Making an Impact in the Place He Calls Home

On a fall day in October, I visited James Baker ’15 at the United Way to learn more about the work he is doing in the Frederick community. As I walked upstairs, I could hear him talking to a colleague in the hallway about a project. The contents of his desk—piles of project reports, assessments and program analyses—made clear his passion for his work.

For Baker, Frederick is more than a name on a list of “Best Cities in Maryland for Young Families” or one of the 2017 top 100 places to live in the U.S. For him, Frederick is a town he believes in and calls home. And equipped with a Hood degree in business management and a concentration in international finance and economics, Baker is doing what he can to make sure Frederick is a place where all its citizens feel proud to live.

During Baker’s final semester at Hood, he held an internship at the Interfaith Housing Alliance where he helped with program planning and guiding people as they journeyed on the path to home ownership. Also during this time, one of his friends was serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in Frederick. It was these two experiences that encouraged him to see how he could make an impact in the Frederick community. 

Upon graduating from Hood, Baker served as the AmeriCorps VISTA member at the United Way of Frederick County (UWFC). During his two years of service, he supported the initiatives of the UWFC’s Prosperity Center and financial literacy programs. The Prosperity Center creates a one-stop resource for community members to improve their financial skills and stability. 

He has been the prosperity manager for the Center since 2016, focusing on developing and creating programs for the Frederick community. Through understanding the ramifications of the ALICE (Asset, Limited, Income, Constrained, Employed) report, Baker’s goal is to remove access barriers so more people can utilize the resources and funds that are available to the Frederick community. ALICE families live above the federal poverty level but are unable to afford a basic household budget.

“Being at UWFC allows me to build relationships and work with the community in a way that helps individuals develop their own assets and work toward their goals,” Baker said. In 2017, Baker graduated from the Frederick County Office of Economic Development’s Future Minority Business Leader program, an eight-month program designed to develop and grow minority business leaders in Frederick County. This fall, he attended the Touching Lives in Frederick County event presented by the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce and the Frederick Nonprofit Alliance only to find that he was being recognized with an award.

As his colleague, Malcolm Furgol, shared, “...We could not ask for someone who more clearly demonstrates what our organization stands for or who more passionately advocates for the importance of the work we do at the Prosperity Center to help improve the financial stability of those households who can’t afford the high cost of living in our county.”

Baker is also the chair of the Frederick Coalition for Financial Success, which helps the Frederick community develop financial resources and literacy through programming led by trained practitioners. Programs and workshops teach people budgeting skills and financial literacy and support them in buying a home in Frederick County.

“Frederick is about community,” Baker said. “You’re here to develop yourself and develop your community.” Beyond financial education and literacy, Baker and the UWFC offer other resources for individuals such as the Prosperity Fair and “career cafés.” Most recently, the Prosperity Fair provided direct services and resources to the community. Offered three times per year, this fall’s focus was on health and wellness—specifically, navigating the world of health insurance, switching insurance and learning how to navigate insurance offered by an employer. The bimonthly career cafés are structured to provide a mock interview and one-hour workshop to individuals looking to develop and strengthen their skills to find a new job.

“I feel like Frederick is growing with me, and I’m growing with it,” Baker said.