There’s no one way to be a nurse.  There is, of course, the familiar registered nurse, working at the bedside, facilitating care plans, and managing diagnostic tests and medications. But the field has broadened to include nurse educators and executives, surgical nurses, pediatric and natal specialists, informaticists, PhD-level nurses doing research, and advance practice nurses who independently treat patients.

What has not changed is the driving force behind becoming a nurse. Linda Cook, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and a Baltimore Excellence in Nursing advisor (see our list of this year’s honorees, here), explains that most nurses have a personal connection with the field—a relative who was a nurse, or a health experience that brought them in close proximity to nursing.

“Others have chosen nursing as a second career wanting to have more contact with people and make a difference in their life,” she says, adding that she has students who shifted to nursing when their original degree didn’t provide the opportunity and fulfillment they’d hoped for. “They saw what nurses were able to achieve and wanted to be able to do the same.”

So what are the ideal traits for a nurse? Creativity, flexibility, patience, analytical prowess, and compassion, says Cook, as well as a deep commitment to care that often manifests in nurses routinely going above and beyond the bounds of their job.

Here, we meet four nurses who share—in their words—stories of how they have gone the extra mile to bring care and comfort to their patients.

DOING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Jacqui Wienecke, System Director Utilization Management-Maryland Region, MedStar Health

There are so many ways to help outside of just the bedside. That is core to being a nurse, but there are all these other pieces that affect a patient’s ability to be successful when they’re finished in their hospital course. That’s case management.

We had a case where one of my team members reached out and said their patient wanted to leave [against medical advice] because they had been here for four days, and their dog was home, and they didn’t have anyone to care for it. We tried to find emergency fosters, but we didn’t have any luck. The dog was a pit bull mix, which unfortunately made it harder. I went to talk to the patient, and he was like, “I have to get home to my dog. She’s not going to have any food. There’s not going to be any water left.” So, I said, “Would you stay if we could find care for your dog?” And he said that he would.

He assured us that the dog, T-bone, had no history of aggression, so we decided that we were going to go to his house, which wasn’t far from Franklin Square, to let his dog out and feed it. Our chief nursing officer, another member of case management, and I stopped at PetSmart, got food, got treats, got all the stuff. We went to the gentleman’s house. We called him on FaceTime with his permission, so he could talk to the dog, and the dog could hear his voice.

The dog was perfectly sweet. We filled the food and water bowl, and she went outside and did her business. We considered the next steps and decided that I would come back again later that day, and then our CNO would come the next day, and we’d continue to care for this dog while the patient was in the hospital. Fortunately, he was cleared to leave later that evening.

It was so simple, yet so far out of the norm of what I think people consider part of hospital care. But his support system was that dog—he didn’t have anybody else. The importance of that dog to him was a barrier to his getting the care he needed, and we needed to look at how could we fix that.

We had another patient who’d been with us for six months and at Christmastime was asked what he wanted and all he wanted was a haircut. We got a volunteer stylist and created a salon and surprised him with his Christmas wish. He literally cried. He couldn’t believe that we cared enough to make that happen for him.

Nurses are just like that, we see a problem and we figure it out. We just do what needs to be done.

CREATING LASTING MEMORIES

Alexandra Page, Neonatal Nurse, Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

Working with babies is super special for me. They’re so resilient. I look at it like I’m caring for one of my own babies. Their parents are going through so much that it’s hard for them to even take a break for a minute, so you’re providing care and comfort to them, as well. You’re not just caring for the baby; you’re caring for the whole family.

I have always loved crafting and doing anything to make a memory. These parents are just fighting for their babies. They forget or shouldn’t even have to think about documenting anything. As nurses, we can create a memory for them. I always loved photos, and I just thought if I see a special moment happening, I’d try to capture that for them. That’s what really started me wanting to offer photography for parents.

When I experienced my first loss [on the job], we took pictures for the family. That started the passion toward bereavement photography—trying to offer these parents something that they can take with them and hold onto when they can’t take their babies home.

But I also wanted to give them a sense of fun and normalcy. I’ve heard parents say, “I never got newborn pictures because we spent the first six months in the hospital.” So I want to give them that time to just have fun and to capture the little positive milestones if the babies are in the hospital and they’re in the process of getting better.

With bereavement pictures, I meet with [parents] and talk to them about their baby, and then I usually take pictures of the baby with them in the room, or I take the baby and take pictures privately. If they feel comfortable, I bring the baby in and do family pictures with them, as well. I did a session where I had taken pictures of the baby when she was born and she was doing really well, and gave the parents those pictures, and then she had a really bad day and was going to be taken off life support. The parents called me to come in, and I photographed that process—them saying goodbye. That was a really sad experience, but it gave them a concrete memory they could hold on to.

There was a baby I spent four hours with—just me and her family. Four nurses came in and helped me move her to a private room. We took a ton of pictures, and we spent time with her older brother. Her parents got to hold her and just be with her, and that was really special. She ended up passing a few days later, and her family had two big photo albums of every picture I took printed out at her service.

Nurses go through a lot of stressful, hard days, and even if it’s more work for me, I still feel like it’s also a healing process for me, giving these parents this gift. They email me afterwards and say, “I look at these pictures every day.”

In nursing, that’s all we want to do is comfort our patients and make sure they are feeling better. If these pictures make them feel better, it makes me feel better, as well.

CARING FOR THE OVERLOOKED

Shannon Tieman, Psychiatric and Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, BrightWell Health

I wanted to be a nurse my entire life. My father died of esophageal cancer when I was about two years old, and that introduced me to medicine. What drew me to addiction and mental health was seeing the need, the devastation, and the lack of treatment for these patients.

I worked in primary care for a number of years as a nurse practitioner, and I saw mental health and addiction in the clinic all day long. I’m drawn to patients who have a greater degree of illness. It is something that motivates me as they need the most help.

On any given day I see between 12 to 28 patients. It’s [what’s called] a low-barrier to care clinic, so we really don’t refuse anyone. Most of these patients have complex needs. It’s a vulnerable patient population, so they don’t have phones, there’s a lot of abuse, domestic violence, a lot of poor self-sufficiency skills. A lot of them are unemployed. A lot of them don’t have anybody but us to support them.

When I first started working here, we had a ton of patients who were on high-dose chronic benzodiazepines [a controlled substance medication often used to treat anxiety and seizures] from prescribers who no longer filled those prescriptions. And they can’t stop these medications, because benzodiazepines cause withdrawal and people can die from them. It’s really an epidemic; 68 million people are on chronic benzodiazepines, and most prescribers don’t know how to get them off. If you say you won’t fill the prescription, they go to the streets, and then they die with fentanyl use.

Some of these patients have been ruined by these medications. They’ve been on them since they were 25 years old, and are now 58. I really had no choice but to figure out what we could do to support them.

So I took them on as patients, and I worked to figure out an approach that could work while keeping them safe. BEST STEPS—Benzodiazepine Engagement and Safer Transition, Staged Tapering, Empower Patients, Success—is a protocol to wean people off. We’ve weaned about 70 percent of our patients. Patients who have felt helpless are starting to feel like they have control of their life back.

I’m happy to share this protocol. We’ve been talking about it at conferences, at events. I want people to know that they have options, that we don’t need to just dissolve from this benzo crisis.

What drives me is the patients. When I think about them and their struggles, that’s the thing that makes me work harder, that makes me want to help more. I absolutely love what I do, and it doesn’t burn me out. The patients are the reason why I’m here. They’re the reason why I’ve done all I’ve done. On my worst days, they bring me up.

COMPASSIONATE LISTENING

Brooke Harmon, Emergency Department, LifeBridge Health Sinai

My twin sister and I were the patients when we were younger, and all I can remember from those not-so-great times of our lives is the nursing staff who helped us. They would bend over backward to make sure we were getting the best care that we needed, and from a young age I realized that’s the career that I wanted. I strive to help other people, and that’s why I went into nursing.

When you work in the emergency department, you are usually seeing people on their worst day. They’re nervous, they’re scared, they don’t know what’s going on, or you have a chronic patient who is consistently in the ER due to health concerns.

What I try to do as a nurse is to make those individuals as comfortable as possible. Being able to care for patients who have positive outcomes makes me feel great as a nurse, to be a part of a care team to help make that person’s day and their hospital stay better.

But when you work in the emergency department, there are not always positive outcomes. We had a patient come in rather unexpectedly and the individual was not much older than me—it was not a positive outcome. When it came to the postmortem care and the wife came back to view her husband, all I could think of was that I could be in her shoes. I’m a mother. I have two very young kids. She has four very young kids who now have lost their father, and this is going to be a very big navigation change. So, in my head, I know for myself, I would need extra support in this time, in this transition, because it’s going to be a very long road ahead.

I wanted to make sure I was that person for her. She was obviously distraught, which comes with the territory of trauma nursing care. But when I saw her, I saw that I needed to be a support. And all she wanted to do was talk. So, we shared life stories about the patient. Sometimes listening is what these patients need, taking the time to just have that conversation goes a long way. And I was just sitting there actively listening. She was extremely grateful for that.

I would say probably 95 percent of individuals get into nursing because they want to be that person for other people. They want to help people in the times of their lives when they really need help the most.

* Interviews were edited for length and clarity.

Nursing has existed for centuries and can trace its roots back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. Florence Nightingale put a face on “modern” nursing in the 19th century, and the rise of antibiotics and formal education tracks—not to mention two world wars—shaped it in the 20th century. Even as nursing has evolved from its herbalism roots to a multi-faceted and highly respected career, an extraordinary commitment to the care of patients has remained consistent.

That is certainly the case for the 157 nurses recognized on this year’s list.

Year over year, we compile the Excellence in Nursing list from nominations submitted by nurse managers, colleagues—even members of the general public. The nomination form is comprehensive, asking for detailed evidence of what makes this particular nurse outstanding. And year over year, the nurse advisory panel responsible for selecting our winners (in this case, from nearly 600 nominations) says the same thing: It was so hard to choose; these are all such amazing nurses.

This year, we decided to delve deeper into the remarkable stories of some of our winning nurses. In our feature, “Beyond the Call,” we speak with four nurses who, in their own words, share just a few of the stories of how they’ve gone above and beyond what is asked of them in their daily round to ensure the safety and comfort of both patients and their loved ones. Read the full piece, here.

Amy Alsante, DNP, RN, NE-BC, CHEP, LSSGB, is the chief nursing officer at Sunburst Workforce Advisors with over a decade of progressive leadership in acute and ambulatory care. Alsante holds a BSN from Towson University, an MS from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a doctorate in Executive Leadership from The George Washington University.

Linda K. Cook, PHD, is an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, where she teaches across all levels of nursing education. She has been a registered nurse for 48 years and is passionate about nursing. Her primary clinical background is critical care nursing.

Julia Irwin has been a nurse for 17 years, all at Mercy Medical Center on the Inpatient Oncology Unit. She was on the Clinical Ladder completing projects on medication reconciliation and group peer review. For the last seven years she’s been the clinical nurse manager and has enjoyed growing and supporting her staff. She’s a member of ONS and ANA.

Kara Ward, MSN, RN, CPN, serves as the director of clinical services at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, bringing nearly 20 years of nursing experience to her role. Throughout her career, she has specialized in pediatric and women’s health nursing, with a professional trajectory that includes roles as a bedside nurse, nurse educator, and clinical leader.

Carlene Mello is the nurse manager of a med/surg telemetry unit at GBMC. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees through the University of Phoenix and was a 2016 recipient of Baltimore’s Excellence in Nursing award.

Dorhonja Nichols, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, is a nursing leader with extensive experience advancing quality and safety across complex care environments within a large academic health system and currently serves as director of Nursing for Critical Care and Behavioral Health Services at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. She is an American Hospital Association Next Generations Leadership Fellow Graduate.

Sarah Porter is a director of nursing programs at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she is responsible for assisting the vice president of nursing with coordination of executive priorities and implementation of operational and strategic objectives.

Kaylene Ross works per diem in peri-op services at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital, ensuring high-quality, safe patient care to surgical patients. Her more than 50 years of nursing experience include open heart surgery, pediatrics, labor and delivery, education, general and orthopedic surgery, ICU, and nursing leadership.

ACUTE CARE/FAMILY PRACTICE/GENERAL MEDICINE

SURYAMOL CHACKO
Family Nurse Practitioner, MedStar Health

JOOYOUNG LEE
AP II, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

JOEY LEE
Diabetes Educator, UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center

BRITTANY SOEUN
Clinical Nurse II, MedStar Health

SEAN SQUIRES
Director of Nursing Operations, Kaiser Permanente

ACUTE REHABILITATION

ILANA TUCHMAN
Nurse Manager, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

ADMINISTRATION

CLAIRE CAFIRMA
Director of Perioperative, Endoscopy, and Interventional Radiology Nursing Services, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

MARGARET (MEGAN) LYNN
Director of Nursing, University of Maryland Access Center University of Maryland Medical System

BRAIN HEALTH

SIDONIE LUSANGA
Assistant Nurse Manager LifeBridge Health, Levindale

ANABELLE MAQUILING
RN, Charge Nurse LifeBridge Health, Levindale

CARDIOVASCULAR

DORIS (DEE) HICKMAN
Staff Nurse II, MedStar Health

KATHERINE NEHRBASS
Senior Clinical Nurse, UM St. Joseph Medical Center

Kendra Coles

Director of Nursing, Women’s and Children’s Services
UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center

“There is something truly special about women’s and children’s health—supporting the arrival of new life while ensuring children have a strong and healthy start. In the midst of today’s maternal health crisis, it is essential that we continue working to improve outcomes for women and infants while addressing disparities that exist across racial and socioeconomic groups.

“My leadership in the pediatric space also gives me the opportunity to invest in the health of the next generation. The care we provide to children today has a lasting impact on the overall health of our communities tomorrow.”

CASE MANAGEMENT

KRISTIN KREMER
Registered Nurse Care Manager, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

KRISTINE MAULDIN
Senior Nurse Care Manager, Kennedy Krieger Institute

SHANA ROBERTSON
Nurse Case Manager, UM Upper Chesapeake Health

LISA WETZELBERGER
Nurse Care Manager. Kennedy Krieger Institute

JACQUI WIENECKE
System Director.  Utilization Management-Maryland Region MedStar Health

COMMUNITY CARE/ AMBULATORY CARE

TIFFANY VICKERS
Nurse Manager, Kaiser Permanente

STEFANIE WIDNER
RN, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians

COORDINATION OF MEDICAL CARE/TFC

BARB OBST
Nurse Coordinator, Kennedy Krieger Institute

EDUCATOR

JEANIE ANASTASI
Clinical Simulation Lead Educator, Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Nursing

SHELBY CAHILL
Nursing and Professional Development Specialist, Johns Hopkins Health System

EMILY CIMIRRO
Education Specialist, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

KELLY DORAN
Associate Professor, UM Baltimore Community Engagement Center

JACKQUELINE EASLEY
Nurse Educator, VA Maryland Healthcare System

JOSIE GORMAN
Professional Development, Specialist MedStar Health

HELEN HART
Nurse Educator, VA Maryland Health Care System

MICHELLE HOPSON
Clinical Program Manager, Nurse Residency Program, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

BARBARA SMITH
Nurse Coordinator LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Brooke Harmon

Emergency Department
Lifebridge Health, Sinai

“Nursing is an ever-growing field. We’re always learning. We’re always trying to do better and trying to do the best for our patients, and especially in the Emergency Department, to assist individuals who need help who aren’t the patient, to make sure the family is comfortable and supported, as well.”

Read more about Harmon, here. 

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

EVELYN ALVARADO
RN, Mercy Medical Center

ANNIE BELIN
RN, LifeBridge Health, Grace Medical Center

IAN BERNARD
RN, LifeBridge Health, Grace Medical Center

TONYA BETHEL
Nurse Manager. LifeBridge Health, Grace Medical Center

BOBBY BINKO
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

CASEY DAVIS
Pediatric CUC Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital

BROOKE HARMON
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

LUKE HARNED
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

JOSHUA KIM
RN, Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital

TRISHA KIREJCZYK
RN II, MedStar Health

MARY KONOPACKI
RN, BSN, Mercy Medical Center

DEANA KRUG
Clinical Nurse, MedStar Health

ARIEL LEONE
Nurse Manager, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

RUBY LIN
Assistant Nurse Manager, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

BRITTANY LOOKINGBILL
RN, LifeBridge Health, Carroll Hospital

IMANI MULZAC
RN, LifeBridge Health, Grace Medical Center

EMMA PELLER
Clinical Nurse, MedStar Health

NENA TAVEIRA DA SILVA
Assistant Director of Nursing, MedStar Health

PETER TINUOYE
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

REBECCA WILLINGER
Clinical Coach, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Fernando “Tony” Johnson

Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
Medstar Harbor Hospital

“I was drawn to nursing a very long time ago. I was trained as a special forces (green beret) medic in the United States Army. What I love about the PACU is the fluidity of the environment. The patients who I see come directly to the recovery room after a surgical procedure. Their condition can be anything from conscious and stable to unconscious and sometimes requiring considerable support and interventions. There’s never a dull moment.”

EMPLOYEE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

CARRIE MONE
Occupational Health Nurse RN, BSN, University of Maryland Medical System

HOSPICE/HOME HEALTH/PALLIATIVE CARE

JENNIFER BROTHERTON
Case Manger, Johns Hopkins Care at Home

ASHLEY ENGLISH
RN Homecare, Clinical Lead, MedStar Health

MARJORIE SIMPSON
Inpatient Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, LifeBridge Health, Carroll Hospital

ICU STEPDOWN, INTERMEDIATE CARE

ADEYINKA (JESSICA) ADEDEJI
RN, UM R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

ICU STEPDOWN, VASCULAR ACCESS

JOHN JOSEPH DE GUZMAN FACUNDO
Clinical Nurse IV, Charge Nurse, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

INFECTION CONTROL

TONGELA RUSSOE
RN, Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital

INTENSIVE CARE

RICHARD ALVERO
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

BROOKE ANDERSEN
Director of Advanced Practice Education, CRNP, UM R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

ZACHARY BENSLEY
Assistant Nurse Manager, UM R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

LINDA BROOKS
Senior Clinical Nurse II University of Maryland Medical Center

RYAN DE TORRES
Clinical Ladder Registered Nurse IV, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

JENNIFER WHITCOMB
RN, Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital

KATIE WICKLEIN
Clinical Nurse Expert, LifeBridge Health, Northwest Hospital

SAMANTHA YOUNG
Clinical Nurse Specialist, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY

CHERRY JUAKAY
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

KATIE KALMANOVICH
RN II, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

BRITTANI REID
RN, Mercy Medical Center

CHRISTINE TAN
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Ethan Bryant

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
The Johns Hopkins Hospital

“Successful nurses are compassionate, adaptable, and strong communicators. Critical thinking is essential, especially in high-acuity environments like the PICU, where situations can change quickly. A willingness to continue learning and growing professionally also helps nurses remain effective and resilient throughout their careers. Equally important is teamwork—no one provides care alone in healthcare.”

LABOR AND DELIVERY

GIGI CATLIN
Clinical Nurse II, UM St. Joseph Medical Center

MANAGEMENT/NURSE EXECUTIVES

ATINUKE AWOSIKA
Nurse Executive, LifeBridge Health, Levindale

MARIVIC BACWADEN
Assistant Director of Nursing, MedStar Health

BARBARA BOSAH
Nurse Manager, University of Maryland Medical Center

RAILENE BROSEGHINI
Nurse Manager Mercy Medical Center

JESSICA BRUZDZINSKI
Assistant Nurse Manager, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

ETHAN BRYANT
Assistant Nurse Manager, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

KENDRA COLES
Director of Nursing, Women’s and Children’s, UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center

ELIZABETH DIPIETRO
Assistant Vice President of Inpatient Nursing, Kennedy Krieger Institute

CHRISTA FEOLA
Sr. Director of Nursing, MedStar Health

ROSINA GONZALES
Manager of Accreditation and Certifications, UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center

NADINE HENRY THOMAS
Director Nursing MedStar Health

JEAN JAUREGUI
Director of Nursing, Critical Care and Behavioral Health, UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center

AMANDA SHROUT
Vice President of Patient Care Services, Chief Nursing Officer, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital, Grace Medical Center

MARIE LILETTE “MILETTE” SORIANO
Nurse Manager LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

ARIEL WOODWARD
Director of Nursing, Disease Specific Programs MedStar Health

ASHLEY YOUSEFIAN
Director of Quality Improvement, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSING

JOJO ABRENICA
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

AMELITA BAGAY
RN, MedStar Health

FUNMI BALOGUN
RN, MedStar Health

RAJHEA BENNETT
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

ASHIYA CARTWRIGHT
RN, MedStar Health

PERLITA CHIN
RN, MedStar Health

LAURA CHOWDHRY
Clinical Nurse III, Mercy Medical Center

JULIE COSIMANO
Nurse Navigator, MedStar Health

GRETCHEN DARROCA
RN IV, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

BRITNEY HUFHAM
RN II, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

KYA JOHNSON
RN, Mercy Medical Center

RASHIDAT LARSAH
RN, UM Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Institute

KAREN MUNOZ
Clinical Nurse University of Maryland Medical Center

OLIVIA RANKIN
RN III, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

JOANNA SANCHEZ
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

ROSELYN SEBASTIAN
Nurse Manager LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

SOPHIA SKELLY
RN, MedStar Health

NEUROLOGY/ PSYCHOLOGY/ BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

MERLE AMPARO
Lead Clinical Nurse, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

NICOLE GOFF
Comprehensive Stroke Nurse Navigator MedStar Health

CHRISTA PAGE
RN II, MedStar Health

LENA SUTCH
Stroke Program Coordinator, UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center

ONCOLOGY

ERNEST LAURENCE CABAÑAS
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

CIARA MCHUGH
Nurse Manager, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

SYDNEE SAPACK
Clinical Nurse II, Mercy Medical Center

MEGAN SCHOLLENBERGER
Senior Nurse Practitioner, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

MEGAN SCHWARTZ
Nurse Manager, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

SONJA VOZNIAK
Nurse Manager, Apheresis/HATS, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

ALEDA WALTERS
Oncology Clinical Educator, Ascension Saint Agnes Cancer Institute

MAYA WASHINGTON
Clinical Nurse II, Mercy Medical Center

MONICA WILT
Clinical Program Director, Johns Hopkins Health System

OPERATING ROOM

STEVEN ADAMS
Nurse Manager, Sterile Processing Department, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

ANNET ADEGBOYEGA
Clinical Outcomes Specialist, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

SHEILA ANGOBUNG
Vascular Surgery Coordinator, University of Maryland Vascular Surgery

RACHEL HELLMANN
Nurse Manager, General Operating Room and Surgical Posting, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

LAUREN MASSER
Clincial Nurse II, Mercy Medical Center

MARY FRANCES MONTE
Clinical Nurse II, Mercy Medical Center

SILVANA WILLOUGHBY
Clinical Program Manager and Education Specialist, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Alexandra Page

Neonatal Nurse
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

“With neonatal babies, I always look at it like I’m caring for one of my own babies. And their parents are going through so much that it’s hard for them to even take a break for a minute, so you’re providing care and comfort to them, as well.”

