Baltimore church seeks to reduce health disparities and morbidity rates with $32 million health and wellness center
Southern Baptist Church of East Baltimore plans to help revitalize its community by building a $32 million health and wellness center, the Baltimore Banner reported.
Construction of the health center will commence in January at 1501 N. Chester St., where Baltimore’s old Bugle Laundry Factory once stood. The church purchased the property in 2017 and demolished the building. The property has since stood vacant.
The new 20,000-square-foot Southern Streams Health and Wellness Center will bring urgent and primary healthcare services to the Broadway-East community.
Pastor Donté Hickman Sr. said he hopes the facility reduces health disparities and morbidity rates in Baltimore, where life expectancy is lower than in Maryland.
“It made no sense to us that a community that is six blocks away from one of the most formidable health institutions in the world would have its residents suffering, becoming physically incapacitated and die from preventable illnesses – so, we got to work,” Hickman told the Banner.
The administration of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who attends Southern Baptist Church, contributed to the health center project, which received public and private funding, non-profit support, and funding from various federal, state, and local governments.