By Kevin Lynch
Groundwork Kitchen, a $10-million, 14,000 sq. ft. culinary arts training center, restaurant, and carryout shop at 925 Washington Blvd. in Pigtown, opened its first phase last week. The carryout shop is now open with the rest of the offerings slated to open in the coming months. This is a project by Paul’s Place which as been a part of the Pigtown community for 36 years.
Paul’s Place started out as a small soup kitchen and formed into a community resource center at 1118 Ward St. providing hot meals, a food pantry, a nurses clinic, clothing, showers, laundry services, peer recovery, support groups, and other resources for those in need in Southwest Baltimore.
The $10-million project received substantial financing from Chase’s Community Development Banking group, The Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation, Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund, Abell Foundation, T. Rowe Price Foundation, Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Cross Street Partners, and New Market Tax Credits. In addition, significant philanthropic support came from many dedicated family foundations and individual supporters of Paul’s Place.