Read more about Page, here. 

ORTHOPEDICS

NORIS GALEDO
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

TROY HERAMIA
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

NEYSA OLID
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

PEDIATRICS: NEONATAL

OLIVIA HALABY
RN, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

ZOE OGDEN
RN II, Greater Baltimore Medical Center

ALEXANDRA PAGE
RN, Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

ALLISON SCHMIDT
Clinical Outcomes Specialist, LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

PEDIATRICS: NON-NEONATAL

LIANE BRUTON
RN, Mercy Medical Center

CAPUCINE DINGLE
RN, Kennedy Krieger Institute

TINA HUMBEL
Nurse Manager University of Maryland, Golisano Children’s Hospital

LAURA MCNABB
Nurse Coordinator, Kennedy Krieger Institute

LISA SHOEMAKER
Nurse Manager, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

PERIANESTHESIA

SANDY RAMOS
Perianesthesia, Nurse Educator, Mercy Medical Center

ALEXANDRA TALBOTT
Clinical Nurse II, Mercy Medical Center

POST ANESTHESIA UNIT

FERNANDO (TONY) JOHNSON
Clinical Nurse, MedStar Health

PREADMISSION TESTING

TANJA GROSS
RN, Mercy Medical Center

PSYCHIATRIC

SURYAMOL CHACKO
DNP, FNP-C, PMHNP-C MedStar Health

SHARON CARROLL
Nurse Practitioner, Sheppard Pratt

CATHY FIELD
School Nurse, Sheppard Pratt

LISA HOFFMANN
Nurse Pracitioner, Sheppard Pratt

ALLYSON KEMP
Nurse Pracitioner, Sheppard Pratt

GELILA RETTA
Nurse Practitioner, Sheppard Pratt

LAURA STARTZMAN
Sr. ECT Nurse, Sheppard Pratt

SHANNON TIEMAN
Lead, Co-occurring Behavioral Health, BrightWell Health

REHABILITATION

STACY GUERIN
Director of Nursing, UM Rehabilitation & Orthopedic Institute

RESEARCH

MARIK MOEN
Associate Professor, UM Addiction Treatment Programs

SCHOOL NURSE

GAIL HALL
School Nurse, Baltimore County Public Schools

MARY KONOPACKI
RN, BSN, St. Joseph School-Fullerton

TRANSPLANT

MARY JOHNSON
Post Lung Transplant RN, University of Maryland Heart and Lung Transplant

TRAUMA

KAREN MCQUILLAN
Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist, UM R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

WOMEN’S HEALTH

MELISSA JOHNSON
Director of Nursing, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

MEGHAN MINOR
Senior Clinical Nurse II, UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center

JULIE PLESCIA
Nurse Educator, Mercy Medical Center

STEPHANIE WILLIAMS
Nurse Navigator, Ascension Saint Agnes Breast Center

WOUND CARE

JESSICA SIMKINS
RN, BSN, WCC UM Upper Chesapeake Health

After a long, cold, snowy winter, things at Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy were looking good. Despite the “snow-ment” that coated the region for weeks, the vines had survived. Then, a perfect storm arrived.

An unseasonably warm spring, including several consecutive days in April with temperatures in the 90s, pushed the bud-break four weeks earlier than usual. Days later, April 21-22, an unprecedented and sustained frost—with temperatures reaching the low 20s for more than six hours—decimated those tender shoots.

“The leaves look like someone took a torch to them,” says Emma Pope, communications manager for the vineyard, which lost 100 percent of its bud-break in that one night.

It’s a devastating loss that can be seen across Maryland’s wineries. Such cold temperatures over a prolonged period of time thwarted the mediation attempts typically employed with a normal late-season frost. As one of the few vineyards in Maryland that is entirely estate produced—meaning they do not purchase grapes from anywhere off the vineyard—it’s particularly hard on Black Ankle. It’s likely that the entire 2026 vintage has been lost. Even if the vines put out new shoots and fruit, it will be smaller. And, ironically, it will ripen later in the fall, when fear of frost will again be an issue.

“We’re choosing to move forward with optimism,” says Pope, adding that the vineyard will fall back on its wine reserves to honor its commitments to wine club members and tasting room visitors. “We will likely cut our wholesale—sales to local wine shops and restaurants—to keep inventory. And our hope is we won’t have to buy outside fruit.”

In a statement, the Maryland Department of Agriculture called the April 21-22 event, “One the most significant crop losses in recent memory due to a late-spring frost,” particularly for the state’s wineries.

While the blame is falling on the frost, Pope explains it was the extreme heat that was really the problem.

“What set this apart was that bud-break was so early due to the extreme warm weather—everything was in grow mode,” she explains. “Usually when we have a late-season frost you will see some loss off the early-ripening vines, but we typically won’t have seen bud-break across the entire vineyard. That was what devastated us.”

Ava Marie, meteorologist with Baltimore’s media partner, WBAL-TV, says that many plants across Maryland got caught by a “false start” to the growing season.

“Despite the colder than normal winter, spring has been running several degrees above normal, triggering earlier-than-normal plant growth,” she says, adding that, “the recent cold snap in April was extreme, even by Maryland standards. On April 21, BWI Airport measured a low of 30 degrees, while areas to the north dipped into the 20s. Looking back at the records, that’s the coldest our area has been this late in the year in 70 years.”

Marie adds that longstanding drought conditions may have amplified the frost’s impact, as dry ground heats up faster during the day but also loses heat more quickly at night.

At Baugher’s Orchards & Farms in Westminster, which is a popular destination for pick-your-own fruits throughout the growing season, the damage is still being assessed. Dottie Dunn, who manages sales and purchasing at the farm, says they’ll know more in a few weeks when fruits form, but they’ll likely have less product with the same amount of labor.

“The results for our farm are less crops to pick and sell, and less crops for our customers who like to pick their own cherries, peaches, and apples,” says Dunn. “We still have to perform the routine orchard maintenance required to keep trees in good health, even if there is not much fruit on the trees.”

Two Boots Farm in Hampstead is known for its cut flowers, but they also have a significant pawpaw orchard. Owner Elisa Lane says they are still assessing the damage, but the morning after the frost, all the pawpaw flowers appeared dead. If the crop doesn’t survive, or is smaller than usual, it will mean, conservatively, a five-figure loss to the farm’s bottom line. They also lost all their spirea, a flowering shrub sold to wholesale florists and used in bouquets sold at farmers markets.

“Everything was going great,” says Lane, “but then we had the heat wave and all the crops were at least a week ahead of where they usually are.”

In the extreme heat, staff brought out shade cloth to try to preserve tender spring flowers. A week later, the shade cloth was off and staff were putting out row covers to protect plants from the frost.

Chasing after mercurial weather has become the norm at Two Boots. “This is what scientists have told us, that this is the direction weather is going, with more unpredictability and extreme weather events,” says Lane.

With cooler nighttime temperatures predicted this weekend, staff are once again pulling out the row covers to protect tender plants.

“Early spring warm-ups are becoming more common with a warming climate,” says Marie, “which puts plants in a vulnerable position, since the frost window in Maryland still extends into May.”

This is what concerns Pope. “We can deal with one bad season—the greater concern is will we be seeing this more often as weather changes get more frequent?”

Lane says it’s fortunate that her operation, which includes early-season plant sales and a variety of seasonal flowers, is diversified. If they were exclusively a pawpaw farm, the frost would have been catastrophic.

For Maryland’s vineyards, there is little recourse but to wait on Mother Nature and see what can be recovered. For many small operations, crop insurance can be too complicated and cost-prohibitive to manage. At Baugher’s, Dunn says there isn’t insurance for a killing frost, only hail damage. And Pope explains that insurance is generally for vine death. As the vines at Black Ankle are technically still alive (just not producing), insurance would likely not help.

For those who want to help farmers in need, the advice is simple: buy local. Lane encourages locals to come out to events like this weekend’s Flower Mart and Cylburn Arboretum’s upcoming Market Day and buy whatever vendors have to sell. She also suggests joining a CSA, or buying gift cards from farms that maybe don’t have product today, but will in the future and could use the cash flow now.

Dunn says farms appreciate when customers “accept some imperfect fruit and vegetables. As nature has it, not everything grows perfectly, and if we can’t sell the imperfect, it drives up the cost of what we can sell.”

“Buy local wines,” implores Pope, adding that the support from the community in the wake of the frost has been overwhelming. “It doesn’t even need to be ours—buy Maryland wines, Virginia wines, East Coast wines in general. There is this whole ‘buy local’ movement, but it often doesn’t translate to wines because people don’t think of it as an agricultural product. But, at its core, wine is a product from a farm, from farmers.”

When Susan and Jim King moved to their Owings Mills home three years ago, they knew they wanted to do something special with their two-acre property. They shared an interest in native plants and supporting pollinators, but the property they bought featured little of either.

“Most distressing was the first summer,” Jim remembers. “If you ever saw a butterfly, it was crossing over our property—there was nothing to attract it to stay here. My benchmark for seeing if what we were doing was having an impact was to see if we could change that.”

What they were doing was pulling out invasive plants and planting hundreds of native perennials, trees, and shrubs. They installed raingardens and swales to mitigate water runoff and added a small pond for habitat and to provide water for wildlife. Rather than cut down dead trees, they kept the snags—upright old trees left to decompose naturally—for birds. Jim planted a small meadow near their driveway, too. All this, in a typical suburban neighborhood.

“Especially now that we’re older, we wanted to give back,” Susan explains. “We didn’t want a garden just for the sake of it being pretty.”

The Kings could have gardened quietly, but they were aware of the Bay-Wise program overseen by the state’s extension service, which provides educational resources about the environment. Begun in the 1990s as a means of educating residential gardeners about the impact of harmful landscape practices on the Chesapeake Bay, Bay-Wise offers a checklist of sustainable methods anyone can apply to their yard, be it a tiny square of grass in the city or a large property in the county.

It’s an important reminder that no matter if you’re pulling weeds in Essex or putting chemicals on a lawn in Parkton, most Marylanders live within a half mile of a storm drain, stream, or river, and all we do impacts the Bay.

While one can simply use the checklist as a means to improve a yard’s environmental footprint, gardeners can submit to have their property evaluated by a Master Gardener and certified as Bay-Wise. The program isn’t limited to homeowners and renters; retirement communities and businesses have been certified; the Owings Mills campus of Maryland Public Television is certified Bay-Wise. The program is completely free.

Along with certification comes a small, blue-gray sign to place in the yard. Like the cake-stand trophy from The Great British Bake-off fame, the sign is much-coveted and its own reward.

“Certification is the ultimate goal, but it is more important to learn about these concepts,” says Leslie Erickson, co-lead of Bay-Wise for Baltimore County. The checklist (formally called the “Living Landscapes Metric”) focuses on eight keystone habits, such as recycling kitchen and yard waste on-site, mitigating stormwater runoff, shrinking lawn, and protecting pollinators. There’s emphasis on responsibly removing invasive species and growing native plants.

No matter if you’re pulling weeds in Essex or putting chemicals on a lawn in Parkton, most Marylanders live within a half mile of a storm drain, stream, or river, and all we do impacts the Bay.

By the time most gardeners find Bay-Wise, they are often well on their way to having an environmentally friendly landscape, being a sustainable bunch by nature. But evaluation can be intimidating. The program’s co-lead, Pamela Moss, says when applicants know a Master Gardener is coming to see the yard, they are often worried that everything isn’t picture perfect.

“But there’s a big difference between a property you’d see on the cover of Home & Garden and a sustainable, lush garden with beds full of natives and insects,” she explains. “This isn’t about being photo-ready, it’s about sustainability.”

That does not mean you can’t have both. Too often, people hear “native” landscape and think “messy.” Not so, says Bay-Wise certification holder Paul Dongarra, who lives in Catonsville’s historic district. He set about making his backyard more of an “outdoor room” in 2019, while also mitigating an issue with runoff that made parts of the yard swampy.

“I saw this as an opportunity to not just pump the water back to the street, but to retain it here and improve water resilience and set an example for the neighborhood,” he says.

Dongarra installed a large raingarden and surrounded it with an impressive native meadow. While he loves that it attracts goldfinches and butterflies, he most enjoys watching kids in the neighborhood stop to point out and enjoy all that’s living in the landscape.

“It’s gardening with intent,” he says. “It brings so many people in the community joy.”

Like many Bay-Wise gardeners, Dongarra was already applying sustainable practices; but certification, and that lovely little sign, offers a pat on the back and an opportunity to educate others. For example, it’s a misconception that one can’t have any non-natives. There is no punishment for having peonies.

“I have a lot of plants [planted by previous owners] that aren’t native—you don’t lose points for that, but you do get points for what else is there,” he explains.

When Gavon Peck and his husband bought their home in the Westgate neighborhood in southwest Baltimore, the tiny yard was nothing but grass. They also had water runoff problems. A swale mitigated that and much of the grass is gone, covered in natives. He is in the process of replanting the hellstrip (that bit of sad grass between the roadside curb and the sidewalk) with more perennials.

Peck encourages people to step away from the predictability of lawns. Perennial plants and shrubs provide so much more for kids and adults—and of course, the neighborhood dogs to explore, things that don’t exist in a grass monoculture.

“It’s so beautiful to have plants instead of grass—these are the yards people notice; but of course, that alone won’t get people to change,” he explains. “But what people don’t understand is grass takes a lot of maintenance. Mowing the lawn is no small feat. When you plant with natives…it really is easier than grass.”

Since being certified, Peck feels more comfortable speaking out about sustainability. “People were already asking me about what’s going on in the yard but [the Bay-Wise sign] is a conversation starter and certification made me feel more qualified to speak to the program and sustainable practices.”

Encouraging others to learn about Bay-Wise practices is why the Kings had their property certified. And it’s worked. When they sent neighbors an email about the tree of heaven, an invasive species, taking root in the community, several agreed to cut them down. But the real question was: Did it pass the butterfly test? Indeed, in addition to the frogs that have moved into the pond and an owl now living in one of the snags, the butterflies are so prolific, the Kings have been able to capture monarch eggs in their meadow, raise, and release them.

According to Jim, “The change has been dramatic.”

Wonder How Bay-Wise You Might Be?

Here are a few things to check off your landscape list:

• Create an outdoor compost pile for kitchen and yard waste
• Install rain barrels—water non-edible plants with rainwater (stored water isn’t potable)
• Plant native trees, shrubs, and flowers
• Leave leaves where they fall for habitat creation
• Mulch lightly and avoid synthetic materials like landscape fabric and dyed bark
• Make a plan to remove invasive plants
• Turn off outdoor lights at night to benefit insects and migrating birds
• Reduce the size of turfgrass lawn and always “mow high and let it lie”
• Install a raingarden to absorb stormwater
• Protect native seedlings from deer and mowers
• Plant a diversity of early-to-late-blooming plants to provide pollen
  and nectar sources
• Eliminate and/or reduce overall use of pesticides, fungicides, etc.
• Learn more or to invite a Bay-Wise leader to speak to your HOA or other community group, here.

Today, the venerable monks from Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, arrived at the State House in Annapolis, carrying their messages of national unity, compassion, and inner peace. 

Arduous distance peace walks have long been a part of certain Buddhist traditions. This particular journey, aptly named Walk for Peace, began in October and has covered 2,300 miles. Although the walk officially ended in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11, a final short walk—from Navy-Marine Corps Stadium to the State House in Annapolis—was later announced.

The monks have walked in all weather, including recent record-breaking cold, sometimes in bare feet, often with their rescue pup, Aloka. Two of the members were injured by a car accident, one so severely he had his leg amputated. Still, they walked.

Along the way they garnered innumerable followers—online and in-person—who found a balm in their humble walk and hope in their message of peace for all beings and the world.

Having been profoundly touched by following the journey on social media, the extended walk to Maryland felt like the universe sending me a message: Go. I was not the only one. Annapolis was in a state of complete gridlock as thousands crammed in the tiny state capitol. But everyone was in a joyful mood.

Then, there was a peek of saffron robes amongst the crowd as the monks finally appeared with their leader, the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara. You knew they had arrived by the silence.

An absolutely reverent quiet fell over everyone. Aside from the chirp of a police vehicle keeping the way clear, you could hear nothing but people quietly saying “thank you” and the shuffle of feet—that of the monks and the many people who fell in step behind them on their way to a final peace gathering at the State House. Once they arrived, they were welcomed by Governor Wes Moore, Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, and other elected officials.

In a time when everything and everyone seems loud and angry, to bear witness to that brief moment of respectful quiet in community with so many others clearly craving inner and outer peace was deeply moving. I was brought to tears. 

For astronaut Reid Wiseman, talking about the beauty of the earth as seen from space “is like trying to describe a dream to someone,” he says. “In my six months on the [International] Space Station [in 2014], my tiny crew of just three people on the United States side took 300,000 photos. And of that 300,000, zero were part of our job. It’s just when you look out the window, the earth is so beautiful, you can’t stop.” 

Soon, Wiseman will have a new perspective from which to view earth—from about 230,000 miles away. As the commander of NASA’s Artemis II test flight, which may launch as soon as Feb. 6, Wiseman will lead his crew on the first crewed mission to the moon in 50 years, marking a significant return to the exploration of deep space.

At maximum distance, the crew will fly approximately 4,600 miles beyond the moon before turning and returning home. When he’s experienced that view in a simulator, the earth was about the size of a golf ball. 

“It just stopped me in my tracks,” he says. “I can’t imagine what that feeling will be like. It could induce almost a panic feeling that you’re so far away. Or it could be the most awe-inspiring image you’ve ever seen in your life.”  

The success of their journey, which will go around the moon, will set the stage for the next mission to the moon’s surface and, ultimately, the creation of a sustainable human presence there. A presence that could be foundational to humans reaching Mars.

Wiseman, 50, is preparing to make a trip many dream of, yet as a kid growing up in Cockeysville, he was more enamored of trains than rockets.

His family’s home in the Springdale neighborhood abutted the Loch Raven Reservoir. Wiseman recalls a happy childhood “riding the coattails” of his older brother, hiking and biking the watershed trails, and exploring the woods. Their house was also close enough that when Wiseman heard the whistle of the trains pulling out of the quarry in Texas, near Hunt Valley, “If [my dad] was home from work, we would jump in his car and we would drive down and I would just watch the freight trains come in and out of the quarry.” 

Seeing A-10s flying from Martin State Airport sparked his interest in flying. And watching the 1986 Challenger disaster as a student at Warren Elementary was something he describes as “hugely formative.”

He graduated from Dulaney High School and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and has a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins. A veteran who has received numerous service medals, he was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy deployed in the Middle East when he was selected for astronaut training.   

It was his experience as a Navy test pilot that cemented his future in the air. He can still remember the first time a flight instructor put the controls of a plane in his hands. 

“It’s just like, when you go to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the first chair violin starts playing and it makes you cry,” he explains. “That person is gifted and we’re so fortunate that someone put a violin in their hand. Somehow, somebody put an airplane in my hands.” 

“It’s like when you go to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the first chair violin starts playing and it makes you cry. That person is gifted, and we’re so fortunate that someone put a violin in their hand. Somehow, somebody put an airplane in my hands.”

Wiseman—who currently lives in Houston, Texas, where he’s based out of the Johnson Space Center—spent six months as a flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 40/41 in 2014. So, the real pressing question is: What’s it like to be in space?  

“Immediately after launching, I felt horrible for four days,” he says. “Everything is floating inside you—we call it fluid shift.” He explains that things that would be impossible on earth—”You can move a refrigerator with your pinky”—are easy, while something as simple as eating trail mix becomes complicated. “And you never get to sit down at the end of the day on a couch and just sigh a breath of relief,” he says with a smile.  

Wiseman’s background as a test pilot makes him well-suited to the Artemis II mission. Unlike the Space Station, which has been around for long enough that it has a level of familiarity to it, Wiseman and fellow astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen (of the Canadian Space Agency) will be the first to fly the Orion spacecraft. He explains that the crew will do a tremendous amount of manual operations to ensure the craft’s systems work.

