Photo Credit: Glenwood Jackson
The excitement in downtown Baltimore was palpable as Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake officially opened the new Baltimore Excel Center at 222 East Redwood Street. The new tuition-free adult high school gives residents aged 21+ who dropped out of high school a second chance at their diploma — and at a better life.
Keynoted by Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake CEO Lisa Rusyniak, speakers also included Goodwill Board Chair Joe Durham, Baltimore Excel Center Lead Teacher DaShawn Archer, Former Goodwill CEO Marge Thomas, plus two inspiring Excel Center students from this first class: Trimiea Cannady and Shamar Rice.
The grand opening drew a number of Baltimore notables to join in the celebration, including Elonna Jones, Baltimore City Regional Director for U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen; Maryland State Senator Shelly Hettleman; Maryland Tech Council CEO Kelly Schultz; Baltimore County Councilman Pat Young; and Baltimore City Councilman John Bullock. Several members of the Baltimore City Council were also in attendance.
“Goodwill’s new Excel Center is going to be a key to helping people get out of poverty — forever,” said Rusyniak. “This is the one building block that can help change people’s lives by giving them an education. And we all know that when you have a high school diploma, the training and employment opportunities are much greater than for someone who doesn’t have that diploma.”
Rusyniak added that people who have a diploma make at least 70% more than those without one. “And that’s how we’re going to lift people out of poverty and build better families — and ultimately what that does is build a better community. Baltimore certainly needs that kind of support given the economic and social challenges we’re facing,” she said.
Thanking the key stakeholders that helped fund the Excel Center, Rusyniak explained that
Goodwill assembled a mix of federal, state, and donated funds:
- $1.4 million federal grant secured by U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
- $1 million in FY2023 and FY2024 in the Maryland state budget with the assistance of Senate President Ferguson, Senator Guzzone and the Maryland legislature.
- $1 million from Goodwill of the Chesapeake for building renovation/capital spending
- $250,000 annually from the Maryland Department of Education
- $250,000 in capital support from the Abell Foundation for building renovation
- $500,000 in capital support from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation for building renovation
- $200,000 in capital support from the France-Merrick Foundation for building renovation
New students Trimiea Cannady and Shamar Rice wowed the crowd with their respective stories of how they discovered the Excel Center and how it’s changing their lives.
Rice — who said he left high school three years in a row to escape negative influences surrounding him — had pursued his own path to acceptance at the number-one arts college in Los Angeles and $64,000 in scholarship money, contingent on first getting his high school diploma.
“Going to school here in Baltimore is intimidating,” said Rice. “I love to learn, but every school that I went to, I could not control what happened around me, I could just do my best at what I do. But I couldn’t do my best because of the people around me, so I just parted myself from those individuals, which made me drop out all of those times. But, every year, I did decide to go back, but I just didn’t finish. And that stops this year.”
“One thing that inspired me to really come back to school is my childhood friends that I’ve grown up with,” Rice said. “People that were younger than me graduated, and I didn’t. So, seeing them posting on social media, and knowing the life they had and everything that they went through and they still overcame and still graduated, that inspired me. Because I went through a lot. And if they could do it, so can I. Two people in my family didn’t graduate high school. And by coming back to get my high school diploma, I will be breaking a generational curse in my family.”
Cannady sees the Excel Center as a second chance. After a fight got her suspended from high school in 2012, she decided not to return. But today as a grown woman with a deep faith, she wants to be a role model for her three daughters, showing them how it’s possible to overcome multiple challenges to get an education and thrive.
“You do what you can do; God will do what you can’t do,” said Cannady. She said she wants to show her daughters “what being a real Black woman can look like in Baltimore City, with everything we have going against us, not only as a Black woman but as a woman in general, as a single mother of three — the obstacles that we face, the backlash that we face, the assumptions people make when they see me and my girls.”
“…You can do it,” Cannady added, “no matter what this world is telling us, no matter what this pandemic has done to us as a human race. It can get done. Put your big girl stuff on. Put your big boy stuff on. And let’s get it done, because we are in it together.”
Goodwill Board Chair Joe Durham told the crowd how excited he is about the Excel Center as a Baltimore native. He sees the Excel Center as a “win for people, a win for companies, and a win for our whole community.”
“I could not be more proud that Goodwill, once again, is leaning into Baltimore with answers and solutions,” Durham said. “Through my volunteer role with Goodwill as well as my professional work experiences as a commercial banker for almost 40 years, I’ve had the privilege of seeing this city’s ups and downs through different lenses. And when you look at Baltimore’s successes and challenges over time, you realize that education plays a central role.”
Excel Center Lead Teacher DaShawn Archer told the crowd that her “role here is to help students stay on track and make sure they’re succeeding in their classes — collaborating with the coaches and other teachers, and advocating on students’ behalf to make sure they successfully arrive at graduation day.”
Archer added that she and the other teachers “can’t do the work for [students]. But we ourselves are working hard to make this a place they will always look back on with pride and say, ‘The Baltimore Excel Center is where I started a new chapter in my life.’”
Regional Director Elonna Jones presented Rusyniak with a citation from U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, lauding Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake for opening the Excel Center. “This citation is presented to Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake in celebration of the ribbon cutting of the Excel Center in Baltimore with gratitude for its tremendous efforts to remove barriers to education and empower individuals to achieve their goals with appreciation for all it does to support and inspire members of our community and with best wishes for its continued success,” said Jones. “The senator was thrilled to support such an important and needed project that has surely already been shown in the 400 people that have already applied.”
Rusyniak closed her remarks by telling everyone present, “Always remember: What each and every one of you has done for this new Excel Center really matters.”
She noted that Baltimore is home to an estimated 80,000 adults without a high school diploma, but said, “It doesn’t matter if there are 80 or 80,000, because Goodwill is in the business of helping people…one person at a time.”
Photo Credit: Glenwood Jackson
