Myrt Howerton has two grown daughters, but in West Baltimore's Druid Heights neighborhood, dozens of children affectionately call her "Mama Myrt."
Howerton, 58, volunteers at the neighborhood's community center, helping children with homework and trying to keep them away from drugs and off the streets. For years, the center has been squeezed into a small renovated rowhouse in the 1800 block of McCulloh St.
At 9 a.m. today, Howerton and others are expected to attend a groundbreaking for a larger, nearly $1 million center three blocks away in historic Firehouse No. 25.
Baltimore City Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano, City Council President Sheila Dixon, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Baltimore and William Knott, First Union eastern regional vice president, are among those expected to make remarks.
City and state funds, First Union National Bank, Citibank and the United Parcel Service Foundation helped provide the $980,000 for the building renovation, said Roscoe Johnson, deputy director of the Druid Heights Community Development Corp. He said it has taken about five years to get to the groundbreaking stage on the center.
"It has taken so long because we've been putting all the different pieces together, funding as well as actually gaining site control of the property," Johnson said. "That's been a major piece. We had to get the firehouse through the city. We had to pay only $100 for it."
Plans call for a 24-hour day care, activities for teen-agers and seniors, a meeting room, a housing counseling program, job and skill development assistance, a small-business economic development project, a computer lab and a cultural exchange camp to foster good will between African-Americans and Korean-Americans.
The center is expected to be open by summer, Johnson said. But the day care probably won't be a 24-hour operation until the center has been in operation about six months, he said.
He and Howerton said the center will make a big difference in community residents' lives.
"We'll provide homeownership counseling for potential first-time homebuyers as well as assisting individuals who are facing foreclosure," Johnson said. "And we'll help individuals who want to go into business by providing technical assistance, from the conceptualization of what they're trying to do as well as developing business plans."
Johnson said he's excited about the computer lab, which is expected to have more than two dozen computers for public use. "It's to help eliminate the digital divide, as well as [provide] opportunities for them to seek employment with companies that require some basic computer skills," he said.
Howerton, who will have a room named after her, said the center will fortify her mission of helping to raise good young people. "I'm overjoyed about it. It has been coming for the longest [time], and I thank God that it has finally arrived," she said.