The success of their journey, which will go around the moon, will set the stage for the next mission to the moon’s surface and, ultimately, the creation of a sustainable human presence there. A presence that could be foundational to humans reaching Mars. 

He notes the many international partners who have contributed to the mission, as well as the Artemis Accords—a set of principals meant to guide civil space exploration—which have been signed by 61 nations as of January 2026.

“This is really an international effort and an international team setting the stage for what we can do as humanity going forward,” says Wiseman.

Preparation for the launch has been long and extensive. On any given day, Wiseman could be in training for the crew’s splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, in a Russian language class, or even at a hospital learning how to do basic first aid and procedures like how to run an IV. Wiseman has shared his experience through his popular mission updates on Instagram, @astro-reid. 

When the Artemis II launches, Wiseman will leave two teenage daughters on earth. While he says he has some hobbies—golf, racing go-carts—his main passion outside of space is being a dad. Wiseman’s wife, Carol, died of cancer in 2020, and he acknowledges that him going to space is “a selfish ask” of his kids.  

“There’s a very real reason that we still live in Houston,” he says. “When my wife started getting sick, I wanted to move towards family. But she said, ‘No, this is where you work and you love your job. And we should not give that up for this.’ Also, I want my kids to know that you can still achieve and go on and pick yourself up. I think when I said, “This is something that I want to go do, it’s important to me, and I think I can do a good job at this,’ they were aligned very quickly.”

Still, he says one of the hardest things about being away from his hometown is the distance from his support network, including his brother and dad (who still lives in that idyllic Cockeysville home), his friends, and his wife’s extended family.

He gets back frequently for Ravens games, high school reunions, and occasionally speaks to students at Dulaney. Mostly, he hangs out with his dad and enjoys being in nature, walking the same woods and paths he did as a kid, which he will soon be viewing from thousands of miles of away.  

It’s not a trip he takes lightly. 

“I’m most scared about what I call ‘the arrogance of humanity,’ to think that we could throw some hydrogen and oxygen in a giant tank, light it on fire, and send us to the moon,” he explains. “We’re trying to contain a tremendous amount of energy right there. And when we come back and hit first atmosphere on the way home, we hit the atmosphere at about Mach 39—39 times the speed of sound. And dissipating all of that energy to come back under parachutes alone in the water. There’s not tons of room for error there.” 

“I’m most scared about what I call ‘the arrogance of humanity,’ to think that we could throw some hydrogen and oxygen in a giant tank, light it on fire, and send us to the moon.”

But for someone who has several thousand personal photos of the earth from outer space in his family albums, it is worth it to advance the international partnership of scientific exploration—and, most importantly, to share the experience with his team.  

“Jeremy [Hansen] has never flown in space; I cannot wait to hear his gasp when he sees earth for the first time and sees how beautiful it is,” he says. 

“Then the image in my mind that I most want to see is Christina or Victor, or both of them, looking out the windows and the only thing illuminating their faces is the glow of the moon as we’re going around the far side of the moon. And just knowing that they will view the moon differently than I’ll view the moon. And differently than you would view the moon. I just want to be there to watch their reaction as they look out the window at that view, because it will be very special.” 

A snowstorm can bring out the worst in people: The Lord of the Flies-level competition for milk and toilet paper, the neighbor who guards his lawn-chaired parking space like it’s the last stand at the Alamo. But it also brings out the best in people—and Baltimore has been a shining example of that this week.

Nothing says “community” quite like the shared misery of shoveling. The day after the storm, I shouldered my shovel in order to remove the massive hump of snow the municipal plow had dumped at the bottom of my driveway.

With frigid overnight temperatures, it had frozen into a solid glacier. I had given up on the snow shovel and started to attack it with a metal garden spade when a police officer driving by slowed, stopped, and hopped out.

“Need a hand?” he asked. He proceeded to cleave the icy cinderblocks up off the pavement for me. Then a passing guy in a pickup with a plow offered to push the rapidly growing pile of ice chunks off into the curb. We shook hands and everyone went on their way.

At a time when things have been feeling very dark, this brief exchange of common decency with strangers restored my faith in humanity.

At a time when things have been feeling very dark, this brief exchange of common decency with strangers restored my faith in humanity.

And I’m not alone. Our editor in chief, Max Weiss, leapt at the offer when “a guy named Ben” offered on her neighborhood listserv to shovel snow for anyone in need. As agreed via text message, he showed up and after two hours had the car, walkway, and sidewalk cleared.

“I texted him again: What was the charge? Did he take Venmo? PayPal? Zelle?,” she recounts. “He said, no charge. ‘I’m happy to help out neighbors and make sure people can get around safely.’ Going forward, I’m going to aspire to be more like Ben.”

Social media has been blowing up with people sharing similar small acts of goodwill. Like a member of the Hampden Neighbors Facebook page who shared her gratitude to whoever had cleared her sidewalk. “Knowing that I have one less round of shoveling nearly moved me to tears,” she posted.

Millie Powell, manager at the Fells Point restaurant The Wren, shared in her Instagram Stories how neighbors she’d never met before spent an hour helping her dig out her car. “It’s these tiny little moments of human connection and community that I’m holding onto so closely right now,” she posted. “We need each other more than ever.”

“It’s these tiny little moments of human connection and community that I’m holding onto so closely right now. We need each other more than ever.”

Jumping on the good vibes, Winter Storm Fern prompted Mayor Brandon Scott to launch an impromptu pilot program, Baltimore Snow Corps. Operated through 311, the “neighbor-to-neighbor” snow assistance operation connects those who need help shoveling—the elderly and disabled, for example—with able-bodied community members (both youth and adults) willing to help. The city also kept eight garages open for free parking through 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28 to keep emergency routes clear and alleviate snow-inundated parking woes.

It’s bitter out there this winter, and we aren’t just talking about the weather, so it’s heartwarming to know that the charm in Charm City is alive and well in Baltimore communities.

And if you’re reading this Officer Jeff: thanks a million.

A few-days-old fertilized oyster larva is no bigger than a speck of dust. But under a high-powered microscope, a fully formed mollusk is visible, complete with a teeny tiny shell and miniscule “foot” that, when ready, will attach itself to the oyster’s forever home.

In the wild, oyster larvae are vulnerable to the countless whims of Mother Nature. But raise them in a man-made hatchery, with the right balance of temperature, water quality, and a gourmet diet of algae, and they will grow into tiny “seed” oysters.

Like a farmer purchasing soybean seeds for planting, healthy larvae and seed oysters are vital for watermen and aquaculturists who will plant them in the Chesapeake Bay, where they’ll be raised to fulfill their destiny on plates across America. On their way to beds of crushed ice or to be fried and tucked into po’ boy rolls, these tiny oysters will play an outsized role in water quality, habitat creation, and economic development.

For many seed oysters in the state of Maryland, that journey now begins at Ferry Cove Shellfish. It is the state’s newest, most state-of-the-art private hatchery—the only one in Maryland operating as a nonprofit. And it is poised to have a major impact on the region’s shellfish aquaculture, the process of farm-raising seafood.

In 2025, it successfully produced two billion oyster larvae from its location in the hamlet of Sherwood near St. Michaels, where the waters of Eastern Bay flow into Poplar Island Narrows. Ferry Cove’s building is nestled between a wildflower meadow and a veritable forest of native grasses, which president and CEO Stephan Abel’s dog, Petey, happily disappears into when given half a chance.

The water flowing around Poplar Island was part of the appeal of this spot, says Abel, who lives in Annapolis. He had access to 20 years’ worth of Army Corps of Engineers data from their restoration of nearby Poplar Island.

“So I knew what the water was here,” he says. Like good soil for plants, “having the right water is paramount.”

The fact that a 70-acre parcel was available there—and close enough to sizeable towns like Easton to entice a strong workforce—sealed the deal.

Much of the acreage is leased to a local crop farmer, but there’s also a weather station installed in partnership with the University of Maryland (UMD), a sea-level rise monitoring system, and an ongoing shoreline restoration project. Tanks and cages near the waterline are evidence of a facility used by the Maryland Seafood Cooperative, which supports watermen new to aquaculture.

These projects aren’t just about environmental altruism. Weather, water temperature, rising tides—it all impacts the oysters. The health of these bivalves often corresponds with the health of the Bay, and vice versa.

“We are the applied science,” says Abel. “We come at it from the industry perspective—the aquaculturist’s or waterman’s perspective—listening to what they need, working with researchers, and then developing products.”

Abel is an unlikely aquaculturist. A Philadelphia native, he grew up sailing every summer on the Chesapeake. But the extent of his oyster knowledge was that they taste good served with a wedge of lemon.

He began his career in the military, moved to the dot-com glamour of the late ’90s, then, after the boom, landed a job at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR). From there, he went to the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP), where he served as executive director for 13 years.

His tenure corresponded with the state’s creation of an Oyster Advisory Commission tasked with developing a road map for restoring the native oyster. Years of over-fishing, habitat degradation, and disease reduced Maryland’s annual oyster haul from one to three million bushels in the mid-20th century to a few hundred thousand today. The plan included money to train watermen in aquaculture; Abel worked on those training programs at ORP.

The benefit of aquaculture is that wild fisheries are open October through March. But farmed oysters are available year-round. Problem was, even as aquaculture was being promoted, there was a seed shortage. There are a handful of small, private hatcheries in Maryland, but most larvae come from the UMD Center for Environmental Science’s Horn Point Oyster Hatchery. As a state entity, it was producing most of its larvae for Bay restoration projects, with only a small amount for commercial use.

Abel saw a need in the market for consistent, reliable access to seed.

“I also saw that the future of shellfish restoration is limited, because government money can only go so far,” he says. “My mind shifted from bulk restoration to ‘how do we get more oysters in the Bay that not only benefit the Bay, but also benefit the local economies and local industry?’ And that’s aquaculture.”

The hatchery opened in 2021, thanks in large part to investment from the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation. Inside, the waterfront idyll is replaced with pristine water tanks and modern technology, more like a scientific research lab than a nursery.

Hatchery manager Steven Weschler stands under a large screen where every tank’s water quality is managed via a computerized system. He walks to the brood stock room, where wild oysters pulled from the Bay are kept at 68 degrees and fed a nutrient-rich diet of algae before moving to spawning tables, where the water is heated to a balmy 85 degrees to facilitate the release of sperm and eggs. Heavily filtered water from the near shoreline fills the tanks.

Once fertilized, larvae move to rearing tanks where they are watched carefully for the emergence of an eye spot and a foot—a sign they’re ready to attach to shells. Some larvae will be sold to local watermen—they’re microscopic; more than one million fit in a Dixie cup. The aforementioned foot will attach to shells and be planted as “spat,” aka adolescent oysters, in the Bay. Grown naturally in the Bay, most are destined to be shucked and jarred.

Other larvae are circulated with finely pulverized shell at Ferry Cove. As they grow, the oyster attaches to the microscopic shell, becoming stand-alone oyster seed—two-to-four millimeters each in size—destined to be grown by aquaculturists in mesh bags placed in cages. They will grow into the deeply cupped variety that’s appealing to serve on a plate.

These are the kind raised by Tal Petty, the founder of Hollywood Oyster Company in St. Mary’s County. He buys millions of seed from Ferry Cove, which allows him to harvest 52 weeks a year. Not surprisingly, he values that the product is consistently available. What excites him, though, is that while aquaculture oysters are specifically raised to be sold, any oyster put in the Bay plays a part in its health.

Petty sets his oyster cages on a hard sandy bottom in Hog Neck Creek. “You put a cage of oysters in the water, you pull it back out a couple months later, it’s teeming with eels, fish, algae…You’ve created a water world where there was a desert before,” he says.

While rearing larvae is an intricate process at Ferry Cove, farm-raising oysters is just as arduous. Patrick Hudson, owner of the True Chesapeake Oyster Company, explains that buying from Abel allows the farmers to concentrate on what they do best—raising delicious oysters. His oysters travel from cages in Southern Maryland to Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, and restaurants across the Mid-Atlantic, including their own, True Chesapeake in Hampden.

“Producing healthy, reliable seed suitable for aquaculture is incredibly complex,” says Hudson. “Ferry Cove brings cutting-edge technology and valuable science to that process, giving us strong, consistent seed we can depend on.”

Ferry Cove’s efforts have been welcomed by traditional watermen as well. Jeff Harrison, president of the Talbot Watermen Association, has been working the water for decades. He explains that even old-school watermen see the value in hatchery-raised product; they use spat-on-shell larvae in restoration projects that are planted each spring. This helps rebuild wild oyster reefs for watermen to harvest.

“Ferry Cove was born out of the realization that Horn Point couldn’t keep up,” he says. “[Ferry Cove] is going to be a savior not only to aquaculture but the public fisheries as well.”

After decades of decline, oysters are staging a comeback. The DNR estimates there were more than 12 billion oysters in Maryland’s waters in 2024. Sanctuaries (where oysters cannot be harvested) have proven successful, and the bivalves are showing signs of resistance to diseases that once decimated them.

Michael Roman witnessed that resurgence first-hand as the director of Horn Point from 2001 to 2023. He says the importance of aquaculture was always apparent.

“If you go to Massachusetts and Maine or Washington state, aquaculture is the dominant way to get oysters,” he says.

He explains that there are parts of the Bay where wild oysters would sink into the muddy bottom, but they can grow in aquaculture float cages. Thus, “Aquaculture has maximized and expanded the potential of oysters in [the] Bay.”

Today, Roman is on the Ferry Cove board of directors. He wanted to bring his experience to the growing enterprise and, given that it’s a nonprofit, “It’s almost like it’s a hybrid between a private, for-profit hatchery as well as a place that does experiments,” says Roman. “[It does] more than figure out ways to improve the way they produce oysters.”

Abel says the hatchery is called Ferry Cove Shellfish for a reason. Right now, it’s working with academic partners on ways to re-invigorate the soft-shell clam and even how to raise soft-shell crabs via aquaculture. They are also experimenting with fabricated shell to set larvae on, as finding the recycled real stuff is difficult and expensive.

“The goal is to support aquaculture by providing the industry with [oysters] primarily, but then expand to other shellfish with the focus on providing entrepreneurial opportunities, supporting rural parts of Maryland, and then also looking at different ways to help restore the Bay,” Abel says.

The value of shellfish aquaculture is rising. The DNR estimates the economic impact in Maryland is more than $13 million per year. Cassandra Vanhooser, director of economic development and tourism in Talbot County, explains that for the more than 500 working watermen in the county, “Ferry Cove is essentially supporting jobs.”

And oystering is a heritage industry, part of the cultural fabric that gives the area its sense of place.

“When I go to Ferry Cove, I see the future,” she concludes. “Their work marries science and heritage—strengthening our working waterfronts, enhancing oyster restoration, and expanding a vital, sustainable industry.”

That industry will increasingly lean on private enterprises like Ferry Cove as federal and state funding become less reliable, says Harrison.

“And this is when we need funding, because the Bay is doing better,” he says. “We just need more money to put more things overboard. Then maybe the Bay can get back to how it was when I was a kid.”

While many people were spending their COVID-19 lockdown making sourdough, Ryan Rush was making tables.

He’d always had an interest in woodworking and, with pandemic downtime, he finally opted to invest in some decent equipment—a planer, a joiner, band and table saws, a drill press—and set up shop in a barn in White Hall. Then he settled in to watch YouTube video tutorials.

“I’m 100 percent self-taught,” says Rush, who owns the Cockeysville-based packaging and foam companies Universal Packaging and Universal Foam Products. “I like being creative and working with my hands.”

Today, the 47-year-old Lutherville resident is sitting at a table of his own design in the Hunt Valley showroom of Carvers Creek, the business born out of that barn. The space is mostly pristine white, like a gallery, which is fitting, as each table propped against the wall is a work of art.

“Because of the grain of the wood, every table is unique,” he explains.

The wood is mostly black walnut, cherry, or maple, sustainably sourced from trees felled by local arborists. Once cut into slabs and dried, a pattern of burls, knots, and whorls emerges along with the beauty of the wood grain.

Tables can have a live edge (one that preserves the tree’s original curves) or a straight edge, and Rush uses a technique of poured resin to fill in around the natural contours of the wood, bringing out each piece’s natural beauty.

“The resin really allows the grain to pop, and I love the colors,” he says, adding that the resin is the consistency of Elmer’s glue and can be swirled and manipulated. “It makes for a more three-dimensional look.”

Rush is someone who likes to keep busy. Give him three balls to juggle and he’ll likely add a fourth. He laughs and blames his ADHD for the decision to turn his pandemic hobby into a business.

When he couldn’t keep his equipment in the barn (it was rusting with lack of climate control) he carved out a 4,200-square-foot workroom and showroom within the 70,000-square-foot industrial warehouse that houses his businesses. He was able to add a Laguna CNC, a high-tech, computerized router that allows him to mill large pieces and work with different materials.

From the gallery, which is open by appointment, Rush can take customers into the shop and explain how each piece is crafted, poured with resin, flattened, sanded, and oiled. While Rush can make wooden legs, he prefers metal supports because “it sets off the uniqueness of each table.”

At the request of his wife, Katie Rush, he also makes end-grain cutting boards from leftover wood. Each features intricate geometric patterns or designs and, after being treated with food-grade mineral oil, becomes a practical piece of art.

Everything in the gallery is for sale, but Rush enjoys working on custom pieces. And, never one to stand still for long, he is already looking at new ways to hone his craft. One thing’s for sure; the man loves a challenge.

At the end of August, as warm summer days began to recede like the rapidly retreating sun at dusk, the Grim Reaper arrived on my neighbor’s stoop. Shortly thereafter, the Reaper received a skeletal bride companion. Several days later, a garland of creepy dolls hanging from tiny nooses arrived to festoon the front porch.

Before we’d fired up a Labor Day barbecue, a veritable Addams Family tableau had landed on our street.

As I drove by a withering pumpkin and a limp, poisonous green “BOO!” yard flag on an 80-degree day in September, I couldn’t help but wonder: Isn’t it all a bit too soon?

I’ve heard it referred to in many ways: Christmas Creep. Seasonal Stretch. Call it what you will, research shows it is real—and it is contagious. The earlier stores put out décor, the earlier consumers feel compelled to buy it and put it up at home, and then neighbors catch the bug. It’s certainly happened on my street—the Grim Reaper’s other neighbor recently put out their extensive collection of Halloween yard flags earlier than I’ve ever seen.

Kacey Stafford, owner of Found Studio Shop in Lauraville, believes that people have been putting up their decorations earlier and leaving them up longer since the pandemic. “I think especially twinkle lights and café-style lights are bringing people joy and a sense of calm in dark times,” she says. 

As a retailer, she believes the Big Box chains put their décor out far too early. Some large retailers put holiday displays out for sale as far as three months in advance, both because it gives them more time to monetize the inventory and not have it sit in a warehouse—and because people will buy it.

Stafford’s Halloween and autumnal displays go up in the shop on September 1. She says holiday décor tends to be a hit with customers.

“I am finding that some people are Halloween people all year,” she adds, sharing that a shopper recently came in because of the Halloween window display. “He promptly showed me his skeleton tote bag and pointed out that he was wearing a Halloween shirt, and it’s only mid-September.

“I think with all the political uncertainty and grief in the world, people want to do something festive that sparks joy and spreads it to others,” she adds.

She’s not far off on the psychology that’s at play here. Studies specific to Christmas décor have shown that those twinkly lights and fir trees do actually make people happier (it’s to do with triggering the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia). Whether it’s a pumpkin spice latte in August or  putting up the Christmas tree in November, people are definitely chasing a dopamine hit and the cozy vibes that come from seasonal cheer.

Research published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology also found that those who put out holiday décor are perceived as friendly, by both neighbors and strangers, so perhaps our collective subconscious wants to bring some kinder feelings into a world that is often anything but.

To paraphrase Auntie Mame, many of us really do need a little Christmas (or Hannukah, or Chinese New Year, or Easter…) now.

Liz Smith, an interior designer and owner of the furniture and décor store HD Marigold in Timonium, is a self-proclaimed Christmas aficionado.

“I host Thanksgiving, so I want it autumnal at my house until then, but the second the dishes are done, Christmas goes up and stays up into January because I love it so,” she exclaims.

In her shop, she takes a measured approach to rolling out seasonal items. Though she does point out that some places like Hobby Lobby and Michael’s—which cater to crafters and makers creating items for holiday markets—may have a reason to put out seasonal stock so far in advance, she’s found that her customers have an aversion to seeing holiday items filling shopping aisles too early.

Rennie Friedlander, owner of Simply Beautiful Flowers & Gifts near Mt. Washington, says that in their experience decorating homes and working in retail floral and gifts, “people have always been eager to prepare their homes for the holidays as early as possible.”

She explains that their clients reserve their decorating days years ahead to ensure everything is ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. “Most everyone wants an instant transformation from the Thanksgiving holiday to the Christmas holiday overnight,” she says.

Much of this, says Smith, is likely fueled by social media and our consumption-driven culture.

“People are going more over the top in all things,” she says, noting that she recently hosted a baby shower for her daughter for 87 people. “Pinterest and other social media sites have so many ideas and you want to do it all. And if everyone is doing the extra, you want to do the extra, too. And places like Amazon make it easy to get it delivered and get it up.

“When you see influencers on TikTok setting up their first tree in August, that bleeds into our already consumer-driven economy, and we end up buying more than we need, and probably decorating more than we need,” she continues.   

With the exception of Christmas, Smith aligns herself with a less-is-more approach. But she understands that holiday décor in particular taps into all the feels of tradition, anticipation, and happiness.

“We’re living in concerning times,” she says, “it’s important to bring yourself joy, and if that means leaving your Christmas tree up year-round, by all means, do it.”

