West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation Expands Resources By Opening The Factory: A West Baltimore Opportunity Center
Former gelato manufacturing facility on North Calhoun Street converted into nonprofit and community hub
Baltimore – West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation (WBRF) today celebrated the grand opening of The Factory: A West Baltimore Opportunity Center. Over the past several years, the former warehouse space and gelato manufacturing facility in West Baltimore has been transformed into a thriving community hub that will house WBRF offices and be home to numerous nonprofit organizations. The building is located in the historic West Baltimore Street retail corridor and is poised to help catalyze further reinvestment in the area while hosting services for the community.
WBRF was created in 2019 as part of LifeBridge Health’s acquisition of Grace Medical Center (the former Bon Secours Baltimore Hospital) as part of the health system’s commitment to invest in the West Baltimore community to improve social determinants of health, ranging from employment to food access. WBRF has moved forward with a twofold strategy: to open the opportunity center, The Factory, and support programming to meet community needs through strategic grantmaking.
Since its inception, WBRF has awarded 283 grants to 121 organizations serving the West Baltimore community. Total grants over five years, including fiscal year 2025 commitments, stand at more than $23 million. WBRF grants focus on four key areas: food access, workforce development, youth mentoring and population health.
Organizations supported by WBRF have hosted 12,000 youth programming opportunities, placed 1,000 individuals in jobs, provided 3.5 million meals and assisted 15,000 individuals with a range of services including mental health support, violence response, case management and other health related programming.
“Opening the doors to The Factory is an important and exciting step in our organization’s growing commitment to expand resources and opportunity for residents of West Baltimore and beyond,” says Kurt Sommer, WBRF executive director. “We are honored to continue to empower our neighborhood residents with resources and services to support a growing, healthy and thriving community.”
The 33,000 square foot facility boasts five suites to house nonprofit organizations, a classroom, computer lab and a community gathering space. The Factory is located just six blocks from LifeBridge Health’s recently renovated Grace Medical Center, and the health system provided $12.5 million for construction of The Factory as part of its commitment to invest in West Baltimore through the support of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission. The Factory provides office and programming space for LifeBridge Health community-facing entities, such as Safe Streets, Center for Hope and VSP, as well as nonprofits offering services to meet local needs.
Additional funding for the building has been made possible through generous support from the Bunting Family Foundation, the France-Merrick Foundation, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, as well as gifts from individual donors. WBRF continues to fundraise to complete the last phase of The Factory which will bring online construction training and a teaching and production kitchen. Total costs when completed are expected to reach more than $14 million.
Sommer and his team work with faith-based, community-based and other local nonprofit leaders to understand the evolving needs of the community. Work to date has focused on strategic grantmaking, nonprofit capacity building and with the opening of The Factory, the building will host direct programming to meet those needs.
“WBRF supports the West Baltimore community through impactful partnerships with local nonprofit organizations focused on workforce development, food access, population health and youth mentoring programming,” says Amy Shlossman, president of Sinai Hospital and Grace Medical Center and senior vice president of LifeBridge Health who also serves as WBRF president and board member. “We are thrilled to open the Factory to the West Baltimore community, just blocks away from the recently renovated Grace Medical Center. These investments to the West Baltimore community reflect LifeBridge Health’s strong commitment to improve the health of the people in our communities.”
Although related to the LifeBridge Health acquisition of Grace Medical Center, WBRF functions as a separate nonprofit organization with an independent board of health and community leaders who oversee grant awards in four key areas: workforce development, food access, population health and youth mentoring programming.
The Factory: A West Baltimore Opportunity Center is home to:
- Baltimore’s Promise
- Innovation Works
- Franklin Square Safe Streets Program
- VSP
- NAMI Baltimore
- Center for Hope PAAVE Program
- West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation
For more information on the West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation: wbrenaissance.org
Contact: Sharon Boston, lbhmedia@lifebridgehealth.org, 410-601-4350