One Year In, The Factory Shows What Community Investment Can Build in West Baltimore and Looks Ahead to the Next Phase of Opportunity
BALTIMORE — More than 200 residents, nonprofit partners, elected officials, funders and community leaders gathered in West Baltimore on May 13 as The Factory celebrated its first anniversary with a vibrant community block party that showcased a year of neighborhood-driven progress, partnership and investment.
The West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation (WBRF) opened The Factory in May 2025, transforming a 33,000-square-foot former gelato manufacturing plant into a shared home for organizations working alongside residents to strengthen health, safety and economic opportunity in West Baltimore.
During the anniversary celebration, Maryland Senator Antonio Hayes and members of the district 40 delegation presented WBRF with a $500,000 check secured from the state capital budget to support the completion of The Factory’s commercial kitchen, which will expand food acess strategies through food distribution and meal production based at the factory. WBRF is now fundraising to close a $700,000 gap that would allow for renovation of the previous gelato production into a teaching and production kitchen.
In just one year, The Factory has become home to seven nonprofit organizations including The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Innovation Works, Baltimore’s Promise, IT partners, Center for Hope, VSP, and the newest Franklin Square Safe Streets location which held a ribbon cutting during the event. Additional partners including I AM MENtality, Project JumpStart, Inc. Love and Cornbread and So What Else are preparing to join the site as well.
Since its inception, The Factory has hosted more than 160 meetings, trainings and community events, welcoming thousands of participants for job resource fairs, food distributions, computer training, entrepreneurship programming, youth activities and other neighborhood initiatives.
“This first year has shown what’s possible when a community’s vision is matched with real investment, strong partnerships and people who care deeply about their neighborhood,” says Kurt Sommer, executive director of the West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation. “We are incredibly proud of what has been built at The Factory and the lives that have already been impacted, but this is only the beginning. The momentum, the partnerships and the possibilities ahead for West Baltimore are stronger than ever.”
Another highlight of the event was the dedication of a community room in honor Edith Gilliard-Canty, longtime president of the Franklin Square Community Association, in recognition of her decades of advocacy, leadership and service as she stepped down from the WBRF board.
The West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation was launched as a separate nonprofit by LifeBridge Health following the health system’s acquisition of Grace Medical Center in 2019 as part of a long-term commitment to addressing the social and economic conditions that shape health in West Baltimore. Since its creation, WBRF has awarded more than $25 million in grants to 123 organizations working across four core areas: youth mentoring, workforce development, food access and population health.
About the West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation
The West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation (WBRF) is an independent nonprofit organization created in 2019 as part of LifeBridge Health’s acquisition of Grace Medical Center. WBRF works to improve health and quality of life in West Baltimore through strategic investments focused on workforce development, youth mentoring, food access and population health. Through grantmaking, community partnerships and initiatives such as The Factory, WBRF supports programs and services designed to strengthen neighborhoods, expand opportunity and address the social determinants of health. For more information, visit wbrenaissance.org