Johns Hopkins University is one of eight Baltimore universities and hospitals that recently joined Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to sign a pledge to work together to grow and revitalize the city and to help solve some of its most pressing challenges.
The Baltimore City Anchor Plan targets four priority areas: public safety, local hiring, local purchasing, and quality of life in the city. In a memo introducing the plan, Rawlings-Blake said that the signing institutions, which are among the city's largest employers, are integral to her goals of attracting new families to Baltimore and increasing jobs and investment.
JHU President Ronald J. Daniels, who attended a ceremonial signing of the pledge at City Hall, noted that the agreement builds on—and shares many goals with—the university's ongoing community efforts. Those include the Homewood Community Partners Initiative, a $10 million investment in communities surrounding JHU's Homewood campus, and the Henderson-Hopkins community school, which opened earlier this year and is part of a larger effort to revitalize the East Baltimore neighborhoods near the university's medical campus.
"When Hopkins launched the Homewood Community Partners Initiative in 2012, I said at the time that it's just the starting point," Daniels said. "By signing the anchor plan pledge with the city, we've taken another big step forward in committing to Baltimore's success and prosperity."
The pledge was also signed by Coppin State University, Loyola University, the Maryland Institute College of Art, Morgan State University, Notre Dame of Maryland University, the University of Baltimore, and Bon Secours Hospital.
