gathered with Baltimore MONSE Director Stefanie Mavronis and City Council Member Mark Conway (District 4) to officially open Turnaround Tuesday’s fourth community hub.
Turnaround Tuesday is a signature campaign of Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD). BUILD is a non-partisan, interfaith, multiracial organization composed of Baltimore neighborhoods and congregations, dedicated to making the city a better place to live through improved housing, better job opportunities, stronger schools, and more.
Turnaround Tuesday has helped more than 2500 Baltimore citizens find jobs with a living wage, paying a minimum of $18 an hour, in the last 11 years. Calling itself a “second chance jobs movement,” Turnaround Tuesday focused on connecting employers who said they could not find “job-ready” employees with people who held training certificates but were never invited for job interviews because they had criminal backgrounds.
“I’ll never forget the first time we brought a group of Turnaround Tuesday participants to a breakfast meeting with the presidents and CEOs of Baltimore’s hospitals and universities,” wrote Melvin Brown, executive director of TAT, on their website. “As our participants shared their stories and their dreams for the future, I watched as the faces of those executives changed from skepticism to understanding to a genuine commitment to be part of the solution.”
Now, the program not only connects people with certificates and training to employers, but TAT also holds skills training programs for people who want to acquire them. Brown wrote that Turnaround Tuesday training programs are a national model for preparing people for building a career. Participants meet every Tuesday with guests and leaders at their training sites to share stories, listen to one another, and learn. A typical Tuesday might involve career coaching, wellness sessions, breakout discussions, role play, educational talks, and more.
Turnaround Tuesday’s newest hub holds meetings the second and fourth Thursday of every month from 10 a.m.–12 p.m. at Govans-Boundary UMC, located at 5210 York Road, Baltimore, MD. The other three community hubs are located at Stillmeadow Community Fellowship on Frederick Avenue, Brown’s Memorial Church on W. Belvedere Ave., and Greater Harvest Baptist Church on West Saratoga Street. See the Turnaround Tuesday website for details on meeting times, locations, and programming details for each community hub.
