Meet the Innovators: RICH-Restoring Inner City Hope
RICH-Restoring Inner City Hope is a member of the Social Innovation Lab’s 2020–21 Cohort. For this interview, we spoke with co-founders Mike Battle (Executive Director) and Dani Battle (Deputy Director).
To learn more about SIL and the cohort, click here. Join them at our virtual SIL Innovators’ Showcase event on April 27th, 4–6 p.m. RSVP here.
SIL: Tell us about RICH-Restoring Inner City Hope. What are you working on?
We are currently expanding our offerings from the RICH-Restoring Inner City Hope Center in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. We now run a middle school-aged boys’ after-school program centered around leadership and personal development. We are working to grow the program to include girls of the same age group. We are also developing a workforce development program for adults in the community, including parents of participants in our youth programs.
SIL: Why did you decide to start this? Where did the idea come from?
Our mission is to love, inspire, and empower youth and families in Baltimore and we are starting in Cherry Hill. Cherry Hill is a historically marginalized community in southern Baltimore. The area had always been looked at negatively by those who knew nothing of the small community aside from that which they saw on the news or had heard from others.
Michael Battle, Executive Director of RICH, grew up in Cherry Hill and was raised by a drug addicted mother who passed away from a drug overdose when he was 14. Because of the lack of resources and knowledge of resources available he ended up making some bad choices. Once he turned his life around, he knew that he wanted to give back to the community and offer kids that are a lot like he was some alternatives and new experiences. Now we have been working in this community for over nine years.
From our first prayer walk of 34 people, RICH has grown to be a resource center and programmatic hub for the entire community. We currently run an after-school program that is available to middle school-aged boys.
We chose middle school ages boys to start with because there was a need. The principal of Cherry Hill Elementary/Middle school, Tracey Garret, reached out to us about how the middle school aged boys needed a program that helped develop their leadership and personal skills. We have always said we wanted to do our part to fill in the gaps in Cherry Hill.
It has always been our goal to offer services that cater to all residents in the community. Next year, we intend to expand our after-school programming for girls and launch a workforce development program for adults.
SIL: What would you consider success for RICH-Restoring Inner City Hope? How will the world be different when you are successful?
Success for us would be having the residents in the community we serve to have a broader understanding of what the world has to offer. Be it in employment, activities, hobbies, or a plethora of other areas, we want to actively open the world to our clients and equip them to be a part of these new experiences.
This means that we offer new experiences for kids during after-school programming that inspires them to learn more about the different things that leave an impression on them, be it photography, starting a small business, or even joining a rowing team. It also means that the adults we prepare for the workplace secure a job and flourish while applying the soft skills and self-confidence developed through their participation in our program.
SIL: What have you accomplished so far?
We have moved our work from community outreach events to including work in a physical space. We still host walks, festivals, and outreach-based give-a-ways but, we also have an after-school program for young men that focuses on leadership and personal development by exposing them to a diverse range of classes and experiences. Our building has become a COVID relief site during this pandemic where community members can receive food, sanitizing products, games and books, and masks and gloves.
SIL: How can people get involved in supporting you in your venture?
The easiest way to get involved with the RICH Program is to start at our website. You can sign up to connect with us, volunteer, donate or partner with us.
SIL: What have been some of the biggest challenges in scaling your venture during the pandemic?
Our biggest issue has been that we have had to keep our class sizes very small to keep everyone safe. We have had to reduce our activities and travel for these same reasons. But at the same time, because we have consistently built our programming based on the needs we see in the community, we were able to flexibly shift our work to support the community with our COVID-relief efforts.
SIL: What do you like most about the Baltimore entrepreneurial community? What would you like to see more of?
Our team loves seeing the different ways people have shifted their passions to action. This city needs LOVE, and to see how people who share our desire by serving in other ways is refreshing and inspiring. And being out here giving from your heart every day requires that you refill your cup. Sharing time and space, or even social media posts, with these fantastic social entrepreneurs fill our cups back up.
We would love to see more of whether social entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities be supported in supporting their communities. We want to see healing happening from within.
SIL: What advice do you have for would-be social entrepreneurs thinking about starting a venture?
Get your rest while you are planning because once you start to actually do this work you will see that so much more needs to be done than you initially expected, and sometimes you are the only person/team that can meet specific needs. So be rested and always put the balance of life and work at the forefront. Because there is so much work to do, you also should be actively seeking out other social entrepreneurs and creating relationships with them. Use these opportunities to combine efforts to increase your reach and impact.
SIL: Why did you apply to SIL? What attracted you to SIL?
Our team knew we had the passion and action, but we needed to be more organized. We wanted to cultivate deeper understanding around strategic planning, fundraising, sustainability, and so many other areas of need for strong non-profits. We also wanted to expand our network to include social entrepreneurs that have a variety of interests and passions. We wanted to be inspired and empowered by other social entrepreneurs in ways that would push us harder and farther in the work we are doing.
