Help Todd Launch We Rise

Hello, my name is Todd Scott, and I am launching a nonprofit to build a better Baltimore called ‘We Rise.’

I was born in the Latrobe Homes Public Housing Project in East Baltimore and lost my father to gun violence early in my life. I was surrounded by opportunities to make bad choices, and I know my life could’ve easily been different. I was fortunate to have incredible guidance and support from my mother and community, who believed in my potential. With their encouragement, I graduated from Morgan State University and worked for several years in finance at J.P. Morgan and Co. on Wall Street and in real estate development in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2015, after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, I knew I had to return to Baltimore and bring the opportunities I was afforded to Baltimore-area youth. Throughout my life, I have informally mentored youth and families to build generational wealth through financial literacy and homeownership, and now I am looking to expand my capacity through the creation of ‘We Rise.’

Our goal is to build a mentorship and neighborhood revitalization program to eliminate blight from Baltimore City and provide youth education in wealth attainment and management, real estate markets and practices, community development and organization, and more. Our program turns abandoned and dilapidated homes or lots into livable dwellings to be sold at affordable prices.  We Rise program mentees, led by mentors with ties to the Baltimore community, are actively involved in these revitalization projects (from start to finish) as an education mechanism. 

To us, rebuilding the community and providing affordable homeownership is a priority. With over 16,000 vacant buildings left to crumble in neighborhoods, and little knowledge, wealth, or opportunity to become homeowners, many Baltimore residents are powerless to change the landscape of their lives. We Rise’s goal is to empower them.

I’d like to introduce you to Kyle Edmunds, who has been my mentee since 2018:

Our work is just getting started. Currently, I mentor over 35 mentees and more and more are joining us. I have applied for nonprofit status with the IRS (to become a 501c3 organization), but the work hasn’t stopped, and our team at We Rise hasn’t stopped. We need help providing positive, educational youth mentorship opportunities and revitalizing East Baltimore.

We have just launched our new website here: https://www.werisecommunity.com/ and we hope you’ll visit and get to know our work better.

We would be deeply grateful for any donations to help us continue this work. Donations will go towards program supplies for the mentees, project costs for the rebuilds, and general operating expenses. We need more people to believe in Baltimore youth and let them know that they have the power and the potential to change their lives.