She does qualify that statement that the tree be indoors. “Remember, when you’re putting stuff up in your yard, that’s as much your neighbor’s décor as it is yours, so be considerate. You have to remember that other people are looking at your Halloween when they’re trying to enjoying the dog days of summer and, sorry, that just doesn’t seem right.”

As for this grouchy pumpkin, nary a mum nor a foam tombstone is going in my yard before October 1. And the twinkly magic of Christmas? Call me Scrooge, but I’ll see you after Thanksgiving.

Each year, it’s our privilege to recognize a fraction of the thousands of nurses working in the area every day to make  patients’ lives healthier, safer, and happier. Without their skill and expertise, where would we be?

It is often said that nurses are “unsung heroes.” In this year’s feature story, we hear from nurses who are particularly unheralded, as they work outside the bright lights and camaraderie of hospital and community care settings—home health nurses.

In “Healing at Home,” writer Christina Breda Antoniades explores life for nurses who take care of patients who have been released to home but are not quite able to manage on their own. It’s a field that is only going to expand as the population ages, chronic conditions worsen, and more people require care outside the hospital.

Choosing these 158 nurses from the more than 600 nominations we received during our online submission period was a Herculean task undertaken by our panel of registered-nurse advisers, who gave their time and expertise to the selection process. Without their counsel, this list would not exist and we’re grateful for their time and insight.

DR. AMY ALSANTE
DNP, RN, NE-BC, CHEP, LSSGB
is the Chief Nursing Officer at Sunburst Workforce Advisors, with more than a decade of progressive leadership in acute and ambulatory care. Alsante holds a BSN from Towson University, an MS from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a Doctorate in Executive Leadership from The George Washington University. She is passionate about cultivating cultures where exemplary professional practice can flourish, mentoring emerging nurse leaders, and creating innovative, fiscally sustainable care and staffing models.

LINDA K. COOK
PHD
is an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, where she teaches across all levels of nursing education. She has been a registered nurse for 48 years and is passionate about nursing. Her primary clinical background is critical-care nursing.

JULIA IRWIN
is has been a nurse for 17 years, all at Mercy Medical Center on the Inpatient Oncology Unit. The oncology population has a special place in her heart and she enjoys providing patients and their families excellent, compassionate care. She was on the Clinical Ladder, completing projects on medication reconciliation and group peer review. For the last seven years, she’s been the Clinical Nurse Manager and has enjoyed growing and supporting her staff. She’s a member of ONS and ANA.

JESSICA DECKER
RN, BSN, CPN
is the manager of the Pakula Infant Specialty Care Unit at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital. She is also a member of the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital Vizient Nurse Residency Advisory Board.

CARLENE MELLO
is the nurse manager of a medical/surgery telemetry unit at GBMC. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees through the University of Phoenix and was a 2016 recipient of Baltimore’s Excellence in Nursing award.

DORHONJA NICHOLS
DNP, RN, NEA-BC
is the director of nursing for critical care and behavioral health services at the University of Maryland St. Joseph’s Medical Center. She is also a 2023 American Hospital Association Next Generation Leaders fellow and University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center Lean for Leaders graduate.

SARAH PORTER
is a director of nursing programs at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she is responsible for assisting the vice president of nursing with coordination of executive priorities and implementation of operational and strategic objectives.

KAYLENE ROSS
works part-time in perioperative education at MedStar Harbor Hospital, ensuring high-quality, safe patient care to surgical patients. Her more than 45 years of nursing experience includes open-heart surgery, pediatrics, labor and delivery, education, general and orthopedic surgery, ICU, and nursing leadership.

ACUTE CARE/FAMILY PRACTICE/GENERAL MEDICINE
Kayla Taylor
RN, Gilchrist Integrative Medicine at GBMC

ACUTE REHABILITATION
Lisa Leyrer
Nursing Director MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital

AESTHETICS
Kara Bagranoff
Aesthetic Registered Nurse Belcara Health

Amanda Pittillo
PA-C, ProMD Health Bel Air

CARDIOVASCULAR
Kim Caldwell
Charge Nurse MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

Kathleen “Kate” Jacober
Clinical Nurse MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

Kristen Reynolds
Nurse Case Manager UM St. Joseph Medical Center

Norma Velasco-Flores
Nurse Practitioner/Advance Practice Provider Heart Failure Clinic UM St. Joseph Medical Center

CASE MANAGEMENT
JoAnn Parr
Senior Director of Care Management, Utilization Review, and Care Transitions Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Jacqueline “Jacqui” Wienecke
Director of Case Management MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 
Lily Grybauskas
Nurse Practitioner LifeBridge Health, Center for Hope

COMMUNITY CARE/AMBULATORY CARE
Ashley Clark
Nurse Navigator LifeBridge Health, Carroll Hospital

Carrie Mone
Registered Nurse University of Maryland Medical System

Priya Nair
Nurse Manager University of Maryland Medical Center

Eileen Simione
Registered Nurse Johns Hopkins Community Physicians

COMPREHENSIVE STROKE
Lindsay Goff
Stroke Coordinator BSN,RN,NRP UM Upper Chesapeake Health

Ariel Woodward
Stroke Program Coordinator MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

EDUCATOR
Jane Balkam
Professor of Nursing Notre Dame of Maryland University

Catherine Case
Clinical Affiliations Coordinator and Nurse Educator LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Carolyn Cash
Clinical Practice & Development Coordinator University of Maryland
Medical Center

Rodnita Davis
Post-Baccalaureate Registered Nurse Residency (PB-RNR) Program Manager, Program Manager, Nursing Affiliations, Coordinator, Pathway to Excellence Baltimore Veterans Affairs of Maryland Healthcare System

Maria Julienne Diloy
Nursing Practice and Professional Development Specialist The Johns Hopkins Health System

Jennifer Dinoto
Professional Development Specialist MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

Julie Ellis
Education Specialist Johns Hopkins Care at Home

Sarit Fleishman
Clinical Practice and Education Specialist University of Maryland Medical Center

Jessica Johnson
Professional Development Specialist MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

Kasey Mundell
Clinical Nurse II & Clinical Instructor University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

Sarah Steward
Supervisor – Clinical Excellence LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

BENJAMIN TIMSUREN
INTERVENTIONAL PULMONOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER

“The absolute best part of nursing is the daily opportunity I get to help someone feel better, improve their symptoms, or facilitate their treatment and recovery. I really value being able to pair the education and technical knowledge I’ve learned as a nurse with my personality and feel like I’m being my best self.”

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
Lydia Bonvillain
RN, Forensic Nurse Examiner Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Sara Burchill
Nurse Manager LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Donna Criss
Staff nurse LifeBridge Health, Carroll Hospital

Pattie Diegert
Senior Director, Nursing UM Upper Chesapeake Health

Corinne Ebert
RN LifeBridge Health, Carroll Hospital

Ajitha Mattathil
Lead Clinical Nurse Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center

Ami Miles
ED Nurse Manager UM St. Joseph Medical Center

Alma Ta-asan
RN IV LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Kristi Twigg
Director of Nursing MedStar Harbor Hospital

JOHN JOSEPH FACUNDO
INTENSIVE CARE
LIFEBRIDGE HEALTH, SINAI HOSPITAL

“Throughout the years, I have held many fearful hands, been someone’s voice, witnessed families grieve. My patients might forget my name, and that’s okay, but not the way I made them feel. That’s how I know I’m doing it right.”

ENDOCRINOLOGY
Amy Wenz
Senior Nurse Practitioner The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

GERENTOLOGY
Maurine Gabriels
Registered Nurse LifeBridge Health, Levindale

HOSPICE/HOME HEALTH/PALLIATIVE CARE
Barbara Bell
Registered Nurse CMAG Health Solutions, LLC

Eyerusalem Hagos
NP Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Darleen Sullivan
Hospice Clinical Manager Gilchrist Integrative Medicine at GBMC

INFORMATICS
Connie Gibbons
Senior Clinical Systems Analyst LifeBridge Health

Ashley Shelter
Clinical Nursing Informatics Specialist MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

INTENSIVE CARE
Jennifer Delaney
Registered Nurse Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital

John Joseph Facundo
Charge Nurse, RN III, PCCN-CMC LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Amie Hyle
RN UM St. Joseph Medical Center

Melissa LaRue
Critical Care Registered Nurse Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital

Everette Livado
Registered Nurse LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Kayla Mandrykin
Registered Nurse LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Margaret McGregor
Charge Nurse LifeBridge Health, Northwest Hospital

Larisa Pokras
RN LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Amanda Zambrano
Senior Clinical Nurse II University of Maryland Medical Center

INTERMEDIATE CARE
Fely Carillo
Clinical Nurse MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital

INTERVENTIONAL PULMONOLOGY
Ben Timsuren
Senior Clinical Nurse I University of Maryland Medical Center

INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY
Jessica Dunn
Inpatient Nurse Navigator Interventional Radiology Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Holly Thorn
Interventional Outpatient Nurse Navigator Greater Baltimore Medical Center

LONG TERM CARE/POST-ACUTE
Lisa McKoy
Certified Nurse Educator LifeBridge Health, Levindale

MAGNET CORDINATOR
Abby Brzezenski
Magnet Coordinator MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital

MANAGEMENT/NURSE EXECUTIVES
Ashley Bandurchin
Assistant Director Professional Practice, Education, & Research Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Kristen George
Nurse Manager University of Maryland R  Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

Andrea L’Heureux
RN, BSN LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Cathy Mays
Chief Nurse Officer CMAG Health Solutions LLC

Glynda Murphy
Nurse Manager LifeBridge Health, Northwest Hospital

Sharon Owens
Executive Director of Nursing for Surgery The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Cindy Roles
Assistant Vice President of Nursing Operations MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

Kristen Sudano
Nurse Manager UM St. Joseph Medical Center

Leslie Taylor
Manager and Provider LifeBridge Health

GAIL ZEPHYR
MEDICAL-SURGICAL NURSING
MEDSTAR FRANKLIN SQUARE MEDICAL CENTER

“Nursing is synonymous with being empathetic, compassionate, caring, and being in service to others…I’ve learned to be grateful that I was able to care for patients and their families, to be gracious that on my next shift I would care for the same patient once they remained hospitalized, and grateful that they went home to continue their recovery.”

MEDICAL-SURGICAL NURSING
Sibley Barnes
Clinical Nurse IV MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

Nancy Bloom
RN LifeBridge Health, Carroll Hospital

Louela Cari-an
Registered Nurse II LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

David Hiett
Clinical Nurse MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

Melanie Hullana
Registered Nurse LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Leah Lewis-Garber
Nursing Outcomes Leader LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Hyeyon Kwon
Registered Nurse Baltimore Veterans Affairs of Maryland Healthcare System

Morgan Lutz
Charge Nurse LifeBridge Health, Northwest Hospital

Katie Pasqualini
Registered Nurse IV Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Karen Ponlaroche
Charge Nurse LifeBridge Health, Northwest Hospital

Gherell Regalado
Staff Nurse LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Sharon Romero
RN III Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center

Alyssa Wilkerson-Dietz
Clinical Nurse II UM St. Joseph Medical Center

Duncan Zeller
Clinical Nurse II University of Maryland Medical Center

Gail Zephyr
Director of Nursing MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

JODI FELIPE
WELLNESS NURSE
BRIGHTVIEW SENIOR LIVING ANNAPOLIS

“I’m a caregiver. I do whatever my residents need done and always smile, be kind. I believe the residents’ appearance and mood are a direct reflection of the care I’ve provided.”

MEMORY CARE/ASSISTED LIVING/GERIATRICS
Jodi Felipe
Wellness Nurse Brightview Senior Living Annapolis

NEUROLOGY/PSYCHOLOGY/BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Edwin Juma
NP University of Maryland Medical Center

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Christie Simon-Waterman
Nurse Practitioner The Johns Hopkins Hospital

ONCOLOGY
Kristie Davalli
Nurse Practioner LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Angela Galoppo
RN III The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Carol LaMere
Quality and Safety Nurse Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital Cancer Institute

Emily Little
Senior Clinical Nurse The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Matthew Magness
Registered Nurse UM Upper Chesapeake Health

Kimberly Mildner
RN Ascension Saint Agnes Cancer Institute

Kathy Mooney
Clinical Program Director Cellular Therapy The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Neelam Saini
RN I LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Kirsten Tomaschefsky
Assistant Nurse Manager/Interim Nurse Manager University of Maryland Medical Center

OPERATING ROOM
Jake Allam
BSN, RN Mercy Medical Center

Jeanne Delaney
RN, Assistant Nurse Manager University of Maryland Medical Center

Mac Gary Garcia
Senior Clinical Nurse I University of Maryland Medical Center

Nancy Gonzales
Clinical Nurse II MedStar Harbor Hospital

Donna McCormack
Clinical Nurse MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

Marshelle Morlock
BSN, RN Mercy Institute for Foot and Ankle Reconstruction

Sarah Prock
OR RN II Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Clare Zimmerman
RIAO RN Team Leader LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Holly Watson
Clinical Nurse MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

ORTHOPEDICS
Rachel Nazareno
Registered Nurse LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Bianca Tilkens
Clinical Unit Coordinator Ascension Saint Agnes

Sara Trone
Staff Nurse LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY ICU
Candace Spock
RN II The Johns Hopkins Hospital

PEDIATRICS
Vicki Lowe
Lactation Specialist Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center

Thomas Shelley
Ambulatory Nurse Manager LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

PEDIATRICS EMERGENCY
Jenna Spencer
Clinical Nurse Specialist The Johns Hopkins Hospital

PEDIATRICS: NEONATAL
Dorothy Jones
Clinical Nurse II MedStar Harbor Hospital

Angel Masemore
Clinical Practice Manager MedStar Harbor Hospital

Lindsay Sneller
Senior Clinical Nurse I University of Maryland Medical Center

PEDIATRICS: NON-NEONATAL
Samantha Amedore
RN Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

Kim Bilott
RN LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Tina Humbel
Nurse Manager University of Maryland Children’s Hospital

Jennifer Knox
Clinical Nurse II University of Maryland Children’s Hospital

Amanda Morris
Nursing Professional Development Specialist Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

Hannah Riffey
Clinical Nurse IV – Inpatient Kennedy Krieger Institute

Emily Steer
CNII University of Maryland Children’s Hospital

Daisy Valladeres
CNII University of Maryland Children’s Hospital

PERIOPERATIVE SERVICES
Sara-Ann Ballard
BSN, RN, FNE-A, CAPA Mercy Medical Center

Annajeane Chua
RN LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Angela England
Assistant Nurse Manager LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Patty Guthrie
RN III The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Everlyne Onyango
RN LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Lisa Wisniewski
RN LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

PSYCHIATRY
Janice Binns-Hines
RN I LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Tracey Burdock
Clinical Nurse II MedStar Harbor Hospital

Jamie Cherry
Psychiatric Nurse Coordinator – Outpatient Kennedy Krieger Institute

Andrew Fausto
Nurse Coordinator University of Maryland Medical Center

Davinder Varde
Registered Nurse LifeBridge Health, Carroll Hospital

Tina Vest
Nurse Practitioner The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

RADIOLOGY
Caitlin Kwedar-Wamba
Interventional Radiology RN III
Greater Baltimore Medical Center

CAROL LAMERE
ONCOLOGY
ASCENSION SAINT AGNES HOSPITAL CANCER INSTITUTE

“We’re always told: Don’t get too attached. Don’t care too much, because you have to be objective. But it doesn’t matter. You do care too much. And if you didn’t care too much, you wouldn’t be a nurse, you’d be something else.”

REHABILITATION
Jessica Leeper
Clinical Nurse MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital

STROKE COORDINATOR
Lindsay Goff
Stroke Coordinator BSN,RN,NRP UM Upper Chesapeake Health

SUPPLY CHAIN
Stacy Fisher Hill
Value Analysis Coordinator LifeBridge Health

SURGERY
Valerie Elliott
Lead Nurse Practitoner The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Tikiki Linston
RN III The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Cindy Walker
Wound Care Specialist Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

SURGERY/MANAGEMENT/NURSE EXECUTIVE
Heather Cullen
Assistant Nurse Manager The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Kim Damon-Gant
Assistant Patient Care Manager Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

Rose Karlan
Nurse Manager The Johns Hopkins Hospital

SURGICAL INTENSIVE CARE
Symone Everrett-Day
Clinical Nurse Specialist The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Madison Goundry
Lead Clinical Nurse The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Shannon Trainor
Lead Clinical Nurse The Johns Hopkins Hospital

TRAUMA
Farah Wittmeyer
Clinical Nurse II University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

TRAUMA/SURGERY
Christina Interrante
Trauma Prevention Coordinator The Johns Hopkins Hospital

WOMEN’S HEALTH: GENERAL
Alexius Hall
Director of Nursing MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

Ashley McAree
Forensic Nurse/ Human Trafficking Liaison Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Leah Ruppe
Director of the Perinatal HIV Practice University of Maryland Medical Center

WOMEN’S HEALTH: LABOR AND DELIVERY
Michelle Hayes
Clinical Nurse II MedStar Harbor Hospital

Heather Johnson
RN LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

Florence Okeke
Clinical Nurse II MedStar Harbor Hospital

Heidi Ransford
Clinical Nurse II MedStar Harbor Hospital

Summer Twist
RN LifeBridge Health, Sinai Hospital

WOUND, OSTOMY, CONTINENCE CARE
Christina Encarnacion
Wound Care Nurse MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

Sindhu Koneru
Wound Care Nurse MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

Tucked into a side street off Mountain Road, that busy thoroughfare that winds through Harford County’s suburbs and farmland on its way to I-95, is a two-room building that was once home to Fallston’s Youth’s Benefit School.

When it opened to much fanfare in 1910, teachers commuted on horseback and heated the rooms with a coal stove. The frame building still stands where a string of restaurants, a gas station, and a Walgreens peter out into countryside.

Honoring the building’s legacy, sisters Cortney Rudez and Tiffany Rueckert have converted it into a boutique, floral shop, and community hub: Washday Floral and Schoolhouse. (The name “Washday” comes from the boutique’s humble origins. More on that in a bit.)

Inside the old school vestibule is a sofa, above which hangs a large pegboard with the phrase “You Can Sit With Us” in cross-stitch.

“Cortney made that,” says Rueckert, owner of Washday Floral and co-owner of Schoolhouse with Rudez. “It means ‘come as you are,’ whether you’re a mom who’s in your pajamas and you just dropped your toddler off across the street at preschool, or you’re a wife who’s needing an escape because you’re caring for your sick husband at home, or you’re a little sweet teenager who has pink hair and a crazy outfit on who’s just excited that there’s a place where she feels safe and like she has friends here.”

The shop exudes that level of warmth and comfort. It’s almost the first day of spring and Rudez is in the process of transforming Schoolhouse into a fairyland, complete with enormous Alice in Wonderland-esque flowers made of crepe paper and pipe cleaners.

An artist, she changes the installation on Schoolhouse’s large front entry table seasonally. “Just give me some recyclable materials and a hot glue gun and I’m good to go,” says Rudez with a smile.

The store’s signature scent, “Cozy” by candlemaker Jack Be Nimble, fills the rooms with a luscious smell. “People come in and feel they can take a deep breath here and feel restored and inspired,” says Rueckert, explaining what differentiates their store from a big box or online retailer. “It’s a creative soul personified in a store.”

Getting to this stage was an evolution. The sisters are originally from Bakersfield, California. Rueckert came east first, with her husband; Rudez came 12 years ago “just for the summer”—and never left. Their father enjoyed writing, their mother did craft fairs, catering, and flower arranging, and one of their brothers (sandwiched inside the seven years that separate the two sisters) is in graphic design.

“We were brought up in an environment that nurtured creativity,” says Rudez. “I was always creative, even when I was very young. I’d spend more time decorating the pages of my book reports than I did on the report itself.”

Rudez was a designer and instructor during the scrapbooking craze of the early aughts, took a detour to work in dental hygiene, then started her own small business, “The Papered Goose,” doing small art pieces. Meanwhile, Rueckert left her work as an elementary school teacher and began working at Belvedere Farm, helping build their floral design business and their presence at farmers markets. In 2017, she launched Washday Floral in her home’s laundry room with Rudez helping out.

When Rueckert’s business outgrew the laundry room—as the mother of three boys, it’s no surprise—the pair began looking for a location in downtown Bel Air, with no luck. Then they drove by the Schoolhouse, just minutes from Rueckert’s house, and saw that it was available.

While the building had many lives after Youth’s Benefit School moved in the 1950s, the sisters say it is still best known locally as the former Video Tonight store. When they took over the building, it had most recently been a computer repair shop. The drop ceiling was stained, and the walls were electric blue.

Through their own hard work (Rueckert tackled the ceiling singlehandedly) and support from the community (a neighborhood contractor worked nights for them for only the cost of supplies), they opened in 2022.

According to Rudez, the sisters have always been close, but being in business together was a new dynamic. “We respect each other’s strengths and complement each other, and we laugh and hug a lot,” she says. She adds that it helps that they share a similar aesthetic, noting that they often inadvertently dress alike.

Schoolhouse has gained a reputation as “the Anthropologie of Fallston,” says Rudez.

The pair take pride in seeking out local makers—their fresh plant atrium is supplied (and nurtured) by Jo Powell of @mamajosplants, they have a wall of botanical watercolors by artist Michael King, beef jerky made using regional Roseda beef, locally made body scrubs and goat’s milk soaps, and even a “junior makers” corner where they sell bracelets and keychains made by area teens.

