Baltimore Gift Economy
Baltimore Gift Economy:
Baltimore Gift Economy was founded by Streamside Community members Ulysses and Chryssalinn Archie. Baltimore Gift Economy is a non-profit program of Fusion Partnerships, Inc., whose mission is to “Build talent and capacity in the best interest of long-term community growth.”
We seek to show people inclusive love, to teach people how to share even in the midst of challenge, to make them aware of the abundance that surrounds them, and to help them realize their gifts and talents and see the value they bring by sharing those gifts with others. We believe that by treating others with dignity regardless of circumstance, and by helping them understand their gifts and how to use them, communities can be strengthened and rebuilt from the inside out. We operate using an eco-social component that aims to activate and build the capacity of untapped existing social, economic and environmental assets across the Commons. We tangibly make these idle, and often overlooked, capacities liquid through non-institutional access to the marketplaces and networks we form through building community trust. We are fulfilling our mission by working to provide resources and services to communities that will help uplift, empower and fill the needs of community members.
Many of our efforts center around food --food as a locus for building community, access to healthy food as a key determinant of health, food sovereignty as a source of strength and resiliency for economically marginalized people, growing food as a way to build capacity and community. Across all these different dimensions, food is also profoundly connected to emotional and mental health in multiple ways.
Baltimore Gift Economy currently operates the following programs and initiatives:
Community Supported Food Sharing Markets (also includes share table with predominantly non-food items such as clothing, books, and household items.) - We run one market at this time, an indoor, year-round market at UMB Community Engagement Center.
Baltimore Gathering of the Commons - An initiative that connects and inspires through compassionate dialogue and sharing of resources, bringing diverse people together to look at how community assets can address systemic challenges of health disparities, environmental injustice, racism, and beyond.
BGiftE Farms a co-creative, ecological permaculture demonstration farming collective, based in the Irvington community of West Baltimore, that engages and supports community members in urban agriculture and community farming enterprise.
Resilience Screening/Awareness Campaign - Screenings and guided discussion around Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and their impact on our health.
Men’s Discussion - National, guided, group phone discussion for men around identity, hope, and healing