Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Meet the Power in Dirt Team - Maria!

Meet the Power in Dirt Coordinator for Northwest Baltimore - Maria! Maria coordinates for Park Heights, Towanda Grantley and Greenspring. You can contact her at Park Heights Renaissance (PHR) at (410) 664 - 4890 or mvasquez@gmail.com


Maria Vasquez is a recent new comer to Baltimore, MD.  She recently graduated with a B.A. in History and a B.S. in Public Policy concentrated in Planning and Economic Development from Georgia State University.


Maria’s interests lie in helping underrepresented, blighted communities due to her unique upbringing. She and her family, originally from Peru, came to the U.S. in 1991 to escape terrorism. Growing up Maria remembers seeing her parents struggle to find employment, maintain a household, and provide a decent environment for her and her brother to be raised in. Unlike her peers in school, she spent her time after school helping her parents clean office buildings so that her family could afford to live in an area that provided good public schools and services.

Today, now a young professional, Maria still identifies with the struggle many Baltimore City residents face trying to provide their children with positive opportunities in life.  She sees Park Heights, with all of its assets like Druid Hill Park, Cylburn Arboretum, and Pimlico Race Course, as a community with so much potential.  As one of the community coordinators for Power in Dirt, she is ready to take on the challenge of revitalizing Park Heights and invites community members to contact her if they are thinking about adopting a lot in the area!

Please contact Maria if you live in Northwest Baltimore and are interested in adopting a vacant lot!

________________________________________________________
Power in Dirt is a Baltimore City Mayoral Initiative that aims to build capacity in Baltimore City communities to adopt city-owned vacant lots and turn them into community managed green and open spaces. We are interested in all things green and growing in Baltimore City. Do you have a community garden or park on a vacant lot that you and your neighbors started? Do you have a particularly troublesome vacant lot in your neighborhood? Contact us! Let us know your thoughts, feedback, and questions at any time! General questions go to: powerindirt@gmail.com or visit www.baltimorehousing.org/vtov_adopt_resources to find the closest Power in Dirt Coordinator for your neighborhood!