Keen believers in the power of storytelling, Rudez will often write small cards in her lovely handwriting to detail the backstory of a product, be it the perfect cinnamon and vanilla-infused maple syrup she brought back from a trip to Vermont or the story of a displaced Ukrainian artist who was crocheting flowers until she could be reunited in the U.S. with her Towson- based fiancé.

As much as they love local, Rudez says they also carry fair trade global brands. “I love sharing those stories,” she says, “and we love supporting women from other countries who are just trying to help their families.”

“We love to talk about the products that we carry because we believe in them,” says Rueckert. “People want to be conscious consumers; they want to feel like they’re connected to their products and feel good about what they’re buying and what they’re gifting.”

In addition to home goods, cards, plants, books, kids’ goods, and art pieces, there are always fresh bouquets on sale made by Washday Floral. Rueckert does small weddings, events, and proms, but also makes “jam jar” and petite “saltshaker” arrangements for Schoolhouse inspired by the little bouquets their mother would make for their house growing up.

Although Rueckert uses wholesale and dried flowers in winter, she is supplied by 12 local flower farms during the growing season. Her tiny arrangements are a boon to farmers who would normally need to take the short, stemmed flowers as a loss.

“Cortney calls them my ‘no flower left behind’ arrangements,” she says.

The flowers and the boutique create a nice synergy, with people often stopping by to get a gift, card, and flowers to take to a sick friend or as a present.

The care with which patrons choose their purchases, especially special gifts, is not lost on the sisters. Both are unapologetic criers and get emotional speaking about the community of customers, fellow retailers, farmers, and makers that’s grown up around the shop.

“More than products, I think people come to Schoolhouse because of how it makes them feel,” says Rudez. “Sometimes I feel like we’re not in the business of retail, but the business of kindness,” says Rueckert. “So many emotions come through the door, whether someone’s excited about their daughter having a new baby or they’re sad because their friend just got diagnosed with cancer. . . . When they want to give that little something, when they want to be kind, people come here.”

Enter the Vollmer Visitor Center at Cylburn Arboretum on April 16 or 17, and you will be met by the sight of approximately 1,000 daffodils, immaculately displayed in pristine glass bottles and test tubes like little soldiers with starbursts for faces.

These specimens are the best of the best, pedigreed examples of the beloved blooms that cut through late winter’s gloom like a welcome ray of sunshine—a beacon of warm days ahead.

“When you see a daffodil, you know spring is coming,” says Julie Minch, past president of the Maryland Daffodil Society and a longtime board member. For her, the charm of daffodils is their cheerful blooms but also their remarkable resilience. “Daffodils are easier [to grow] than some plants. They want to live. You can plant one upside down and they will turn it around, figure it out, and bloom.”

And since daffodils multiply themselves each year, you can spread them around your yard or dig them up and gift them to friends.

Begun in 1923 by local garden club members and daffodil devotees, the Maryland Daffodil Society is the oldest of its kind in the U.S. Its first daffodil show, held at the Elkridge Country Club, had 10 horticultural classes and one artistic class. The entry fee was 10 cents. The show has grown in size and popularity, moving from locations like the Baltimore Museum of Art and Kenilworth Mall before putting down roots at Cylburn.

Now, celebrating its 100th show this month, the show is one of the nation’s largest, with as many as 210 horticulture classes, as well as others for design and photography. The show is free and open to the public, and anyone from a seasoned grower to an amateur gardener can enter a bloom so long as they know the cultivar name. Which is no small feat, considering there are now over 32,000 named cultivars.

It is this wide variety of daffodils that Minch says the society likes to share with the public. There are daffodils with blooms as tiny as a pinky nail, and double daffodils so frilly they resemble roses.

Anyone familiar only with yellow “daffs” will be amazed at the pinks, reds, oranges, and whites—even greens—on display.

“Any opportunity in the horticulture world to educate the public is a good thing,” says Minch.

Encompassing the essence of spring’s joy, daffodils have captured the heart of everyone from poet William Wordsworth to children’s book author A.A. Milne. But if you need one more reason to adore them, consider that every part of these hardy flowers is poisonous to deer, making them the only true deer-proof plant for your garden.

Want to pick some daffodils up for yourself for fresh blooms next year? Check out the Society’s annual bulb sale in November, too.

The recently opened third location of Kneads in Cross Keys offers a little something different alongside croissants and coffee: a glass of wine. But not just any glass of wine. The tipple is delivered in a custom acrylic glass through an almost elflike, arched wooden door.

Kneads co-owner Kira Paterakis Nissley experienced the wine window concept in Italy, where there are as many as 300 around the Tuscany region. “As soon as I came across this I thought, ‘I’d love to bring this back to the States,’” she says.

Buchette di vino, as they’re known in Florence and surrounding areas, emerged in the 1500s as an easy way for wine estate owners to fill empty bottles for the thirsty masses. But they became popularized when the region was hit by plague in the 1600s, taking 12 percent of Florence’s population with it.

The wine windows allowed consumers to get their wine—believed to have medicinal properties—with minimal contact. Nissley says she hasn’t been able to find reference to any wine windows in the U.S., much less in Maryland.

Since Kneads is new construction, the wine window was built directly into the brick exterior wall of the cafe. And, thanks to an allowance for the Cross Keys neighborhood that permits outdoor alcohol consumption, patrons can enjoy their beverage while strolling around the shopping district.

To get the vino, customers simply ring the bell, place their order, and pay as the drink is passed through the window to the outside. It’s all very charming and completely plague-free.

Kneads has long been evolving. It launched from Harbor East, where all its baking still takes place. What began with baked goods grew into a cafe with three locations—and more on the way, says Nissley.

It remains to be seen if new locales will have their own wine windows. But this is a trend we are more than happy to get behind.

When I was a kid, my parents went to an auction and bought a pallet of bricks. We lived in a brick house, and they wanted to put in their own patio, but trouble arose getting the bricks home.

My mother would retell the story of how the car stalled when the trailer they were hauling got two flat tires up a steep hill, on a blind curve on Falls Road. Consternation, yelling, and threats of divorce ensued.

I’m reminded of this story as I stand in the cold warehouse at Second Chance with my husband, contemplating a pallet of  hardwood flooring the size of a baby elephant that we intend to load onto my dad’s old trailer and haul back to Baltimore County for a kitchen remodel upon which we never intended to embark.

Last summer, we had a minor refrigerator-related flood that ended up causing a huge headache. Although the amount of water that got on the floor was relatively minimal, our ancient laminate floor was not properly installed, and the water was able to get underneath it.

The laminate buckled, insurance was contacted, a disaster company arrived and cut a huge swath of the floor away—down to the original 1850s subfloor—and installed industrial-grade drying fans that whirred away at such a clip we got an alert from the power company that we were using an exponentially larger amount of electricity than usual.

When everything was dry and the disaster guys packed up and gone, the long slog with the insurance company began. Six months later, they coughed up a check for the floor…and only the floor. This was not particularly helpful as the problem was no longer the floor—it was what was under it.

When the disaster company began cutting away the laminate it rapidly turned into an archeological exploration. The laminate sat on top of white vinyl, which was on top of a subfloor, which was on top of linoleum, and so on. By the time we got to the true subfloor, we’d gained about an inch of height in the room. All the trim around the walls would need to be redone and the cabinets reset.

Worse, the subfloor was in terrible shape—dry rotted in some places and cut away and shoddily repaired decades ago in others. The insurance check, when it arrived, was going to be a drop in the bucket. And we had no choice but to fix the issues in this old house.

Here’s the thing about old houses. If you watch enough home renovation television, you will be led to believe they are charming. Lies. Living in an old house is like taking care of a geriatric patient: There is always something wrong, or something about to go wrong, and that something wrong may or may not be related to a pre-existing condition, but you can’t be sure without an expensive exploratory procedure.

Example: Ever since we bought our house five years ago, the kitchen floor has had a bit of a spring in its step. This is because our house is built on a support of trees. Note I did not say “beams.” Beams imply trees that have been hewn into something with a structural appearance. No. Someone cut down some trees 200 years ago, put them in the ground, and built our house on top of them. They still have bark on them in places.

They are solid enough, with one big caveat: You can’t have a level floor on trees, so parts of the floor have always been a bit wobbly, unnervingly so, like an indoor trampoline.

To replace the floor properly would require some structural support and no small amount of expert leveling.  We had no money and no plan, and the situation was literally deteriorating. It was like every appliance and structure in the kitchen realized things were headed south and decided they, too, may as well throw in the towel.

One of the upper cabinets started to pull away from the wall. And our refrigerator, which had been limping along, blew a gasket and the drawer tracks cracked so they would no longer run smoothly in and out. To add insult to injury, we noticed one day that its doors weren’t staying closed. Reason? The front wheels had sunk through the dry rotted subfloor.

There was no love lost between me and our minuscule side-by-side fridge. It was so small you could store a head of lettuce, a gallon of milk, and a stick of butter in it and little else. It was not even remotely practical for a family. But our kitchen is small. People have walk-in closets bigger than our kitchen, which is deeply ironic, as my husband and I are both huge cooks.

I’ve been fantasizing about new fridges for years, but even the smallest on the market now is about a quarter inch too big to fit in the opening we currently have. A quarter inch doesn’t sound like much—if your hair is a quarter inch too long, you trim it off; if your dress is a quarter inch too tight, you pull on Spanx. There are no Spanx for appliances. If the fridge is a quarter inch too big, you need a sledgehammer and a contractor.

We were now pulling the thread on the proverbial sweater. Replace the floor, replace the cabinets, open a space for the fridge, replace the countertop. And so on. It became hard to remember the trickle of water that generated this geyser.

This project was getting less and less Joanna and Chip Gaines’ Magnolia Home and more Tom Hanks and Shelley Long’s The Money Pit with each passing moment.

Contractors were duly contacted. Most took one look at the house and said “no thank you” or offered an estimate that would have made it more plausible for us to buy a new house. Finally, we found an intrepid contractor with experience working on old homes.

Through prayer, credit cards, and crowdfunding with generous relatives, we cobbled together some funds, cabinets were ordered, a counter top was selected, and hardware was chosen from Etsy. I ordered the fridge of my dreams, and such was my joy at finally having a functional, normal refrigerator, I couldn’t get upset that it was installed in our living room, the only place it would fit while the kitchen was ripped apart.

Demo day was scheduled. I moved the entire contents of the kitchen onto our dining room table. The dining room looked like we were hosting a yard sale and there was now a coffee maker on our living room end table, but things were finally moving forward.

The first issue arose around, shocker, my nemesis, the fridge. As soon as we moved the old one out and disconnected the line to the freezer, water began leaking out of the gate valve at a rapid clip. Cue the plumber. This project was getting less and less Joanna and Chip Gaines’ Magnolia Home and more Tom Hanks and Shelley Long’s The Money Pit with each passing moment.

Demo day—or as liked to call it “the opening of Pandora’s box”—arrived. From my place in my home office, it sounded like they were dismembering the entire house, which, in a way, they were. Around lunchtime, when the sound of saws and crowbars silenced, I took a peek behind the plastic sheeting covering the doorways. The floor was completely gone, exposing the original 1850s beams and, below, our cellar. Then I noticed a little sliver of daylight visible through the floor.

“What’s that?” I asked. “That,” said the contractor, “I want to talk to you about.”

For years we’ve had trouble with the pipes in the kitchen freezing. (The year this happened on Christmas Eve when we had a house full of guests and were hosting 20-plus people for Christmas dinner is a memory that still stings.) Well, it’s little wonder the pipes were constantly frozen as we now know that part of the plumbing was outside the foundation wall. I could see it there, the under-the-sink plumbing, basking in the sunlight of a cold February day. Cue the plumber, part II.

Working in an old house, there are no perfect solutions, only creative work-arounds. One was found for the plumbing and now our pipes are cozy and warm indoors where they belong. We also discovered that one of the beams had come away from its footing, which was causing that trampoline effect on the floor. Stabilized, we would be able to walk across the kitchen without needing sea legs.

But oh, the kitchen floor. Another misleading proposition of home remodeling is reclaimed wood. Every design show loves reclaimed wood. The reality is not so glamorous. Wood is a living thing. It warps, expands, contracts, and molds itself to its surroundings so when you pull it out of one home and put it in another you will never have perfection.

Never ones to let the perfect get in the way of the good, we were thrilled to salvage our wood flooring from Second Chance—saving trees, space in the landfill, and a tremendous amount of money—but it did mean the crew laying down the floor had to meticulously clean and match each piece in a way that would be unnecessary with new flooring from a manufacturer. Once the floor was finished it looked beautiful, but I think the contracting crew left with a massive headache.

The cabinets arrived and more “interesting” issues arose. The corner of the room, for example, did not make a 90-degree angle, which required the installation of a system of shims and meant more headaches for the contractors, who were now attached to their levels as if they were some sort of third arm. Often, I would hear the contractor telling the crew that the goal was “flat not level,” as achieving perfect lines in this house was out of the question.

But finally, all was installed but the counter. That installer, who was also responsible for the sink, arrived and took meticulous laser measurements, and then began the long wait for fabrication. Meanwhile, washing dishes in the bathtub and making scrambled eggs on the grill outside was getting tiresome.

The day finally came for the counters to be installed and then everything happened all at once. The counter and sink went in, appliances were reinstalled, final paint and touch-ups took place, and then—blissful silence.

The saws, the hammers, the nail guns, the crew member who started every day singing “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan—just packed up and left, leaving a new kitchen in their wake.

While we never expected to embark on this expensive adventure, the final result is stunning. Having the opportunity to design every inch of a space from the ground up, I was able to get the kitchen of my dreams, and one that functions well despite its small size.

And we stared down our old house with all its quirks and survived to tell the tale. So maybe it’s time to update that master bathroom…

Daffodils emerging in January rather than April. Delicate peonies that turn crispy in an unseasonably hot May. If you’ve been gardening in Baltimore in recent years, you know these are both very real scenarios.

Maryland’s growing season is getting hotter and drier, and the number of warm months is on the rise. In fact, last year the USDA updated its hardiness zones—the regions in which you can put a plant and expect it to live—for the first time since 2012. It moved much of Maryland to warmer zones.

So what does this all mean for our gardens?

“From a practical perspective, we have shorter windows of time to plant,” says Kevin J. Gaughan, principal and owner of FORM Garden Design.

Gaughan’s firm is known for its aesthetic use of native plants and ecological care. He explains that while they used to want to have plants installed by June 15, “with this year’s extreme heat, I wish we’d planted by June 1st,” thus giving plants a chance to get established before nature turned up the furnace.

“In winter, it is staying wetter longer and deeper into the spring,” he continues. “That’s really hurting the landscape industry because they’re now faced with planting outside the opportune times.”

Gaughan says the warmer temperatures are reflected in his clients’ requests. “Shade has become one of the biggest topics of discussion. [Clients] know it is getting hotter and they are looking for shade trees and structures so they can be comfortable outside.”

Gaughan favors native plants, those best suited to the challenges of the local climate; they generally don’t need extra watering and are thus better for the environment. But with temperatures now routinely soaring over 100 degrees, even native plants are struggling and gardeners are scrambling to find the most efficient irrigation systems.

WHAT’S NATIVE NOW?
“Native” is a gardening buzzword, but with shifting hardiness zones and more mercurial weather, it’s hard to know what actually is native anymore. Gaughan says perennial grasses add structure to a garden and tend to be deep-rooted and thus drought-resistant, as are old standby perennial plants like perovskia, nepeta, and salvias.

But without cold winters to kill plants back, he’s found that some of his favorites, like soledago (goldenrod), the woodland Aster divaricatus, and even some rudbeckia (like our state flower, the black-eyed Susan) are self-seeding and growing a bit wild. Plants that self-seed can take over or propagate where they don’t belong. But with this challenge comes opportunity.

“Remember, gardens are an evolution,” says Gaughan. “The fun part is we can continue to work with a garden and experiment.”

Plants he’s excited about include Southern bayberry and the Ilex vomitoria, a useful replacement for the popular boxwoods that are generally dying off in this area. And some annuals used in planters, like lantana and cannas, may even come back after a mild winter.

Remember, climate change isn’t just about extreme heat, but also erratic weather. The best way to safeguard against disappointment—like losing your peonies in a freak frost—is to plant a diverse, four-season garden.

“When things are blooming later or early, with more diversity, something will always look good,” says Gaughan. “Or, if something fails, the whole garden doesn’t fail.”

This doesn’t just make for a prettier garden. A range of plants means that you are likely always to have something in bloom, so when we have a spate of, say, 80-degree days in February, the emergent (and no doubt confused) bees will have something to eat.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
As we think about diversifying our gardens, Lincoln Smith, founder of Forested, which teaches courses in forest gardening and designs edible “food forests,” has a unique proposition: Consider what you can eat in your yard.

Smith says we forget that the Eastern United States is a forested ecosystem and our urban and suburban gardens have a role to play in its restoration. By planting food forests—hackberry trees, acorn-producing oaks, and chicksaw plums, for example—we can rehabilitate native forest, eat local, and reduce our dependence on large-scale, monoculture agriculture.

The best thing about food forestry is trees are durable. “In an extreme weather situation, trees tend to adapt,” says Smith. “In a drought, no one is watering the forest.”

Trees also do so much to support life from creating shade to sequestering carbon. Smith says just planting a singular pawpaw tree in your yard can mean everything to the zebra swallowtail butterfly whose larvae feed exclusively on that tree. And you get to eat the fruit.

At Forested’s test garden in Bowie, Smith invites people to learn about plants they can use in their gardens that may be unexpected, like chestnuts and persimmons. Like Gaughan, Smith is a proponent of Ilex vomitoria, which, despite its name, “actually makes a great tea, similar to yerba maté.” Black chokeberry produce fruit that can be squeezed into a superfood juice, and native plants like sochan, which has a zesty, mildly bitter flavor, not only support finches (they eat the seeds) but humans, too.

“The greens are delicious steamed with a little salt,” promises Smith.

If you don’t know where to begin, “Go on a foraging walk with a local guide so you can learn what the landscape is offering,” he advises.

MICROCLIMATES, SOIL, AND MORE
Microclimates, the weather specific to your garden’s setting, are playing an increasingly important role in how we plant. For example, something labeled as “full sun” might thrive in one backyard, even on a 100-degree day, but die in another yard if it’s planted near a heat-absorbing wall. Alternately, something like a fig tree might flourish in an enclosed city yard but may not be sustainable on a hilltop in Baltimore County.

Similarly, soil composition is important. Soil can be clay, silt, sand, or loam (a combination of all three), and what is in your yard will determine what may grow well. Gaughan says that all plants need a little shade from blistering afternoon sun nowadays, even those categorized as full sun, adding that “a full-sun plant in well-drained soil will not hold the moisture it needs as it bakes all summer.”

“Soil plays a huge part in the success of a plant, especially in the home garden,” says Brent Figlestahler, head gardener for the nonprofit nonprofit Cylburn Arboretum Friends. “It’s often overlooked because we want to plant what we want to plant, but a lot of problems we see are soil-related.”

While two-thirds of Cylburn is wooded, a third is cultivated and acts as a test garden, particularly for what will grow well in the city. (A dedicated urban demonstration garden hopefully opens in 2025.) As far as microclimates go, Cylburn’s has its challenges, especially its hilltop location, which has made it vulnerable to increasingly severe storms.

Figlestahler points out a forested area that is now punctuated with sunlight after a massive tree fell and uprooted an ancient poplar in an August storm. Behind the Cylburn mansion is a solemn stump where a beloved redwood known as an “Ambassador tree” stood until it was brought down by a storm last Memorial Day weekend. Planting for resilience against severe storms may be the most difficult challenge gardeners face.

As you walk through the arboretum’s Large Conifer Collection—those are trees that bear seeds in cones—you’ll note that the Norway spruce, in particular, is showing signs of stress. That’s because “many conifers come from cool mountainous regions,” explains Figlestahler.

Trees that aren’t acclimatized to extreme heat will, like people, become stressed. And like stressed people, they are less able to fight off illness. Warmer weather is showing up with dieback and yellow needling but also, “in the heat and humidity they become vulnerable to pests, too.”

Other native species that have become victims of pest and disease made worse by climate change are Eastern hemlock, American beeches, and White ash.

It’s important to acknowledge the reality of Maryland climate change when choosing plants and trees. With the new USDA zones, some coastal regions of the state could now possibly sustain citrus trees. So gardeners need to consider looking to the northern-most reaches of southern-based plants rather than the southern-most hardiness of northern plants.

Sugar maple, that beauty of New England, is already not thriving here and will likely be unsustainable in 50 years. However, red maples are an option, while Pinus virginiana, Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress), Sweetbay magnolia, and Styrax americanus, are southerly conifers and shrubs now doing well in this region.

Figlestahler quips that Osage oranges, native to the south-central U.S., “will likely grow in a crack in asphalt.”

“Another approach to heat tolerant trees is to look out west where it’s hot and dry,” says Figlestahler, pointing to happy cottonwoods and a sugar maple species from Oklahoma called “Flashfire.”

“We need to teach people the value of trees and to think collectively about trees as an asset to the larger neighborhood,” Figlestahler says.

In this hyperlocal, microclimate gardening world, growers are realizing that even the DNA of a seed may determine if it will do well or die. Seed collected from an echinacea in Maryland may have a genetic propensity to do well here versus echinacea from seed in, say, Oregon.

Cylburn is part of a multistate program growing oaks from seed collected from major cities along the Eastern Seaboard. Not only will Cylburn hopefully gain an oak forest, but participants will learn which seeds grow best where.

“The end goal is to produce more healthy oaks for our cities in particular,” says Figlestahler. Gardeners often overlook the importance of trees in the landscape (or worse, look upon them as a potential nuisance), says Figlestahler. “We need to teach people the value of trees and to think collectively about trees as an asset to the larger neighborhood,” he says.

