GRIA Community Meeting 7/15/2026
Board Members Present: Wynn Engle- Pratt, Sam Horn, Frances McGaffey, Sadie Baker, Matt Williams, Dylan Maddox, Megan Hamilton, Cheryl Knott, Peter Coyne, Anne, Michele Baskin (zoom)
Staff: Jennifer McKenzie
CP Jermaine Jones & Cristina Cortese (COS)
BPD x 2- officer, Major Saunders Northern District
Gideon Price- Real Estate Broker representing a project in Remington
Justyn- R House manager
Maura Dwyer- Neighborhood Design Center
2 Seawall Staffers
Total Attendees: ~23
On Zoom:
Zoom Recording Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/a7MLFGalvDzNIizJvu3EvXaZZ5EQYdN7cIEYjwbigIR_JumIvb-njHBDLrytiFFx.JU64JbPxhMa4M5mq
Password:
Start- 7:20
End- 8:33
Agenda
- Community Introductions
- BPD Major Saunders
- Community action lab– Working group to pilot programs
- Overall- Crime in Remington is doing very well
- Shoplifiting high at Walgreens- they see this all over the city and have some efforts going in to changing policing around it
- Stolen tags are generally on the rise- suggests screws that help prevent theft- available online
- Auto larceny- 80% of the time car doors were left unlocked, so please be vigilant
- Q from Jermaine- would BPD be favorable for legislation that bans certain face coverings?
- A- Impossible to enforce
- Q- from Seawall- asking about a permanent patrol unit in Remington?
- A- extremely short staffed, it’s unlikely to have a permanent person in Remington bc they’re filling slots via OT
- Shoplifting- primarily at Dollar General, Walgreens, etc. Shoplifting past 28 days held steady for first tie all year. Primarily by rearranging store access and shifting toward more aggressive policing focused directly on arrests.
- ID-ed ~30 repeat offenders, next step is to get States Attorny Office to get charges to stick
- Q- Active illegal dumping in progress- 311 says an officer will come out; how can she follow up?
- Get tag #s, descriptions, etc
- Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED)- Avery- Slides Here
- Employer facing program– Recovery Friendly Workplace program
- Designing workplaces in city that can support folks in recovery- time off for appointments, needs, etc
- To be a Recovery Friendly workplace- trainings, bias awareness, naloxone training, crisis mgmt and de-escelation techniques, can order and distribute as much naloxone- has given out 7k doses since October, 5 confirmed saved lives
- Helps employers create policies/ handbooks
- Financial Empowerment Center can help un-banked folks, estate planning, more
- Mental Health First Aid Training
- Mission: deliver economic justice to Baltimore residents- provide viable opportunities
- Q- works in a coworking space- could we do a training together? Yes!
- Q- Public facing spaces- can you help us get sharps containers etc in those spaces? Yes!
- Q- Can individuals go through MOED?
- Y- staff would do intake, hand off to services and a 1:1 partner
- Q- Do you have stickers to hot spot areas? A- yes, QR codes to stick on containers
- Recovery Friendly businesses gets a sticker and public facing
- Q- Have you been engaging w/ the large healthcare systems?
- A- yes- currently talking to Shock Trauma and JHU, Wynn would like Medstar. Conversations w/ one of the largest employers in Baltimore.
- Maura- Neighborhood Design Center-
- Working with the MICA Center for Creative Impact, DOT, Blue Water Baltimore, Streetcar Museum, et al to study one section of Falls Road
- How to make neglected and high crash area streets safer
- Phase II of project that started in 2019- focused on creative interventions
- Sessions and eventbrite to register
- Large “share out” in September
- Remington Neighborhood Plan
- Current plan is almost 10 years old
- Adopted by the city and guiding document as an organization
- Working with Unknown Studio for the next iteration- stay tuned for outreach sessions and opportunities
- Tree Watering-
- Please water trees near your homes and email info@griaonline.org if you see any trees that aren’t doing well
- Community Announcements
- Community cleanup this Saturday- Clipper City Crossfit is our sponsor
- Megan Hamilton- organizing Southern Remington to stop BGE from building high voltage transmission lines- need to grow awareness- sign petition and/or put up a sign. Anyone can sign! Working on a position paper to discuss the impacts. Will have an organizational sign on letter for businesses/institutions/organizations
- Night Market Friday- Free drinks, food vendors, neighborhood musicians 6-8
- Jermaine- Amtrak is really pushing on the Scott administration- not just BGE asking for permit, Amtrak is pushing for the permit for the power lines
- Baltimore City Council has 4 charter amendment proposals:
- Separating solid waste from water dept (DPW has water AND waste)- balt city doesn’t own the water source, it’s shared with AA and Balt; other jurisdictions don’t pay their fair share
- Get rid of lowest bid contract policy- lowest bidders often aren’t the best or have the best track record
- Eliminating minor privileges- currently convoluted process to get benches and more
- Budge veto- balt city council gets the budget very late in process before it goes to the state- this charter amendment gets the budget to the council earlier and allows for more time for a veto
- Charter Amendments that didnt pass- Term limits- did not make it so far- private interest group wanted 2 term limits and no stagger
- Volunteer call out for flyer distribution! Please reach out to Jen at volunteers@griaonline.org to take a flyering route next month. Routes are ~2 blocks and a great way to meet your neighbors
- Church of the Guardian Angel thrift shop, runs 1st & 2nd Sat of the month, 10am – 2 pm, bring donations during open hours only, also seeking volunteers; Food Pantry, every
Wednesday from 9 am – 10 am, need volunteers for delivery drivers and some muscle on Tuesday mornings to unload trucks (9:30 – 10:15ish). Registration preferred but not required - Any child that needs a meal can go to a participating school for breakfast and lunch- best resource is a mdsummermeals.org:
Popsicle Night! Tuesdays starting 6:30 Sisson Street Park