In 2013, Regina Hammond has been leader in community development in Johnston Square, a neighborhood historically plagued by racist lending practices and disinvestment for generations. She established the Rebuild Johnston Square Neighborhood Organization (RJSNO) and started listening to the needs of her neighbors. Conducting a survey, RJSNO made plans that would eventually become part of the Johnston Square 2020 Vision Plan. The plans were made alongside nonprofit ReBUILD Metro and Baltimore’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
Hammond and RJSNO’s plans for Johnston Square involve both refurbishing homes and creating a holistic and health environment that benefits the community. RJSNO has planted gardens and trees in Johnston Square, and their collaborators at ReBUILD Metro are currently spearheading the construction of Greenmount Park for the local schools, Saint Frances Academy and Johnston Square Elementary. RJSNO's bee symbol, started with a mural on the corner of Wilcox and Biddle streets, represents the organization’s grit and stands as a unifying sign for the neighborhood’s identity.
The city agency gains ownership of vacant houses to be refurbished and approves their community projects. Aside from Greenmount Park, ReBUILD Metro and RJSNO have also begun building a new Enoch Pratt Free Library branch. The library will provide a productive space for learning and socializing. They are both scheduled to open in August 2025
Preventing displacement of current residents is a top concern for RJSNO and ReBUILD Metro as revitalization proceeds. A 2019 study conducted by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) found that Baltimore had the fifth-highest rate of gentrification from 2000 to 2013, with five neighborhoods displacing an average of 673 Black residents.
“The biggest way in which [displacement] happens is largely through property taxes,” said Andrew Samuel, an economics professor at Loyola University Maryland “And when the properties get reappraised at a higher value, even if the property tax rate doesn’t change, the liability that people are expected to bear now goes up. And that’s usually the most frequent way in which people find that they are unable to continue to afford to live in the neighborhood.”
Hammond and Closkey believe the path to revitalization without gentrification starts with community involvement. Lowering Johnston Square’s vacancy rates requires more than home repair. Examining how houses end up vacant and preventing future vacancies is just as important. For example, the city housing department collaborates with companies like LifeBridge Health and Meals on Wheels to help with the health of underserved senior citizens. “All of those components and helping our older adults age in place actually are preventing vacant properties,” said Alice Kennedy, commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development “We can’t demolish our way out of this, and we also have a focus on preventing the vacants as well.”
Rising from decades of disinvestment also must include building generational wealth through homeownership. ReBUILD Metro established a free program called Path to Own to help renters in Johnston Square take the necessary steps to buy a home, so residents can benefit from predictable mortgage payments and rising equity. Residents are urged to apply for the Maryland Homestead Tax Credit, a program designed to limit tax increases and assist homeowners experiencing large jumps in property tax that are often plague developing neighborhoods.
ReBUILD Metro - whose programs serve to cure the root cause of vacant housing, rather than simply eliminate the symptoms - also refurbishes Johnston Square residents’ homes under their Legacy Homeowner Repair program. These renovations serve to improve the living conditions of the residents and assist in building equity in their homes, which keeps the houses occupied and the families content.
RJSNO’s Johnston Square 2020 Vision Plan details their goals to maintain mixed-income housing within the neighborhood to help prevent displacement.