Trees also play a major role in pollination, as much or more than native flowers. “If you plant a black locust in a front yard in the city, when it blooms it is amazingly full of native bees that you may never see because they will be up in the canopy, but that are essential to the environment.”

BRAVE NEW WORLD
Things are changing and that can be difficult for gardeners. Severe storms may bring down large old-growth trees, turning a shade garden to full sun. Cherry trees that dazzled in spring now emerge in winter. But Gaughan says, as hard as it may be, now is the time to learn, to experiment, and to redouble our gardening efforts.

“It’s more important now than ever to expand our gardens because there’s so much we can do to slow climate change,” he says. “It’s not the time to do less; now is the time to do more.”

Best Practices for Warming Gardens

CONTROL INVASIVES
With warmer winters, invasives are getting a foothold earlier in the season and thus becoming more aggressive. Get a jump on pulling out honeysuckle, multiflora rose, Japanese stiltgrass, and garlic mustard.

USE WATER WISELY
Add rain barrels to downspouts for a watering source, keep soil healthy with compost and organic matter, water gardens only in the morning, and use mulch to preserve moisture. Learn about this and more through the Maryland Extension Service’s “Baywise” program.

PROPER PEST MANAGEMENT
Control disease and insects with Integrated Pest Management, a process of prevention and natural controls, and use chemical pesticides only as a last resort.

SO LONG LAWNS
Grass is passé. A thirsty monoculture, lawns support little to no life, encourage runoff, and are often a repository for chemicals and pesticides. Convert grass to native meadow (see tips, here) or
download Forested’s free design brochure to turn your lawn into an edible forest. Mow smarter, cutting grass high and not mowing during periods of high heat and drought.

KEEP IT UNTIDY
Fall leaves left in your yard create a winter habitat for beneficial insects that eat other garden pests. Spent-seed heads on flowers support winter’s birds. Sprays that kill one variety of insect may kill others you need for garden health. Make peace with some imperfection to live in balance with nature.

MANAGE MICROCLIMATES
Pay attention to how your microclimate—heat absorbing walls or asphalt, hilltop exposures, damp low-lying areas—may impact plants.

SAVVY SOIL
Soil is the foundation for all plants. Keep it healthy with ongoing additions of compost and organic matter.

GIVE ROOTS A CHANCE
When planting trees, dig a wide hole with roughed-up edges (augers and spades will make sheer hole walls that can become like concrete through which roots can’t grow) and mix the existing soil with compost.

Parents share tales of the nationwide teacher shortage like veterans swapping war stories: the day their kids spent watching movies in the cafeteria because there weren’t enough teachers to instruct several classrooms. The time they were asked to substitute teach in the absence of qualified professionals. Classrooms that are overcrowded and teachers who are clearly under-supported.

It’s no surprise then that a national study conducted last year found that more than half of parents were concerned that teachers were burned out and 65 percent questioned their school’s ability to have qualified teachers in the classroom.

These fears aren’t unfounded. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) spring 2024 report on the state’s teacher workforce says that while the attrition rate has begun to stabilize, it is still high, with 10.7 percent of Maryland teachers not returning to the classroom in the 2023-24 school year.

And even though enrollment in educator preparation programs (EPP) has started to rise, it’s still not enough to meet the need: MSDE notes that there were 2,144 teacher vacancies in the 2022-23 school year, but EPPs only produced 1,914 potential future teachers.

Laurie Mullen is the dean of the College of Education at Towson University. Towson was the state’s original “normal school” (teacher college) and 160 years later, it still generates more educators than any other state institution. Yet Mullen says they’ve seen a drop-off in enrollment at the College of Education since 2017 and their number of “completers,” those who graduate with a teaching certificate, is down 20 percent.

For people looking for an easy answer to the teacher shortage—low pay, poor classroom experiences—Mullen says it’s not that simple.

“If you think about 150 years ago when women went into the workforce, there was teaching and there was nursing,” says Mullen. “Now young women have more options and that’s great. What we haven’t seen on the other side is men coming into teaching.”

When what was then the Maryland State Normal School opened in 1866, it was in response to a shortage of teachers and formally educated educators in the latter half of the last century. Mullen likes to point out that back then, and up until perhaps 50 years ago, the state paid for would-be teachers to attend the Normal School.

But she notes that since the ’70s, teachers have been increasingly blamed and vilified for complex educational issues that have roots far beyond the classroom. Awareness of student special needs has also grown, which, while a positive advance, has put more pressure on classroom teachers. And, of course, pay has not kept pace. All of which makes the profession less appealing.

“Young people have grown up in a society hearing that schools are failing and one reason they’re failing is teachers,” says Mullen. “So we have children with a wider choice of occupations…and then they hear that teachers don’t make any money and aren’t respected.”

She says that while there’s no one answer as to why teaching has become a beleaguered profession, one thing is certain—we ask more of the profession now than ever before and yet give it less respect.

“The expectations that community members, school board members, legislators, and taxpayers have for classroom teachers is tremendous, much more than they can do,” says Mullen.

Maryland is making strides in repairing the pay piece of this equation. In the 2023-24 school year, the salary range for a K-12 Baltimore City teacher with a bachelor’s degree was $58,000-$68,000 and $61,000-$107,000 for those with a master’s. The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2021, has raised starting pay to $60,000 and offers incentives for national board-certified teachers of up to $17,000. It also puts in place “career ladders” to enable teachers to grow their careers.

So while pay is an issue, it is not the issue. In fact, research by the Learning Policy Institute shows that a school’s climate, culture, and condition—things like the ability to have autonomy in the classroom, access to mentoring, and time for professional development—are what take away from the attractiveness of teaching in Maryland.

Mullen says there is a lot of regulation around the profession and the curriculum, sometimes even dictating what teachers can and cannot say in the classroom. Today’s teachers may need to navigate book bans or issues around the language of trans rights.

“If you take a young, bright, creative person and put them in a place with decreasing autonomy and more scripted environments, then this is no longer an intriguing career,” she explains.

Berol Dewdney knows a bit about what it takes to get and keep teachers. The 2022 Baltimore City Teacher of the Year and 2023 Maryland Teacher of the Year instructs pre-kindergarten at Commodore John Rodgers elementary school in the Butchers Hill area of Baltimore. She’s been teaching for 11 years and while she’s aware of the teaching shortage “writ large,” she’s had the good fortune to be in a school where people love the job and stay.

Yes, pay needs to improve, but, “We have to give the adults in the room what we want them to give the children,” she says. “That can be high quality instructional materials or professional development.”

She adds that a teacher’s well-being and professional growth need to be nurtured, “in the same way that we support our [students’] being well and growing.”

Dewdney currently has 20 students in her class in a school that is more than 50 percent linguistically diverse. She’s working on her Spanish, but her school provides an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher for every grade level and an ESOL paraeducator for early-childhood classrooms. There is also a school-family coordinator and programs that provide resources in different languages. Access to resources like these help turn would-be challenges into opportunities.

“I like to think about our work as being like redwood trees that grow so tall because of their connected root systems,” she says. “I am where I am as an educator because of the amazing educators around me and the systems that have connected us. My principal [Marc Martin] does an incredible job of building collaborative systems not just in our school but across our district…And in addition to building those spaces for teachers, he honors the voice and leadership and knowledge of teachers and that has been foundational in developing me as an educator, but also keeping me happy as an educator.”

This sense of support, of agency, and of respect is critical to teacher satisfaction. Studies show that teaching has high rates of satisfaction for those who stay long-term, but young, unsupported teachers are vulnerable to departure. This is something the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is intended to fix, by making teacher preparation more rigorous and a systemic part of early career instruction.

“WE HAVE TO GIVE THE ADULTS IN THE ROOM WHAT WE WANT THEM TO GIVE THE CHILDREN.”

But tackling working conditions is complex, says Afra Hersi, dean of the School of Education at Loyola University Maryland, as it goes beyond just the conditions in the classroom. Dewdney, for example, says one of the biggest barriers teachers face today is an unsustainable workload. And mitigating that goes beyond hiring teachers.

“Schools need nurses. Schools need social workers. Schools need school psychologists. A teacher can’t be all of the things,” she says. “We want to look at what the needs and wants and hopes of our communities are and then work collectively to bring together all the people who serve those needs, wants, and hopes, because it can’t just come on the backs of teachers.”

Hersi explains that fixing classroom conditions begins before a teacher even sets foot in the school. “We have to recognize that teacher preparation needs to be honored as time that’s necessary for success,” says Hersi. “We then won’t have this revolving door of people being thrown into a situation where they aren’t prepared and burning out.

“We also need to recognize the hidden costs of becoming a teacher—the unpaid internships, the testing fees—and minimize those costs,” she continues.

Perhaps more than anything, it is these hidden fees that are keeping people out of the teaching profession, particularly minorities who are underrepresented in classrooms. (Maryland’s teachers are 68 percent white.) Hersi explains that to become a credentialed teacher, you need a bachelor’s degree, and to pass licensure exams that cost hundreds of dollars, not to mention other fees, like paying to be fingerprinted, for transportation, and for classroom supplies.

Hersi points out that medical students require a residency before practicing.  She thinks teachers could benefit from similar earn-while-you-learn programs and teaching residencies so they aren’t shouldering a financial burden on the way to the classroom.

“When we put doctors through their classroom knowledge, they have to go and do that clinical internship with a knowledgeable professional under supervision,” says Hersi. “Often, they are paid. Not teachers. That’s a significant expense for an individual to be responsible for.”

She says one way school districts have gotten around this is to bring young teachers in on conditional licensure. But that just puts unprepared teachers in a place of almost certain failure, she explains: “Would you take someone straight out of medical school with no preparation and just put them right in front of patients?”

More effective, say these experts, are things like “Grow Your Own” programs that identify high-school students interested in teaching and get them in the pipeline toward that career. Mullen points to Towson’s Summer Scholars Institute, which taps high-school students and gives them stipends and scholarships that enable them to spend a week on Towson’s campus to enroll in a class, meet faculty, and get matched up with a student mentor. Towson also has programs to interact with its own students who are undecided on a major, and they’re using social media to communicate with young people.

“There’s no magic bullet—recruitment takes intentionality,” says Mullen.

As for the expense of getting teachers into the classroom, the Maryland Teacher Shortage Reduction Act of 2023 is starting to address this issue with several interventions, including a $20,000 stipend for student teachers enrolled in an EPP who agree to teach for two years in a high-need school.

Once teachers are in place, the career ladders must be there to help them advance their careers, perhaps toward a new credential that will enable them to become a reading specialist or a special education teacher. Or help them into leadership on a track to become a principal.

More than anything, these experts say, the conversation around teaching as a profession needs to change to be more positive. As any parent who “taught” Zoom school in the pandemic knows, teaching is a difficult job, one that deserves far more respect than it’s received in recent decades. Hersi is a parent. She has seen the teacher shortage firsthand and understands parental frustration. But she maintains that the first step is to change the public narrative

“We should all be concerned, not only because our kids aren’t receiving the proper instruction they need; our entire nation is at risk,” she says. “Our whole democracy and our system of public education is built on democracy’s idea of the educated citizen. We have to say our schools are a priority and creating the professionals we need to run our schools is a priority.”

“WE ALSO NEED TO RECOGNIZE THE HIDDEN COSTS OF BECOMING A TEACHER…”

The thing about teaching is once you set aside the negativity, it’s a career that sells itself.

“Teaching is still an occupation where you can change a young person’s trajectory,” says Mullen. “The public school system can change lives.”

That’s what attracted Caroline Kunz, 21, to Loyola’s five-year master’s program in teaching. She still remembers sitting in an English  class as a high-school junior, blown away by the teacher’s passion for the topic.

“I remember reading The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye and never wanting to leave that classroom,” says Kunz. “She inspired me to have a similar impact on students.”

Kunz says she’s heard plenty of naysaying around teaching—young kids struggling with the return to the classroom after the pandemic, for example—and she’s seen some of it as a substitute teacher in her home district, which is in Rochester, New York.

On a flight recently, she mentioned to another passenger that she was going to be a teacher. “Oh good, someone has to do it,” was the response. But Kunz says working with experienced teachers through those challenges has been a great experience and, “If anything, it fuels me more to see what difference I can make…I know how formational teachers were to me and how they helped shape me as a whole person; to do the same would mean so much to me.”

She expects that when she hits hard times in the classroom, having other teachers there to remind her of the “why”—the purpose behind the career—will help her. Dewdney says that’s absolutely been the case in her school.

“When I have been at my lowest, it has always been teachers who have given me what I strive to give my students,” she says. “Our connections root us, sustain us, and inspire growth.”

That purpose has been brought into stark relief since the pandemic. Research shows that a child who lacks a teacher for one year is set back two years academically—maybe more, depending on the school and the student. Which means the race to bring more qualified teachers to the classroom is one we cannot afford to lose.

Hersi says Maryland sits at a critical juncture as the nation grapples with how to make education a priority.

“I don’t like to get political, but the state, the union, and the school systems are aligned,” she says. “And I believe we have the resources.

So the question is how do we employ them to be effective and hold systems accountable?

“I really think it is important for Maryland to be a leader on this issue,” Hersi continues. “We have this unique opportunity to make systemic shifts in this area and have Maryland become a national model.”

When Danni Donovan, master plumber and owner of Donovan WaterWorks, knocks on a door, she never quite knows what response she’ll get when the homeowner opens it. If it’s a female, usually there’s a sigh of relief.

“But countless times I’ve had a gentleman answer, and they’ll say, ‘Do you know what you’re doing?’” she says.

Donovan says it is unfortunate that her skills are often judged solely by her anatomy. But she usually falls back on humor. “I’ll say, ‘Yeah I know what I’m doing, I watched a YouTube video before I came over here.’”

This is a scenario Krystal Walker, owner of 1st Amazon Construction Services LLC, can relate to. Walker began in the roofing business over 20 years ago, starting as a receptionist and working her way up to become licensed with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. She opened her own contracting business in 2020 and says many of her clients seek her out because she is a woman and a Black-owned business. And many men are pleasantly surprised. But there are holdouts.

“I did an estimate for a gentleman, and I gave him my card and he asked me who he should talk to if he had questions and I said, ‘Me,’” she recalls. “He said what if he wanted to speak to the owner and I also said that’s me. He gave my card right back to me just because I was a woman-owned business.”

Despite the occasional sexism, these women love the challenges of their job—troubleshooting problems and creating solutions. They also like the customers—Donovan particularly likes meeting her customers’ pets. But she says there’s still a double standard to be managed.

While a man can make an error—tradesmen are only human, after all—Donovan says, “As a female in the trades, there’s zero room for error. You have to be above and beyond at all times, constantly proving yourself.”

Women make up over half the country’s workforce but, according to the Department of Labor (DOL), they account for only 11 to 14 percent of skilled trade apprenticeships—think plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, roofers, and masons. But that’s changing.

DOL numbers state that in 2021, the number of women working in trades reached its highest level ever (314,000) and during the last five years, the number of tradeswomen increased by almost one third.

The Baltimore metro area is leading that pack and recently ranked fourth in the nation for the highest number of women in the construction industry, according to a study by Construction Coverage.

This matters because women bring something to these fields that would otherwise be missing.

“Compassion and empathy, that’s exactly what’s been missing in plumbing,” says Donovan. “If you’re calling a plumber, chances are you aren’t having a good day. Something catastrophic has happened. If you just come in there and say, ‘Yep, you’re looking at $5,000, sign here,’ there’s no understanding there…If you give people options and explain what’s going on while being understanding of their situation, everything else comes naturally.”

When Walker began her contracting company, she purposely used pink in her logo so there would be no doubt it was woman-owned. To her, that sends a message to clients that her approach is going to be different.

“I hold their hand, answer their questions, explain things,” she says, adding that women tend to be more detail-oriented and more organized, which customers appreciate. “And I’m on the job site making sure everything is neat, that my guys are neat, that the work is neat and pretty. I tell my guys, ‘The work needs to be as pretty as the boss.’”

“As a female in the trades, there’s zero room for error. You have to be above and beyond at all times, constantly proving yourself.”

Jennifer Dewees, president of the Maryland Center for Construction Education and Innovation (MCCEI), a member of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), and co-founder and construction lead of the Maryland Apprenticeship Connector, says women are “typically transformational not transactional” in their business approach. Where a male tradesperson might focus on the work and closing the sale, women tend to be more communicative, to provide options, and to take time to talk to clients about the work.

And, Dewees says, there’s never been a better time for women to get a foothold in trades.

“We have a major shortage of workers across the U.S. and crumbling infrastructure that needs to be fixed,” she explains. “Women are a huge untapped resource.”

Like workers in so many fields—nurses, teachers—tradespeople are retiring in large numbers and the pipeline is not there to replace them. There’s been a marked decline in vocational school programming and attendance since the mid-’80s, when there was a national push for all kids to go to college, and that has impacted the number of available young, trained workers.

MCCEI works to bring women into trades with intention. The group is tapping youth too, running a camp each summer to educate middle and high school girls about the construction field. Every year since they began there’s been a waitlist.

Dewees says this industry is a perfect fit for women because it is diverse in its offerings. There are residential, commercial, and industrial pathways so a woman can be anything from a construction worker to a site manager to a business owner. Also, trades tend to have higher pay and fewer wage gaps than other fields. She adds that many women who are homeowners feel safer or simply prefer having a female tradesperson in their home and may seek out a woman-owned business.

Donovan says probably half of her customers call because hers is a woman-owned business. “We hear a lot of how some tradesperson talked down to me, asked to speak to my husband,” she says. “There’s a sense of relief that we’re on the same level.”

This was starkly apparent when Donovan was called by a transgender woman who was in tears because she needed to replace a hot water heater. “She was not respected by other tradespeople,” she says.

When Donovan and her crew left after successfully completing the job, the woman was in tears again—of happiness. “She was over the moon that we treated her like a human.”

It’s not just job availability and security that makes this an optimal time for women to be moving into trades. Many developers and contractors are buffing up their diversity, equity, and inclusion outreach and are incentivized to hire females.

Lynn Selby saw this trend and, as executive director of the workforce development nonprofit, the Caroline Center, jumped on it. This year the center launched its BuildHER pilot program with a class of five female students. They will do essential skills training at the center and then pre-apprenticeship education at the Baltimore Washington Building and Trades Council.

The Caroline Center is not just about getting women jobs. It believes in building careers. “What a regular apprenticeship offers is a ladder for women where the more you learn, the more your skills and earnings increase,” says Selby. Although an apprenticeship takes time, you can “learn while you earn,” and come out of the gate with an in-demand skill set and no burden of student loans.

“For us, it’s also an investment in Baltimore,” Selby continues. “If a woman who is raising her family does well, Baltimore does well.”

Leaurdra Raye, owner of Miss Electricity LLC, has been a master electrician for more than 25 years. Ironically, she got into her trade because of a man. She had the grades to apply to a city-wide high school. Her boyfriend at the time was headed to Mergenthaler Vocational School to study the electrical trade, so she followed him.

It was 1986 and she was the only female in the program. She said the other participants were “horrible” to her and even when she was licensed, she was often excluded from bigger jobs because she was female.

But she loved the work and says, “I’m glad I stuck it out. Electrical work will always be around, so I never need to worry about being unemployed, and the pay is good and allows me a lifestyle.” Raye uses the proceeds of her business to feed her travel bug; she’s taking her nieces to the Dominican Republic later this year and attending a school reunion in Jamaica, too.

Raye (who is still dear friends with that old boyfriend, by the way) has been around long enough to see attitudes change for the better. Now, customers are often pleasantly surprised that their electrician is a woman. “It’s nice because a lot of people, they still aren’t used to seeing females in this field, so their reactions are really exciting.”

The Baltimore metro area recently ranked fourth in the nation for the highest number of women in the construction industry.

As evidenced by the stories of these tradespeople, many women sort of fell into the work. Walker, the roofer-cum-contractor, got into the business because she was encouraged by her old (male) boss. Donovan, the plumber, didn’t find college engaging and her mother, remembering how her daughter liked to take things apart as a child, suggested trade school. Raye was simply following a youthful crush.

A hurdle for women getting into trades sometimes has nothing to do with sexism but simple lack of awareness that the jobs exist. Society is still hardwired to think these are jobs just for men.

Case in point: Donovan had a customer who was telling her that her daughter was a bit adrift about what to do with her life. But even after talking to her female plumber, the woman didn’t consider trade school for her daughter until Donovan suggested it. It’s one of the main reasons Dewees says they do their youth camp.

“If you can see it, you can be it,” she says. Many of Walker’s 11 workers (including two women) have been with her for many years, dating back to her previous job when she was working her way up. She says there’s no machismo there; her guys even embraced the pink logo on their uniforms.

The old male-dominated stigmas are fading and if women seize the opportunities the trades offer, she says the customers are there to be had.

“I think this industry needs women,” says Walker. “My customers tell me that they like the time a woman puts in…It’s important to offer people a different way of doing things.”

Looking for women-owned home services? Start here:

1ST AMAZON CONSTRUCTION SERVICES: Roofing, siding, gutters and more.

DONE CONSTRUCTION: Kitchen and bath contractor.

DONOVAN WATERWORKS: Full-service plumber.

EASTWOOD PAINTING & CONTRACTING: Residential painting, sealing, restoration.

EHS MARYLAND: Contractor.

HERS ELECTRIC: Electrical contractor.

KULP PAINTING COMPANY: Interior painting and custom murals.

MISS ELECTRICITY: Electrician, (443) 865-0493

WALTER ELECTRIC: Full-service electrical contractor.

