On Sunday, March 24, around 200 audience members learned about the work of Turnaround Tuesday, BUILD’s jobs movement, at a benefit concert hosted by BUILD member institution First & Franklin Presbyterian Church.
A freewill offering was collected to support leadership training and job opportunities for returning and unemployed citizens of Baltimore City.
Since 2015, Turnaround Tuesday has put over 640 Baltimore residents back to work through strategic partnerships with key employers in Baltimore City. Because we believe the city’s violence problem is a jobs problem, Turnaround Tuesday has evolved to become a flagship campaign of BUILD.
Learn more about Turnaround Tuesday
At the concert, three representatives from the Family Survivor Network, an organization in Baltimore dedicated to helping families and communities impacted by fatal violence, shared their personal stories of grief, loss, and resilience. The three mothers who spoke at the concert have each lost a son to violence in Baltimore City.
The First & Franklin Sanctuary Choir performed Fauré’s Requiem in remembrance of the 309 lives lost to gun violence in Baltimore City in 2018. The concert closed with a moving and resounding audience rendition of the anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
BUILD clergy leader Cristina Paglinauan was in attendance with two invited guests. “I was incredibly moved by the entire concert experience, especially hearing the three voices of the mothers. This event was significant in that it brought people from different parts of Baltimore to grieve together as one.”
First & Franklin connected individuals from across the city through music, a move that echoes the work of BUILD to build relational power by connecting institutions and organizations through common self-interests. The March 24 concert was not only an opportunity to reflect on the violence that has occurred in Baltimore City, but it was also an opportunity to combat that cycle of violence by supporting leadership development and local employment through Turnaround Tuesday.