The Baltimore Excel Center is on track to open this September. Construction started earlier this summer and is already making excellent progress.
As the walls go up, barriers are coming down — barriers that have held Baltimore residents back for far too long.
Barrier: “I can’t pursue my diploma because I have kids.”
Excel Center Solution: Provide on-site childcare.
Barrier: “I can’t get to classes on time because I don’t have a car.”
Excel Center Solution: Provide transportation assistance.
Barrier: “Why bother with a diploma if I don’t even know what to do with my life?”
Excel Center Solution: Provide life coaching to help students consider career opportunities in any industry.
Barrier: “A high school diploma isn’t enough to get a really good job.”
Excel Center Solution: Provide counseling and assistance with college enrollment and post-secondary skills training.
The Excel Center is a visible, tangible symbol of the positive change coming to downtown Baltimore. Hope is on the rise. Opportunity is taking shape. A better future is within reach.
Graduates from other Excel Centers in the U.S. talk about how the community and camaraderie they found with fellow students made such a difference in their lives. (Listen to Yolanda in Memphis and Edward in Washington, D.C.)
That same supportive community will also be a reality for Baltimore Excel Center students. The Excel Center is about more than just education. It’s about more than just getting a diploma. It’s about being able to move ahead in life. It’s about building toward success one step at a time.
As Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake builds the new Excel Center in downtown Baltimore, we are also hiring some Spanish/English bilingual educators and staff to ensure that language is no longer a barrier between students and their future. (¿Hablas español? Applicants should visit careers.goodwillches.org.)
Interest in the Excel Center is huge, with more than 700 inquiries from potential students already received. Once construction is done in September, the first group of 150 students will be welcomed into 30 classes.
Keep up on the latest Excel Center news at https://excelcentermd.org.
