Own Our Hood Program
Old Centenniel Church, 1025 E Monument Street
The Own Our Hood (OOH) program invites residents from the surrounding zip codes of VOLARs' buildings (at 1025 and 1031 E. Monument street) the opportunity to co-own the building at 1025 E Monument (currently the Old Centenniel Church which will be renovated into a Community Hub).
This happens through investment of $10 - $100 each month into the Community Investment Trust Fund: that will return on local residents' investments annually. *
This is co-ownership model, based on a solidarity economy method of people before profits. While $10/month will not deliver a big return on investment each year, residents a) become cooperators in decisions as to what happens in the building, in their community; b) elect who will be on the board; c) have pride in knowing that they decide what happens in buildings that are renovated in their community; d) become a powerful force of people able to stand together and resist attempts by big institutions to take land and redevelop for their own private interest with no input or control or ownership or benefit to the existing legacy community.
Help us continue to resist extractive rebuilding efforts by donating to our mission.
* The investment model is based on the Mercy Corps model in Portland, OR.
JOIN US FOR OUR NEXT
OWN OUR HOOD
FINANCIAL TRAINING PROGRAM
Date: October 8th 2026
Time: 4:00 - 7:00 PM
Location: St. Phillip's Lutheran Church
501 N. Caroline Street - Baltimore MD 21205
Community Investment Trust Fund
Through development of a Community Investment Trust Fund, local residents will be able to become co-owners of land and determine local redevelopment. Our vision for organized cooperative community rebuilding will result in the redistribution of wealth, land, property, public funds, and power to residents of public housing, and other low-income and working class Black communities across Baltimore.
Through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, VOLAR has developed a 9-12-hr Popular Political Financial Education training for local residents learn about financial management, motivational spending, budgeting, and different forms of saving and investing. Participants also learn about the history of disinvestment and displacement through exploitative redevelopment methods- co-created by the government and the wealthy institutions and individuals in Baltimore and beyond-that has led to present day financial disparity in East Baltimore. Following this training, residents will be eligible to become small-dollar investors and shareholders in VOLAR's buildings and be a part of changing the legacy of uneven development.
See our Frequently Asked Questions here.
VOLAR's OOH program has provided financial popular education training for more than 45 community residents since implementation of the OOH curriculum.
Enjoying OOH Training Program
VOLAR’s strategy will yield real life solutions, structural and systems change in various ways. First, the investors will not be the traditional property and money class but low-wage workers and tenants. Secondly, the landed gentry will not be the owners and developers of the land and housing but the VOLAR members and investors will be the owners and VOLAR the developer. Thirdly, the systems change work will be revealed in the gender, class, and ethnicity of the leaders and decision-makers.
This is what EQUITABLE Redevelopment looks like!
Please support us by donating to our effort!
