St. Francis is a non-profit providing a bunch of awesome services in Baltimore City. For more…read moreinformation about them, I suggest checking out their website. That said, recently I attended the Res Fest which was held in a park next to St. Francis. I was able to tour the community center and was very impressed with...well, everything! There was a recent addition to the main facility and whoever architected it was a genius. St. Francis is bright and spacious with tons of activity centers and lots of interesting sights, sounds, and games for kids. Highly impressed with the center and all it offers. Highly recommend.

A truly special place in the heart of Baltimore!…read more I've been volunteering at St. Francis Neighborhood Center for a while now, and it's hard to put into words just how much this place means to me, and to the community it serves. The staff and volunteers are passionate, dedicated, and genuinely care about creating opportunities for the kids and families who come through the doors. Working with the kids here has been such a joy. You can see their confidence and creativity grow every day, whether it's through after-school programs, summer camps, or mentorship activities. It's amazing to watch them discover their strengths and build lasting friendships. The center itself has also seen incredible transformations in the last couple of years. The building has been beautifully renovated and expanded, with new spaces that make learning, playing, and connecting even more inspiring. Every improvement has been made with the community in mind, and you can feel that when you walk in. If you're looking for a way to give back, get involved, or just see real change happening in Baltimore, St. Francis Neighborhood Center is a perfect place to start. I'm so proud to be part of it!

I'm writing this review in my attempt to become an Elite for the year of 2014. But I think I can…read morerecap my experience with the Food Bank here. I volunteered here with Central Maryland Volunteers via MeetUp. The MeetUp capped the volunteer list at 12, but the facility could have surely accommodated more volunteers (that didn't make sense to me - I think the organizer from MeetUp wanted quality and quantity over just quantity). While I was there, I was stationed at the conveyer belt, and I was in charge of packaging Tomato Sauce. Basically, this is what happens. A bunch of donations come in from different areas/sources around Maryland to the Food Bank. The Food Bank acts as a redistributor of these resources to families in need. To act as this redistributor, the Food Bank has to sort through a bunch of goods that come through their doors, which are often times not suitable for consumption. That is where the volunteer efforts come into play. These volunteers sort through these goods - this saves the Food Bank money, which, in turn, saves the state money. And us volunteers may get to see how much waste could potentially arise in the landfills if it were not for organizations like the Food Bank -- Back to my responsibility in packaging the Tomato Sauce goods into boxes. My task was rather slow, so I took the initiative to also package the canned tomato goods that neighbored the tomato sauce station because no one was on it. And a lot of canned tomato goods were filling the conveyer belt at the time. This kept me busy for the next two and a half hours. - I also chatted with a fella who was working right next to me. Our topics of conversation ranged from junk food to canned goods and engineering. The volunteer experience was worth it. I wrote a bit more than I intended to aspire to obtain some Elite status on a review website (the struggle...)

Volunteered today and had a good time in the warehouse, packing boxes to be sent to shelters. We…read moremoved so fast that we finished the shift in 2 hours!

I'm moving out of my house and had a bunch of furniture to get rid of. Did not want to dump it in a…read morelandfill and we had a tight timeline so selling it was out of the question. I was able to schedule a pick up with hope for all online for the next day! The called and texted ahead to confirm, took a $5 deposit and the pricing wasn't bad either. I did the math and if I were to remove it myself it would have cost me $200 and so much time and work. They had it out for $350 and it was worth every penny! I'm glad that the stuff will be reused and we have a lot less to deal with now.

Hope took everything that brought there and they were very thank full and polite, wish they were…read moreopen on saturdays ,its hard to get there with them only being open only a few days a week

If you need somewhere to get back on your feet, this is the right spot…read more Once you go here with a mindset to get yourself together and back on your feet, you'll make it. Karen, Mr. Bobby, both Barbara and some of the other workers are helpful.

I've been to several Red Cross locations, but this was my first visit to Mount Hope. I stopped here…read morespecifically because I had business in the area and it was the closest donation center. The welcome area and lobby are brand new, contemporary and quite beautiful. There was no one in the waiting area and from what I could see no donors were in the lab area. According to the Red Cross mobile app scheduling for that afternoon was wide open but I was having trouble scheduling via the app. Thought I could just walk-in and be assisted with scheduling by Red Cross staff. Not the case. The slovenly low-energy woman at the welcome counter was gloriously rude and unhelpful. Ended up leaving Mount Hope without donating and going to the York Road center a few days later. Stay away from Mount Hope if you can. They are miserable.

This building is pretty easy to spot from the road. There are designated parking spaces in front of…read morethe building that are expressly for donors. As I entered the building, I was immediately greeted by the security guard. After checking my identification, he directed me to the donation room. As I entered the donation area, I was once again, immediately greeted. Each person with which I interacted was VERY professional and courteous. I was seen almost immediately (in advance of my appointment time). The technician that took care of me (Ms. S) was one of the fastest and most polite people I have ever had the fortune with which to work (not that I did much). Her donation stick was painless and fast. She explained each step of the process and what to do and expect post donation. The 'recovery' canteen was bountiful. I took in my share of cookies and juices. Upon my departure, I was thanked again and given a t-shirt.

I take note (well I "took note" is the proper English, sounds aggressive like, should that feel…read moreproper to use that English?) staff rarely eats the same food. Maybe because the location is *SMACK* between a jail and a strip club literally, must be funny to many, check Google Maps. Do not expect "Employment Center" to mean a job, welfare, or money, but there are free (and often religious) lectures. Staff does not eat with you during interview (my counselor actually literally laughed at the idea when I remembered other countries' support shelters, and said something to the effect of "We're not allowed to do that [eat with you for free]"). Staff *DOES* (*Warning* You will be proselytized multiple times at once, thank G-d for separation of Church and State in our great American idea of life caring and supportive government) evangelize religion in code. Staff speaks English and A.A.V.E. and Broken English and other languages, some staff (diverse, White, Black, Yellow, Cyan, Red, Green, Blue people too) even points instead of talking. If you can handle being given religious booklets, wait by the shelter or along Fallsway Rd and other religious people will give you food and abbreviatorily-predatory bibles looking like Bibles but mostly blasting adverts.

WEll this place is a Baltimore institution. Even if I had Bill Gates cash I would still eat here…read morefrom time to time and make donations to keep this service available to the downtown Baltimore Area. The food is good and nutritional the deserts are finger licking good the service from the different churches groups and people make the environment a spiritual blessing.. In Baltimore yea we got problems HUN but we all know that God is in control. No matter what you think he or she is.. I once Bumped in to my MUM. Mother Mary. If it's good enough for her than it is truly Blessed for All.. TO BAD I GOT KICKED OUT BY THE AFRICAN AMRICAN SECURITY STAFF BECAUSE I EXSPOSED THAT THE WOMEN AT THE CODE BLUE SHELTER WHERE BEING PIMPED OUT FOR SEX AND DRUGS!!!! They even have Veggie meals!!

This is a fantastic community organization that provides so many resources. I went to a mindfulness…read moretraining there that was led by the executive director, Teniyah and it was so amazing! Not only did I get to meet other community members, I also got to become aware of all of the resources that the organization offers.

Great organization, great mission, great staff! You can get a small version of the Baltimore…read moreneighborhoods map there for $2. Their website is awesome. Highly recommend it.

Terrific organization. Helped us find our neighborhood and home. Best welcome to Bmore ever…read more They provide assistance in schools, incentives to but in the city. They have a great happy hour too!