Baltimore youth in summer employment program get a platform to be seen and heard as their voices take center stage through a UMB-community organization partnership.
For the past several weeks, the halls of the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Community Engagement Center (CEC) have been filled with the sounds of drumming, poetry, storytelling, laughter, and sometimes difficult conversations.
Since June 29, about 30 Baltimore City young people have reported to work each day through the YouthWorks summer employment program, participating in an intensive, arts-based leadership experience hosted through a partnership between UMB’s Office of Community and Civic Engagement (OCCE) and WombWork Productions.
Their work product is a powerful, original performance titled “What They Don’t See: Youth Incarceration: Resilience, Resistance, and Restoration,” which will be presented July 30 and July 31 at the CEC at 6 p.m. each night.
Combining theater, poetry, music, storytelling, and spoken word, the youth-created production examines the realities of youth incarceration while elevating stories of healing, resilience, and hope. Each performance will be followed by a community talk designed to spark dialogue among youth, community members, advocates, practitioners, and institutional leaders. The events are free and open to the public, although attendees are encouraged to make a donation in support of WombWork Productions’ ongoing work with Baltimore youth.
The collaboration reflects OCCE’s commitment to developing community partnerships that are guided by community-identified needs and designed to create value for community organizations and UMB. Rather than prescribing solutions, OCCE works alongside trusted neighborhood partners to identify opportunities where UMB resources can support community-led efforts while creating meaningful engagement opportunities for students, faculty, and staff.
“WombWork came to this partnership with a proven model and a clear vision for serving Baltimore youth," said Lisa Rawlings, MBA, manager of special projects and community partnerships, OCCE. “Our role was to listen, understand what resources would help them expand their reach and impact, and then work together to create a space where young people could thrive.”
Founded in 1997, WombWork Productions uses arts-based, healing-centered approaches to support youth, families, and communities that are impacted by grief, violence, and trauma. Over nearly three decades, the organization has built a reputation for helping young people develop leadership skills, emotional resilience, cultural identity, and confidence through theater, movement, music, restorative practices, and storytelling.
WombWork Productions has engaged thousands of Maryland residents and was the subject of a five-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-supported study conducted with the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing that found improvements in emotional resilience, reductions in violent behavior, and stronger school climates among participants.
This summer’s YouthWorks program aligns naturally with many areas of expertise and mission across UMB.
The performance’s focus on youth incarceration and restorative approaches to justice resonates strongly with the Francis King Carey School of Law’s longstanding commitment to juvenile justice, advocacy, and legal reform. Themes explored by participants also connect to the School of Social Work’s work addressing trauma, adverse childhood experiences, behavioral health, and community well-being.
The program’s emphasis on healing from violence and trauma also complements the work of UMB’s Center for Violence Prevention and the many faculty members, researchers, and practitioners across the University who are focused on community safety, violence intervention, and trauma-informed care.
Discussions around youth health, emotional wellness, and resilience also align closely with the missions of the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, both of which are dedicated to improving health outcomes in Baltimore and beyond.
WombWork Productions intentionally exposes participants to career pathways in health professions, law, human services, behavioral health, community engagement, and advocacy. Its partnership proposal envisioned young people gaining exposure to professionals and students across disciplines while imagining themselves as future leaders in those fields.
Throughout the five-week program, participants have engaged in restorative circles, social-emotional learning activities, scriptwriting, theater exercises, drumming, movement, leadership development, and workforce readiness training. The youth are not simply performers, they also are researchers, writers, production assistants, technicians, facilitators, and storytellers. They have worked collaboratively to examine issues affecting their communities and transform those experiences into art designed to educate, challenge, and inspire audiences.
The partnership also demonstrates the value of place-based collaboration. By hosting the program at the CEC in West Baltimore, young people have access to a welcoming environment embedded in the community and connected to the broader resources of the University. For WombWork Productions, the partnership provides expanded space, visibility, and opportunities for youth to interact with higher education pathways. For UMB, it creates a meaningful opportunity to support youth leadership while strengthening relationships with a respected community organization.
At its core, the collaboration reflects a shared belief that Baltimore’s young people possess expertise, insight, and creativity that deserve to be heard.
When the curtain rises on “What They Don’t See” on July 30 and July 31, audience members will experience more than a performance. They also will witness the result of weeks of work, reflection, and artistic creation by young Baltimoreans who have chosen to tell their own stories, in their own voices, and to invite the community into a conversation about justice, healing, and possibility.
For OCCE, the project serves as another example of how community-engaged partnerships can advance UMB’s mission while responding to priorities identified by community organizations and residents themselves. By investing in programs that are community-led, culturally grounded, and youth-centered, UMB continues to demonstrate that meaningful engagement begins with listening and grows through authentic partnership.
Attend the Performances
“What They Don’t See: Youth Incarceration: Resilience, Resistance, and Restoration”
Dates: Thursday, July 30, and Friday, July 31
Time: 6:30 p.m. each night
Location: UMB Community Engagement Center, 16 S. Poppleton St., Baltimore, MD 21201
Note: The performances are free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to support WombWork Productions through a voluntary donation that helps sustain arts-based, healing-centered programming for Baltimore youth.