Living with a disability can present unique challenges, especially when paired with adulthood obligations. When seeking resources for specific aspects of life, knowing where to look can be difficult. Whether you’re seeking around-the-clock care, a sense of independence, or anything in-between, there are myriad organizations in the Baltimore area dedicated to helping adults with disabilities reach their goals and meet their needs.

The purpose, according to Breanna Durst, communications manager for The League for People with Disabilities, is simple: “It’s people getting the most out of their lives,” she says. “It’s people getting quality experiences and support that really helps them with creativity and behaviors and professional goals, personal successes; it’s whatever they want to do. We’re here to help them.”

Durst explains that, through programs ranging from volunteerism to vocational training, The League for People with Disabilities sees its goal of helping people live full lives come to fruition on a daily basis. “We have an individual … a blind male who is early 30s, and he’s been working with Blind Industries and Services of Maryland for about 12 years now. And through that program, he is experiencing financial independence,” says Durst. “He loves going to baseball games and football games … he’s just living his life. There’s nothing that can stop this individual.”

Many organizations that help people with disabilities connect with others and enhance their lives are located in the Baltimore area, so if community involvement is something you or someone you love or care for is interested in, these programs are a good place to start.

Community involvement doesn’t just come in the form of day programs or vocational skills training. Organizations like Autism Society of Baltimore-Chesapeake offer opportunities for people with disabilities to form bonds through individualized support groups. Additionally, they host fun events so that people can learn more about one another, in hopes of gaining valuable advice about how to cope with mutual struggles. It all depends on the type of support you’re seeking.

Taya Johnson, a board member at Autism Society of Baltimore-Chesapeake, says connections between people through activities, socializing, and support groups are a way to help people feel “fully appreciated and accepted for the person that they are.”

The state of Maryland also offers multiple federally funded tools to help adults with disabilities with aspects of life like becoming and staying employed or financing a home. (More information on these programs follows in the guide.) These initiatives are in place to help mitigate the financial barriers that people with disabilities might face. There are also organizations in Baltimore that aim to help those with disabilities gain professional and financial skills and knowledge in order to reach their goals, whatever they may be.

The resources in Baltimore do not end here but also include local assets that people with disabilities can utilize. There are collegiate programs, like Community College of Baltimore County’s (CCBC) CASE Program, which offers college classes tailored to a wide range of reading and math levels; career services through organizations like St. Peter’s Adult Learning Center; live-in care facilities like Easter Seals; and resources to assist with anything from legal advice to medical care.

“Talk to everyone you encounter,” Johnson encourages, when she speaks to people with disabilities and those who care for them. “If you extend yourself just a little bit, to be vulnerable and open and communicative, the opportunities that will help ground you in the community are usually within your reach.”

In November 2021, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) community and guests gathered for the inauguration of Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, as the seventh president of UMB. Dr. Jarrell stepped into this role in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, guiding critical efforts to address this global health crisis with world-changing vaccine research, treatments, community service and outreach, and leadership across the state and beyond.

Under Jarrell’s leadership, UMB remains one of Baltimore’s most powerful anchor institutions and continues to effect real and lasting change by improving health, creating wealth, and advancing social justice in the city, the state, and around the world. This is particularly true in today’s COVID-19 climate.

 

Central to President Jarrell’s vision is that UMB expand on its success by motivating students, faculty, and staff to embrace the university’s core values, which are rooted in service, a commitment to Maryland, and ultimately improving the world. UMB inspires passionate people to apply solutions to the pressing problems facing humankind, and its health care, human services, and law professionals create innovative solutions where others see only problems.

“When I look at UMB, I see an environment that encourages innovation and creativity,” Jarrell says. “I’m surrounded by students and employees who are committed to improving the health and well-being of the people in our community and around the state. That is the magic of UMB, and it’s the secret to our great success.”

 

To maintain UMB’s standing as Maryland’s premier human services institution, these are President Jarrell’s priorities:

• Commitment to excellence in education. UMB works to attract, retain, and educate the best and brightest scholars, staff, and faculty through efforts such as the President’s Initiative on Education, scholarship programs that create opportunities for more students, and by remaining an employer of choice.

• Commitment to working for equity and justice. UMB accepts the responsibility to help improve the health and well-being of underserved populations in Maryland by expanding access in areas of need across the state, supporting our Community Engagement Center, and fostering educational programs to support opportunity and advancement for disadvantaged communities.

• Commitment to statewide collaborations. UMB is maintaining and growing its strong partnership with the University of Maryland Medical System, sustaining and propelling innovation through its collaboration with the University of Maryland, College Park under the MPowering the State initiative, and expanding relationships with other key institutions across Maryland.

• Commitment to innovation and discovery. UMB is preparing for the future with a strong focus on innovation and discovery. The university is expanding its $682 million research enterprise, strengthening its community-based research activities, and developing more interdisciplinary research programs and projects.

Through these efforts, UMB achieves its mission to improve the human condition and serve the public good of Maryland and society at large through education, research, clinical care, and service. Amidst unprecedented challenges in today’s world, UMB is evolving and developing critical innovations toward changing the future today.

 

UMB is Maryland’s public health, law, and human services university, a leading U.S. institution for graduate and professional education, and a prominent academic health center that combines cutting-edge biomedical research and exceptional clinical care.

The university enrolls more than 7,200 students in six nationally ranked professional schools and its interdisciplinary Graduate School, conferring most of the professional practice doctoral degrees awarded in Maryland each year. Serving as a powerhouse economic engine for Maryland, UMB delivers care and services that spur growth, and, in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and affiliated physician practices, the university stimulates nearly $8 billion in economic activity each year, generating 17,000 jobs and yielding $13 in economic activity for each $1 of state general fund appropriation.

UMB provides direct health, employment, legal, educational, and social services to underserved communities and impacts the future by addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations and fostering the next generation of leaders in innovation, discovery, outreach, and economic impact.

To learn more about UMB, visit www.umaryland.edu.