When Lauren Uhlig moved from an apartment to a home in northeast Baltimore’s Hamilton Hills in 2016, she was excited about the four-by-eight vegetable bed in the backyard. Although she works as an architect, Uhlig was inspired to explore the local cut flower movement and, on a whim, she decided to try her hand at growing some roses. When she told people about her blooming aspirations, they all said the same thing: good luck.

Roses are notoriously difficult to grow in this area due to heat, humidity, and deer. But Uhlig, 31, was undeterred. She bought five rose bushes in 2019 just to see if she could keep them alive and now she has several hundred—and many more four-by-eight flower beds in the backyard.

“I still remember my first rose,” she says. “I was so proud of myself. I had grown a rose and it had bloomed and it was magical. And I haven’t stopped since.

“I had no background in gardening, no background in roses, it was just something I fell into, and seem to have a knack for,” she continues.

She had such a knack, she decided to turn it into a business. In honor of that first garden bed, Uhlig started Florxeight (pronounced floor-by-eight) in 2019 and now sells cut roses directly to local florists.

Despite their high-maintenance reputation, Uhlig says roses are one of the world’s oldest flowers. Fossil records indicate the existence of roses 30 million years ago. So, while they may be persnickety to grow, “at their core, they’re scrappy,” she says.

Uhlig plants English style heirloom garden roses. When the forsythia starts to bloom, usually in March, she knows it is time to wake up her garden. She prunes out anything diseased, damaged, or dead, as well as any spindly canes less than the thickness of a pencil. (She says one of the biggest mistakes gardeners make is not pruning their roses enough.)

This is also when she starts to fertilize, using a recipe of natural-based products she mixes up herself. She fertilizes “weakly weekly”—in small amounts on a weekly basis—throughout the growing season and until roughly six weeks before the first frost.

“It’s like the diet of a performance athlete, they need to consume enough nutrients for their energy output,” she explains, “but it’s not necessary for anyone who just wants beautiful garden roses.”

Throughout the spring and in fall—she takes a break during the high heat of summer when the demand is less—Uhlig’s roses produce lush, multi-petaled florals. They are the definition of romance, the type of roses Willian Shakespeare had in mind when he wrote “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

“My roses are delicate, with a shorter vase life but with the most wonderful smell,” says Uhlig.

In short, these are nothing like the stiff, tight-budded roses on offer at the local grocery store. Those buds are Uhlig’s prime competitors. According to the USDA, the U.S. imported more than $800-million worth of roses in 2022, almost all from Central and South America, and imports have led to a 95-percent decline in domestic rose production.

Those roses generally have no scent but have long, sturdy stems and the unblemished blooms florists require. Of course, perfection comes at a price; imported roses are created using a tremendous amount of pesticide, often unscrupulously applied, leaving communities ravaged by the impacts of pollution. And the carbon cost to get them to U.S. markets is significant.

It’s one of many reasons Ellen Frost, owner of Local Color Flowers, says she always joked that she was the only floral designer who didn’t work with roses. Her business, which helped pioneer the local flower movement in Maryland, only uses stems grown within 100 miles of Baltimore. And there were no roses in that radius. So, when she heard Uhlig was going to try to grow them, she was intrigued, excited, and, of course, a little skeptical.

When Uhlig produced her first bloom, she proudly took it directly to Frost. “We told her, ‘Everything you produce, we’ll buy,’” Frost recalls. She says the blooms are beloved by customers who have long had an appetite for local roses.

Frost says that while the flowers are “stunning,” it is their scent you notice first, especially if one is accustomed to scentless imported roses.

“They aren’t just fragrant, but every variety has a different fragrance,” she explains. “And fragrance is so important because so much of what we love about flowers is attached to scent memory; roses can take you back to your wedding day or to your grandmother’s yard or a special garden you visited.”

For the best results growing roses at home, Uhlig says to look for varieties that are disease-resistant and known to do well in this area. She picks up lots of good intel on varieties that excel in climates similar to Baltimore’s from rose web forums. She uses integrated pest management practices too, attracting beneficial insects and applying non-chemical sprays to combat most diseases and pests. To help others who want to accept the challenge of growing their own roses, Uhlig is also running an online course.

Frost says it cannot be overstated just how remarkable it is that Uhlig is having success in her endeavor. “In the national scheme of flower growing, it is very exciting to have this coming out of our city,” says Frost.

If Uhlig has her way, she’s going to put Maryland on the map for rose growing. She admits it is a far-fetched dream, but if her wonderous little northeast Baltimore backyard is a litmus test, she may just make that dream a reality.

Stepping into Found Studio Shop, a retail gift shop in Lauraville, feels like the most genuine hug from a friend. Everything is bright, fun, and comfortable—with just a touch of sass—which is exactly how owner Kacey Stafford designed it.

“One of my favorite things to do is get together a collection of things that are beautiful and functional and bring joy,” drawls the Kentucky native. “I want people to walk in here and sigh, ‘Ahhh.’ This is the ultimate retail therapy destination.”

The shop is a veritable emporium of gifting, stocking everything from jewelry and chocolate to bath and body products, pillows and cocktail shakers, and adorable goods for babies and children.

Stafford, 45, carries an extensive collection of paper goods and clever cards and plenty of fashionable housewares. Many of the items are locally sourced from Baltimore-based artists and some of Stafford’s employees are makers themselves.

The store is the brick-and-mortar embodiment of Stafford’s personality, equal parts Southern charm and endless creativity. A mixed media artist—you may be familiar with her “BMORE KIND” sticker—Stafford received a degree in art education at Murray State University in her home state and began her career as an art teacher in public schools.

Eighteen years ago, when her husband, Scott, needed to relocate for work, it brought the couple to Baltimore, where they fell in love with the quaint neighborhood of Waltherson, in northeast Baltimore. They set down roots and have been dedicated to that community ever since.

As much as she enjoyed teaching, and supporting public schools in particular, Stafford didn’t feel it was her life’s vocation. Her father owned a furniture store and her grandfather a nursery and landscaping business. Even though she knew the challenges of entrepreneurship, she always felt called to the world of independent retail. She ditched teaching and, “decided I would listen to what was pulling at my heartstrings—I wanted a shop.”

Stafford joined forces with Carmen Brock and helped open Red Tree in Hampden in 2006—it later morphed into the much-loved Trohv—but left three years later to have her children, now ages 10 and 13. (Trohv closed in 2022.)

“When I left Trohv I said, ‘I probably won’t ever do a store again’—because it’s so demanding and takes over your life,” she recalls. But then an opportunity arose in 2019 for her to have a tiny, 250-square-foot niche shop within Red Canoe Café, right in the heart of her own neighborhood. “I thought, well, this is a good, low-risk way to find out if this is still my passion. And as soon as I opened, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve missed this so much.’ This is my passion. This is my gift.”

The little store took off. While Stafford acknowledges that retail is no joke, she says that Baltimore will turn out for the right kind of store.

“Baltimore doesn’t want a cookie-cutter world, and they don’t want vacant Main Streets or just big-box stores,” she says. “Baltimore supports and shows up for its local businesses and local artists.”

The origin story of what is now Found Studio is as much the story of a building as it is a store. Despite the pandemic being “the universe giving me a slap in the face,” Stafford knew she would need to expand when online school ended—she was home with a kindergartener and a third grader—and the world went back to normal. And she knew just where she wanted to go: a building on Lauraville’s main street on the same block as Red Canoe and near her friend and fellow local retailer, Christina Brunyate, who owns Domesticity Sewing Studio.

The building had history; it had been everything from a pleasure club in the ’80s to, more recently, a DIY home projects store. But it had stood vacant since 2015, and Stafford had always kept her eye on it. In a twist of fate that can only happen in Smalltimore, the building’s owner turned out to be Stafford’s neighbor. It took a year—and a whole lot of that Southern charm—for him to agree to sell.

“It took a lot of negotiations and meetings, and I finally convinced him with my nice Southern drawl and a couple glasses of bourbon,” she quips.

She and her husband acquired the building in November 2022. What ensued was a frantic year of constant work. Dead birds, dust, and detritus were cleared out. Stafford secured a Project Restore grant from the state and a façade improvement grant from Baltimore Development Corporation. Although a contractor did the heavy lift of HVAC, electrical, and plumbing, Stafford and her husband did much of the work themselves, customizing every inch of the store with an artist’s eye. They painted all the floors and laid intricate patterns of tile in the bathrooms, along with designer Gary Godbey.

Almost every piece of furniture was purchased at Second Chance, through Facebook Marketplace, or is a hacked piece from Ikea. A group of volunteers helped paint furniture. The pièce de résistance is the accent wall behind the register area that Stafford painted herself in her signature mixed-media style. The paint was barely dry when Found Studio opened, just in time for holiday shoppers.

The store’s tagline is appropriately “curated by an artist.” A committed member of the Charm City Craft Mafia, where she’s been on the board since 2011, Stafford carries many things by local artists and makers. For example, she says they can’t keep Hon’s Honey products on the shelves. (The Baltimore-based social enterprise sells honey products made by survivors of human trafficking.) She carries cutting boards made by woodworker Deirdre Smith from trees that naturally fall on her Baltimore County farm, prints, notecards, and paintings by local artists like Emily Uchytil and Gertie Smith, and candles and soap crafted by Mount Royal Soaps.

The second story of Found Studio is used as a rotating gallery space for artists and for events. Local papercut artist Annie Howe has a small studio space there, too. In the future, Stafford would like to get back to her teaching roots and offer classes in the space.

“I think this vibe is very Baltimore City-centric,” she says of the store. That local edge is important to Stafford, as she finds retail to be as much about community as it is commerce. “Creating community is the part I love,” she says. “We have a lot of regulars who come in and people come here to be surrounded by beauty and to forget about their cares, if only for a few minutes.”

For all the whimsy of its wares, it is Stafford who brings the magic to Found Studio Shop.

From the number of people who volunteered to help her and Scott get the shop open, to the dedicated customers who swing by just to say hello—and Stafford always remembers everyone’s name—it’s clear that she is a fixture in Lauraville, a splash of Southern comfort in a Natty Boh town.

This piece appeared in our March 2024 issue. For more great Baltimore stories, consider becoming a subscriber.

Several years ago, Shanea Daniels went shopping. She came home with a few things for her two kids, a Michael Kors purse for herself, and a small black bag containing a new handgun.

Her husband was not pleased.

“I’m the gun lover in my house,” says Daniels, 38, explaining that her grandfather was retired military and her dad a correctional officer.

Guns were a natural part of her upbringing, but until she forced the issue with that purchase, her husband had consistently said “no” to having a gun in the house. With time, he came around to the idea, and now the whole family, including their daughters, aged seven and 13, are committed to safe gun ownership.

Daniels, who lives in Delaware, frequents the Baltimore region as the director of chapters and membership at the Atlanta-based National African American Gun Association (NAAGA).

At NAAGA, she oversees 120-plus chapters (nine in Maryland), each with a unique Queens of Defense group that promotes education and support for female gun owners. The program is as on-trend as Daniels’ designer purse, with women now accounting for 42 percent of all gun ownership. A fifth of that population is Black, making women—specifically African-American women—possibly the fastest growing demographic in the nation’s arms race.

White men are still the largest demographic of gun owners, but while the National Rifle Association did not respond to a request for demographic information on its five million members, it has its own female-forward programs like “Women on Target” clinics, billed as a “safe and friendly environment” where women who are curious about firearms can begin their exploration.

Gun ownership across all demographics rose with the 2016 election and its subsequent social unrest, then spiked during the pandemic. The 2021 National Firearms Survey stated that “about 31.9 percent of U.S. adults, or 81.4 million Americans, own over 415 million firearms,” an average of five guns per person. And the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that 87 percent of firearms dealers reported an increase in Black women buyers in the first half of that same year.

“Since the pandemic, since Donald Trump’s election, and all the things that are happening politically, there has been a rise in African Americans needing to—not just wanting to, needing to—protect themselves, because the racism we believed was dormant in the country….Well, race is now back on the table and we needed to collectively protect ourselves,” says Daniels.

She says that, with high crime rates and the particular vulnerability of women, it’s no wonder female gun ownership is growing.

“Women have been seen for many generations as sitting ducks,” says Daniels. “You have a lot of single moms who are raising multiple kids who are working around the clock…I think women have just decided, ‘I don’t want to be a victim anymore.’ Women have decided enough is enough.”

“I THINK WOMEN HAVE JUST DECIDED, ‘I DON’T WANT TO BE A VICTIM ANYMORE.’ WOMEN HAVE DECIDED ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”

A brief history lesson, to better understand this trend: While the Second Amendment gives persons the right to bear arms, that right has not been equitably honored throughout the centuries.

An article in the Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives explains that, “When the Second Amendment was written, there were racist gun laws already in place, restricting the possession of firearms by Black people…Some scholars argue that the Second Amendment itself was included in the Constitution to ensure whites were able to control their Black slaves.”

Philip Smith, NAAGA’s founder and national president, says that new member orientation always includes a bit of history, from the rebellion of enslaved people led by Nathanial “Nat” Turner in 1831 to the Deacons for Defense and Justice, a civil rights militia group in the 1960s that armed itself to protect African-American voters from the Ku Klux Klan.

“It’s been much harder for us to access the Second Amendment and, when we do exercise the Second Amendment, to be respected and taken seriously like our white counterparts,” says Smith, noting that Black gun owners undergo more legal scrutiny than whites when exercising their right to self-defense, for example.

One need only look at the example of U.S. Airman Michael Giles. The veteran fired two shots from a gun he legally owned to defend himself when he was hit in the head during a brawl in a nightclub. The person he shot wasn’t seriously injured, but Giles was convicted of aggravated assault and is serving 25 years in a Florida prison. Or Siwatu-Salama Ra, a Black Muslim woman, who brandished her—licensed and unloaded—gun at a driver who rammed the car her two-year-old child was in. Ra was sentenced to two years.

“I’m not a prejudiced person or someone that likes to make excuses, but that’s just the day-to-day reality that our folks have to deal with,” says Smith. “I wanted an organization that spoke to that, that was a safe space for us to come and just talk about firearms.”

Smith himself grew up the “nerdy” middle kid in a family of five in California, where guns were just not part of the culture. He worked in San Francisco and Silicon Valley before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, where his wife wanted to raise their kids. There, he had two colleagues—one white, one Black—who encouraged him to go to the gun range with them. Eventually, he relented.

“I shot everything they provided for three hours and had the greatest time of my life,” says Smith.

And as he was leaving the range, he thought, “If I, a Black man with no experience with firearms, can have this much fun, I know there’s other Black folks in my community who would love to do this.”

He founded NAAGA in February 2015, during Black History Month. He wanted to start an organization that not only filled a niche for Black gun enthusiasts and focused on training, education, and safety, but one that changed the stereotypes around Blacks and guns.

“When I first started the organization, I went to Google and typed in ‘Black people’ and ‘guns,’” he recalls. “The imagery that came back was crazy—it was all pimps and prostitutes, gangsters, police arrests. Nothing positive.” NAAGA has since flooded social media with images of parents shooting with their kids and groups of women at the gun range, reflecting a more accurate experience.

Smith says NAAGA’s 40,000-plus membership is more than 38-percent female. In his experience, women are open and social and ready to learn.

“Women come in groups four, six, eight deep—they bring their sister, their mom, their girlfriends,” he says with a laugh. Gun manufacturers take note of this, too, as women who do activities together tend to also shop together, translating into more gun sales.

“I foresee, very soon in the future, a time when Black women, or women in general, will outpace men as gun owners,” Smith continues. “Women are getting more of a presence in society; you don’t think twice about a woman CEO, and the same thing is happening in the firearms industry. Women aren’t waiting on a man to buy a gun.”

“I FORESEE, VERY SOON IN THE FUTURE, A TIME WHEN BLACK WOMEN, OR WOMEN IN GENERAL, WILL OUTPACE MEN AS GUN OWNERS.”

The Guntry facility sits in an unassuming brick strip mall in Owings Mills, but the 64,000-square-foot shooting range and training center is like a beautiful country club for gun enthusiasts inside. Even on a quiet Wednesday night in late fall, there are people browsing the retail shop. A young woman pushes a stroller through racks of T-shirts while a father and son peruse displays of rifles and handguns. Several couples check in at the front desk for their range times, as do a handful of solo older men who, given the badges on their gun bags, seem to be retired veterans.

Then there is Dr. Angela Gustus. The 48-year-old Baltimore County resident and her wife co-own a licensed health care organization located not far from the range. She bought her first gun in 2019 and went on to obtain her concealed carry permit (CCW). During the pandemic, when her company was conducting on-site COVID testing, with a lot of strangers and cash circulating in and out, she was glad to have her firearm for protection.

“The missing piece, for me, was having people to go to the range with,” she says.

Gustus joined a local chapter of NAAGA, connected with Daniels, and helped develop a Queens of Defense within that local chapter. The group includes about eight women and is growing. Members made a field trip to a local gun show last year and get together about once a month to have dinner and shoot guns.

Gustus’ women’s group enters the Guntry shooting lanes in work clothes, scrubs, and yoga pants. Most are middle-aged, although Daniels has brought along her 12-year-old daughter this evening. One by one, they put on their ear protection, unpack their firearms—a revolver, 9-millimeters, .22s, an AR-style rifle—and attach paper targets to a moving arm that is electronically sent “down range.”

Soon, the room is alive with the thunder of guns firing and the ping of brass casings hitting the floor. A friendly staff member pushes the spent ammunition down range with a wide broom like so much hair being swept up at a salon.

“After a rough week, going to the range is my stress reliever,” says Gustus. “When you’re in the booth…you can’t be thinking about anything else, so from that perspective, it’s very therapeutic.”

Gustus says the women’s group takes the intimidation out of going into places where a woman, particularly a Black woman, might feel uncomfortable. But she explains that there are a lot of women who are “closet gun owners.” These women buy a gun but are afraid to carry it or talk about it because of the stigma—that women are meant to be nurturers, not holstering a weapon under their business-casual dress.

On the contrary, Shannon Bromell, an African-American firearms instructor, says women make excellent marksmen because they are more open to training and education than men, whom he says often come in like would-be Dirty Harrys. He began his training operation, Grayman Operators, because there simply weren’t that many African Americans in the Baltimore instructional space. He’s seen that change in recent years.

Bromell, who gave Gustus and others in her group their initial training, says it’s important for all gun owners to get instruction so they learn to be comfortable not only owning their gun, but using it—and knowing when not to use it.

“Whether you decide to carry it or not carry it, whether it’s in your house, your car, on your person, or in your purse,” he says, “go get training so that you are comfortable with the thing that is going to protect you.”

Nicole Pulley, 49, was a closet gun owner. She bought her first and only gun—a revolver—in 2008, on the advice of her father. She was living with her two young children in a neighborhood that he deemed unsafe. For the most part, the gun sat in a case collecting dust. Then the pandemic hit and Pulley’s business—she owned salons in retirement communities—was devastated. She picked up Uber driving but was concerned about mounting carjackings. That’s when her son, now 21, said it was time for his mom to get training as well as her CCW permit. Her son belongs to Bromell’s men’s group and told his mother about the one for women. She finally went, met Gustus, and has since found a community.

“Women should at least know the basics of firearms safety, and it’s a really good hobby,” says Pulley. “Imagine you’ve had a bad day and someone has gotten on your nerves. What better than to go to the range and take it all out on paper?”

Pulley is now a licensed childcare worker. While those close to her know she owns a gun, she understands the need for women to keep their gun ownership in the “closet,” citing pushback, often from other women. “They come with the fear first, all the children getting killed and all that, and my rebuttal is education and proper training prevents curiosity.”

As far as her own personal safety is concerned, Pulley is pragmatic about her gun: “I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”

Roughly 72 percent of gun owners say they have it for protection, but not everyone agrees that it is the best way to keep oneself safe. In fact, some studies show having a gun in the house increases one’s likelihood of experiencing violence, with one study stating homicide rates are twice as high in gun-owning households than those without, and that the presence of a gun makes crime more violent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls firearms deaths in the U.S. “a significant and growing public health problem” and notes that “record high levels” of homicide and suicide involving a gun have risen as gun ownership has grown. CDC research shows that from 2019 to 2020, the firearm homicide rate increased about 35 percent and that 2020 was the highest recorded in over 25 years.

Gustus says she sees plenty of opportunity for gun reform in this country, but she’s of the same mind as Pulley. Gustus fell enthusiastically into gun ownership, and now her wife and son are also armed with CCW permits. Seeing the need for more inclusivity in gun instruction, she became a licensed firearms and CCW educator last fall, and now offers classes open to all, but with specific focus on women and LGBTQ+ gun owners.

“I wanted to be able to train people that look like me and have similar lifestyles that I have,” Gustus says. “It’s not that male trainers can’t train women. It’s that some women may not feel comfortable with a male trainer. It’s that some people in the LGBTQ+ community, some people that are trans, may feel like, ‘I don’t know what I’m walking into.’ I want to create a space where people can come in, no matter who they are or who they love, and get trained.”

For all the camaraderie that comes with female gun ownership, there is an underlying reality that increasing gun sales are women’s reaction to feeling unsafe.

“As long as other people can shoot me, I promise you, I want to be able to protect me,” says Gustus.

Black women, in particular, have higher rates of domestic partner violence and are murdered in greater numbers than white women. These women say the answer to that epidemic of violence is self-defense.

“We’ve absolutely seen a group of younger, predominantly female people coming through the doors, saying, ‘Listen, I have to be my own first responder,’” says Daniels.

It might seem contradictory for Black women to champion gun ownership, given the disproportionate impact that gun violence has on Black communities. But NAAGA’s Smith pulls no punches on the topic, saying it’s easy for some to take the high road of reform.

“But I see families living inundated with crime, prostitution, gangs,” he says. “[Our members] are thankful they have the ability to go out and buy a gun to protect themselves.”

Bromell says that if we want to change the narrative, specifically around young Black men and gun violence, it all goes back to access, training, and mentorship. He’s begun a Grayman Young Guns group to improve youth understanding of firearms and safety.

“If you take those same young Black men off the streets and you give them a sense of responsibility when it comes to firearms, a sense of purpose, and a place to train, they go from that gangster with a firearm to a firearm owner with a CCW, and now they have another level of respect for themselves as well.”

Daniels adds that you can’t have a conversation about gun violence without understanding the historical and cultural context of Black gun access in America, or addressing social determents today.

“There is gun violence in Black and brown communities, but there’s also a lack of education, of understanding, of cultural experiences,” she says. “So at the end of the day, it’s how do we provide communities with resources? How do we invest in those communities?”

When asked what she thinks gun ownership will look like in 10 years, Daniels turns to her daughter, who, at 13, is already a capable and confident firearms user. “Honestly, I don’t envision myself carrying a firearm,” her daughter says, “only because in 10 years, I would hope that the world would be safe enough that I won’t need one.”

It’s a good answer, but one that makes her mom “nervous,” especially as global tensions increase, shootings become more commonplace, and a contentious presidential election looms.

So until that just and equitable world manifests, it’s likely women will continue to be at home on the range.

This piece appeared in our March 2024 issue. For more great Baltimore stories, consider becoming a subscriber.

A short hike up a grass path through a meadow brings you to a hilltop where two cherry trees create a pocket of shade. The view is mostly uninterrupted ridgelines covered in forest. It is here that, when his time comes, Dr. Howard Berg will be laid to rest.

“I tell people this is a nature preserve where people happen to be buried,” says Berg, 70, a founder of Serenity Ridge Natural Burial Cemetery and Arboretum in Windsor Mill, the first of its kind in Maryland.

Unlike traditional burial, natural burial uses no embalming and everything that goes into the ground must be biodegradable. “The idea is to care for the dead with minimal environmental impact while preserving or restoring natural habitat.”

Serenity Ridge is certified by the national Green Burial Council (GBC) and has conducted close to 40 burials since it opened in January 2023. It sits on a portion of a 177-acre property that Berg’s father bought in 1965. Berg, a gardener and Baltimore native with a deep appreciation for the natural world, read up on the idea of natural burial and even drove to New Jersey to visit the closest such cemetery.

“It was a revelation, just seeing what [the owner] had done with the property,” says Berg, explaining how they become natural havens perfect for contemplation and reflection.

There are roughly 220 natural burial cemeteries in the United States and another is slated to open soon in Silver Spring. In this era of climate change, it’s little wonder natural burial is growing in popularity. GBC statistics paint a staggering portrait of the environmental impact of conventional burial, which puts 4.3 million gallons of embalming fluid (containing chemicals like formaldehyde, methanol, and benzene), 20 million board feet of hardwoods, and 1.6 million tons of concrete into the earth annually.

Internments at Serenity Ridge are like the dust-to-dust burials of the pre-Civil War era, before enterprising undertakers began promoting embalming and ever-more-lavish caskets. Here, everything that goes in the ground must be biodegradable—shrouds are cotton or linen, coffins are usually more sustainable poplar or pine, and may not have metal liners, nails, or screws. Even the clothing of the deceased cannot contain synthetic materials. With few exceptions, embalming is not accepted. Even the headstones are low impact, carved into fieldstones that Berg hand-selects from the nearby Patapsco Quarry.

Cremated remains are allowed in biodegradable vessels, but Berg says they are educating people about the negative environmental impact—cremation contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, while natural burials sequester carbon, a major contributor to climate change.

Steve Kuehne, the cemetery manager, spent 10 years in the conventional burial industry and says the difference here isn’t just in what goes below the soil.

“People seem more at ease with the services here, especially kids,” he says, looking over the inviting meadows crisscrossed with grass paths. “In a traditional cemetery, there are a lot of rules. Here, the family can get involved as much or as little as they wish. The emotion and intention behind everything is different.”

He adds that traditional burials are also expensive, often inhibiting a family’s ability to memorialize their loved ones as they wish. The average price of a funeral in the U.S. is $7,848; at Serenity Ridge, plot, burial, flowers, and a headstone cost $3,850.

For Berg, a retired colorectal surgeon, Serenity Ridge is just another way he can help others. He is aware of what makes the place unique: “Here, we’ve combined the private, public, religious, and nonprofit sectors. This isn’t a cemetery, it’s a community.”

It’s late October and leaves are thick on the ground in Gunpowder Falls State Park in northern Baltimore County. It’s unseasonably warm and a moon, almost full, is rising in the sky. But without a flashlight it is black as pitch in the woods.

“There’s someone out here,” says Sally Robb, leaning down to remove the leash on her eight-year-old border collie mix, Watson. “Go find.”

At her command, Watson streaks into the woods. He wears a GPS tracker and a light-up collar that flashes green as he ranges in and out of trees, a bell on his vest ringing his whereabouts. Dropping deeper into the park, cooler air signifies we’re nearing the Gunpowder River. Robb, 37, takes in Watson’s behaviors down to the most subtle tail twitch. She knows this dog nearly as well as she knows herself.

“There,” she says, “did you see his head pop?”

Almost imperceptibly, Watson has filtered out the millions of scents that are in the park and picked up the one he’s here to find: human. Later, he races back to Robb, jumps on her chest, and bolts away. This is his trained final response move, an indication for her to follow.

She does just that as the dog continues to run back and forth, jumping on her chest and returning to his find—in this case, fellow search dog handler Sue King, who is curled in a patch of grass at the foot of a tree along the riverbank. Having done his work, Watson receives his reward, a red Wubba toy with waving arms like an octopus, and he, Robb, and King enjoy a joyful and intense game of tug.

This is only a training exercise. Had this been an actual search for a missing person, Robb and Watson may have been out for much longer, searching a sector mapped out by law enforcement that could be 25, 40, or even 80 acres. So, two nights a week and some Saturdays, Robb, executive director of the nonprofit Chesapeake Search Dogs (CSD), meets with fellow search and rescue (SAR) canines and their human handlers to keep their skills sharp in both live and human-remain detection (HRD).

“Mostly people think police do this work,” says Robb. But even if local law enforcement has a K9 unit, they are rarely trained in SAR or HRD.

Chesapeake Search Dogs was actually founded by members of the Baltimore County Fire Department when it disbanded its in-house SAR unit in 1997. Given the time and money it takes to train these skilled canines, the all-volunteer nonprofit model makes sense.

It can take up to two years to train a dog, which needs at least 2,000 hours of training to be National Association of Search and Rescue certified. And when you factor in the gear, training, and certifications, it adds up to more than $3,000 a year.

Human handlers have an even larger learning curve. You first learn to be a flanker, someone who assists at searches with everything from navigation (with map and compass—you can’t rely on a cell signal) to radio communication. Handlers must be wilderness first aid certified, know basic canine first aid, and be knowledgeable of the most minute air movements that can mean the difference between a dog picking up the scent of its quarry—or blazing right by it.

Robb, chief of staff for Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson by day, got into this work after watching a documentary about 9/11 that mentioned SAR volunteers. It was the first time she realized the work was not done by police but rather people like her—dog lovers with a dedication to service. And when she adopted Watson, then 11 weeks old, from a rescue in 2015, he was a smart, driven, high-energy dog. In other words, a dog desperately in need of a job.

“You want to lean into the natural tendencies of the dog, their natural drive for chasing prey, so you want dogs that have long noses and have a really high play drive or food drive, because ultimately, they’re doing the work for a ‘paycheck,’” says Robb.

The paycheck is the special toy, like Watson’s Wubba. To work long hours in all terrain, dogs also need size and stamina, so breeds like German shepherds, Labradors, golden retrievers, border collies, and some spaniels are naturally suited to the work.

The canine nose is both a finely tuned instrument and a wonder of engineering. Dogs possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, versus about six million in humans. Not only is the area of their brain dedicated to analyzing smells 40 to 100 times greater than ours, when dogs inhale, a fold of tissue just inside their nostril helps to separate the functions of breathing and smelling, allowing a dog to smell even when it exhales. They can also smell different scents in each nostril.

With this extraordinary snout, a dog can find people buried in rubble and underwater, human remains as old as 200 years, and something
as small as a single drop of blood in an area equivalent to an Olympic-size swimming pool. One dog can search for a person in an hour with greater effectiveness than 120 people.

Chesapeake Search Dogs exists to be a tool for law enforcement and fire services search managers. They accept calls only from local, state, or federal law enforcement via a 24/7 hotline, at which point the number of resources and types of dogs needed are determined. CSD’s services are provided for free anywhere in Maryland, Delaware, northern Virginia, and southern Pennsylvania. Currently, they have 13 handlers, 15-plus dogs, and a pipeline with pups in training. They conduct about 40 searches annually.

When Watson returns to Robb’s jeep, he hops in next to his new “brother,” a golden retriever puppy named Seagram Van der Robb who is there that evening to adjust to spending time alone in the truck. In this game of hide-and-seek, it is Robb’s turn to play lost hiker. King gets her 10-year-old Labrador, Jax, from his crate in her car.

When law enforcement reaches out, it is often for a situation like tonight’s role play: A lost hunter or an elderly person, child, or vulnerable adult has managed to slip away from caregivers and needs to be located. These are the calls that usually come late at night, when someone didn’t turn up at dinner, perhaps, and family have already looked for the person on their own. This is wilderness air scenting, more commonly called “live find.”

“More often than not, we tell the police there’s no one in an area and they can redirect their search,” says Robb. “That’s the stressful part, telling police with confidence that an area is clear, because they might re-search the area, but generally they’re going to say, ‘Great, we trust you. We’re moving over here.’”

ONE DOG CAN SEARCH FOR A PERSON IN AN HOUR WITH GREATER EFFECTIVENESS THAN 120 PEOPLE.

Search dogs operate based on commands from their handler. When their leash is removed, they go into hunting mode. There’s no cinematic waving of a piece of the missing person’s clothing under their nose. King gives Jax his command and he trots off at a more leisurely pace than Watson. The dog knows what he is there to find. Jax has already sniffed the people he came into the woods with—humans, but not the one he’s looking for. As he zigzags through the underbrush, he enjoys plenty of sniffing (the pee of other dogs, deer, and squirrels). All interesting, no doubt, but not his missing person. That’s the only thing that will earn him his beloved tug toy.

“For wilderness live finds you’re looking for any living person in an area,” Robb explains. “[Dogs] learn to scent discriminate,” she continues. “They will come up and what we call ‘scent check’ someone…they’re kind of thinking, ‘Am I smelling people that are just with me and I can ignore or am I smelling someone entirely new, and that’s the person I need to find?’”

Of course, even a live find can turn tragic—the lost can die of exposure, or in an accident, for example. Handlers grapple with that reality early in training.

“You stay focused on the task at hand and think, ‘I need to be proficient, professional, and provide these services so that law enforcement can do their job and their broader public service,’” says Robb.

Human remains detection, what many know better as “cadaver dogs,” is a more diverse discipline covering evidence searches, suicides—even drownings. Given a patient captain, a canine in a boat can locate submerged human remains. One of the handlers recalls how her German shepherd, Tank, once located a suicide victim in 14 feet of water.

Training a cadaver dog is a more nuanced discipline because there are a greater variety of odors present and more variables. Remains might be up a tree, buried, or years old.

It is a best practice for HRD handlers to train their dogs at one of the country’s eight “body farms,” forensic research facilities for the study of human decomposition. The most recent—and now nearest—farm opened last year at George Mason University in Virginia. Unlike in live find, canines searching for human remains don’t wear vests and bells. These searches are often scheduled and conducted in daylight by law enforcement who know what they’re looking for in a specific area. To keep HRD skills honed at their weekly trainings in the local park, CSD ethically procures “source” (i.e. blood, tissue, bone) from reputable organizations.

At the evening training in the park, the source is a piece of cloth with blood on it. It’s about two years old. A handler places it in the woods while King retrieves her husband Jay’s red Labrador, Pyro. King gives her command, “Search,” and the dog is off.

While a live find dog repeatedly runs from the found person to the handler, most HRD dogs either sit and stay with the remains or sit and bark. Another handler at the training explains this is because the find can be as small as a tooth or a drop of blood; once located, the dog needs to stay with this tiny piece of evidence. And if remains are buried in rubble, for example, it would be difficult for the dog to move back and forth.

Within minutes Pyro has approached an old log and starts dancing on all four paws before she sits and barks insistently. She’s found the cloth and receives her toy. Her job, this game of hide-and-seek, is complete. Not surprisingly, the bond between dog and handler is strong.

“The relationship between the canine and the handler is very close because it is fundamentally based on trust,” Robb explains. “You’re reading their behavior and they’re reading yours. If you’re stressed, the dog is like, ‘Mom’s really anxious.’ And that can make a dog shut down.”

The people who do this work form a tight-knit community, too.

“I’ve met a lot of different people in a lot of different walks of life, but the search and rescue community are so selfless,” says Robb. “They volunteer their time and spend their money just to make sure their dogs are proficient and can locate people. The people are incredible, as are the abilities of the dogs. This becomes a part of your life.”

Robb met her husband, Nate, through SAR. Sadly, his dog, Fitzgerald, died last year, but Seagram the puppy is already bonded to his new dad. At home in South Baltimore, Watson and Seagram live like typical pets with their cat pal, Farnsworth, though you may not find them frolicking with other pups in the dog park.

“They’re like a $100,000 sports car,” says Robb. “I can’t afford to have anything go wrong. I need him as my partner.”

The moon is high in the sky when training winds down. A few stragglers chat in the silvery moonlight that fills the parking lot as dogs’ light-up collars are removed and they are put into their crates or backseats for the ride home. A great horned owl hoots deep in the woods. Robb brings out Seagram, who has patiently spent the night in the car. Though only a few months old, he can already sit and stay and is being trained on his special toy, building his play drive. Based on his yaps when he was left out of the evening’s fun, Seagram is well on his way to being a great sit-bark dog.

Conversation turns to most memorable finds. While it can be satisfying to clear an area, it’s a heavy responsibility, too, and the days you don’t find what you’ve been sent out for can be haunting. But the best moments, says Robb, are when you find the person you’re looking for alive and well. Maybe it’s a child who ran off, or a grandparent with dementia who wandered away in nothing but pajamas on a frigid night.

“Frequently, there’s a family member who’s in close proximity to you; the stakes are high, seeing the angst of a family member looking to us,” Robb says. “That’s the reason why we all invest so much into this, because, regardless of the situation, this is someone’s loved one.

“When you find a person and the dog does their trained final response—there’s nothing like that moment.”

In the Baltimore Innovation Center on Wicomico Street, Stacy McAleer sits amid massive worktables surrounded by bolts of fabric, furniture in various states of disassembly, and cavernous walls lined with enormous spools of colored thread. A small group of men and women are busy measuring and cutting fabric, sewing it, and stapling it to furniture.

This upholstery program is one half of The Cavanagh House (TCH), the nonprofit McAleer opened in 2019 that also includes a garment/fashion program. The apprenticeship programs are designed to help those looking for financial stability to get the training needed to create a lifelong career in in-demand trades while providing the community with much-needed services. And it all began with a person McAleer met only once.

“One day I was walking into Chipotle and there was a man outside asking for money,” she says. She asked the gentleman to join her. Over lunch she learned about his life, both the opportunities he’d had and the poor decisions he made that were difficult to recover from because he lacked the support of family and financial stability.

“I realized there were probably a million people out there like him who just needed a little support to get back on their feet,” says McAleer. “That’s sometimes all someone needs—that safety net, and the chance to break that cycle.”

McAleer ended up putting the man up in a hotel for the weekend. She never saw him again but, “I just couldn’t get him off my mind. This man has no idea what he inspired me to do.”

A self-taught sewer, McAleer initially thought she would teach sewing to those in need. Then she connected with Alan Ibello of Ibello Upholstery and learned how desperate that industry was for skilled workers. The concept for TCH galvanized.

Today, TCH is one of just five upholstery schools in the U.S.; most only teach car and boat upholstery. “The average age of an upholster is 50 to 60 years old,” she explains. “Even though the demand [for upholstery] is high, work rooms are closing all over the country from lack of staff.”

The organization began in a house on Main Street in Reisterstown that belonged to McAleer’s aunt, whom the nonprofit is named for. It’s fitting, as McAleer explains: “She was a teacher who believed that every child deserved an education.”

Now, the Main Street location houses the garment program, which is run like a fashion school and offers custom home décor, alterations, and garment construction. Students earn income from their work and because the training time is flexible, can have a job outside the program.

In November 2021, the upholstery program—which operates on commission—moved to Wicomico Street, where students can learn upholstery in a full-time, paid apprenticeship. Funding comes from the revenue from upholstery projects, alterations, and custom sewing as well as grants and donations.

But much of TCH’s success comes down to McAleer’s dedication—“I wear 50 hats,” she says with a smile—and committed volunteers. Students find TCH from diverse sources: Google, church bulletins, Baltimore County’s school-to-career-program, and immigrant and refugee resettlement organizations.

Unlike a traditional workroom, TCH offers wraparound supports like transportation assistance and courses in financial literacy and business plan creation. The goal is to get students employed in professional workrooms or provide them what they need to successfully operate their own.  Just recently, McAleer graduated a single mom with three young children to a professional workroom in Abingdon.

Whether they’re reupholstering furniture, or making custom draperies, pillows, or restaurant banquette cushions, these apprentices are constructing better futures.

Will Smith Makes Surprise Visit to the Enoch Pratt Free Library
If you attended the October 18th book event for Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith’s new memoir, Worthy, you received a bit of a bonus when Pinkett Smith’s husband, actor Will Smith, surprised her on stage. Earlier that week, Pinkett Smith nearly broke the internet when she revealed to The Today Show host Hoda Kotb that, though they aren’t divorced, she and Will have been living “completely separate lives” since 2016. But if the Smith family’s appearance (the two were joined by their children Trey, Jaden, and Willow, plus more extended family members) at the Pratt’s Central Library was any indication, the couple still has a lot of love for one another. Smith gave impromptu remarks from the stage after his wife discussed her new tome with Laura Coates, an anchor and chief legal analyst for CNN.

“We have had a very long and tumultuous week,” Smith said, addressing the viral news. “We call it ‘breautiful,’ it was brutal and beautiful at the same time.” With his arm around her, he went on to praise Pinkett Smith for all she has done for their family. “We got together in our twenties. There were many times when Jada put her career aside so I could follow the dreams of mine.”

It is only fitting that this romantic reunion take place in Baltimore, Pinkett Smith’s hometown. Earlier in the day, she spoke about her book and met with the youth at Baltimore School for the Arts, from which she graduated in 1989. Sadly for those students, the man in black saved his surprise visit for guests at the Pratt that evening.

Hope for Spinal Injuries: Kennedy Krieger Receives World’s First Gait Trainer
For those with a spinal cord injury, the possibility for movement may seem bleak. But at the new White Marsh location of the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (ICSCI), cutting edge equipment is bringing walking one step closer. The ZeroG 3D, which arrived at ICSCI in October, is the first of its kind in the world. Other gait trainers facilitate forward and backward movement for patients, which is important, but the ZeroG 3D is the first to facilitate diagonal and sidestepping. “Unlike any other device on the market, the ZeroG 3D allows dynamic support with greater freedom of movement to replicate real movement conditions and train the brain and spinal cord for recovery,” says Rebecca Martin, OTD, ICSCI’s manager of clinical education and training. One way therapists will use the ZeroG 3D in rehabilitation, for example, is to set up furniture that patients can practice maneuvering around.

New State Laws Passed October 1 Shake Up the Status Quo
Gov. Wes Moore came out swinging in this, his first term, with the passage of new laws aimed at making Maryland a safer, more equitable place to live. As of October 1, for example, it is illegal for those with a concealed-carry firearm permit to bring a weapon into spaces including elementary, middle, or high schools; health care facilities; and active polling places. Other actions include the repeal of a law that once made it illegal for someone to be prosecuted for perpetrating sexual crimes against their legal spouse (a win for those advocating on behalf of victims of domestic violence), the passing of a law for victims of hate crimes to now be able to legally sue the person or group who committed the offense against them (a win for civil rights advocates), and a requirement that Maryland hospitals must now test for fentanyl. Since the synthetic drug isn’t picked up on traditional opiate tests, the new law will significantly reduce false negative opioid tests, which is a win for public health advocates and, well, everyone.

BYOB: Baltimore County Bans Plastic Bags
Don’t forget those reusable totes, Baltimore County dwellers! As of the end of October, plastic bags will be forbidden at local retailers (with some exceptions) and it will cost you five cents per paper bag to get through the checkout line. The new Bring Your Own Bag Act advocates for reusable grocery bags in an effort to reduce litter, plastic pollution, and waste from single-use carryout bags. Plastic bags in the environment can wreak havoc on wildlife and in waterways, not to mention they become unsightly in our communities—billowing down streets and snagged in trees. Removing plastic bags from stores has proven to work. In Baltimore City, which enacted a bag ban in October 2021, Mr. Trash Wheel (who scoops up much of our litter on its way into the Bay) has seen a threefold decrease in the flimsy things. In fact, 2023 has thus far seen the fewest plastic bags since Mr. Trash Wheel started keeping count in 2018. Let’s do this, Baltimore County!