the Neighborhood Design Center

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Volunteer Opportunities

Northwest Community Life Center

Baltimore

Are you an architect passionate about community spaces? The nondenominational New Solid Rock Fellowship Church in Northwest Baltimore is beginning pre-development work on a building addition to house the “Northwest Community Life Center.”

The Church, along with other service providers and community partners, will use the space to meet the educational, cultural, recreational, social, and health maintenance needs of the community.

We are seeking experienced architects and designers who will help them envision their community-based and community-serving multipurpose center. 

Please contact Julia DiMauro at jdimauro@ndc-md.org with questions or to express interest.

Neighborhood signage and greening design

Baltimore

Are you dedicated to graphic design and celebrating neighborhood identity? The North Avenue and Hilton Street Business and Community Task Force would like to create a neighborhood sign that serves as a welcoming gateway to and from the neighborhood and West North Avenue.

We are seeking an experienced graphic designer– signage project implementation experience is ideal– and a landscape architect who can help beautify the sign’s surrounding green space. 

The project begins in November 2023. 

Please contact Julia DiMauro at jdimauro@ndc-md.org with questions or to express interest.

Educational art installation with South Baltimore Youth

Baltimore

Do you have experience with museum exhibit design and are committed to youth advocacy and education?

NDC is joining an ongoing partnership between Benjamin Franklin High School, Towson University, and the South Baltimore Community Land Trust that has trained youth as organizers, engaged citizens and scientists since 2015. To uplift the work of Curtis Bay students to scientifically, historically, and ethnographically document the local effects of CSX coal trains in their community, this design team will help design and implement an interactive and mobile installation. 

We are seeking tech-savvy exhibition designers, graphic designers, and design thinkers with experience in fabrication to help make this project a reality. 

This project begins in December 2023 or January 2024.  

Please contact Julia DiMauro at jdimauro@ndc-md.org with questions or to express interest.

A new and improved Bladensburg Town Hall!

Prince George's County

The Town of Bladensburg seeks to reimagine its 40-year-old town hall as a larger and more welcoming facility. Bladensburg is an active community with frequent meetings and gatherings. The Town has outgrown the current building and would like to create a new town hall that represents the community’s character and acts as a cultural hub to support community events and activities.

We are seeking a team of architectural and landscape designers to complete conceptual design work through a community-driven process to help make an impact on the Bladensburg community! 

Please contact Angelica Arias at aarias@ndc-md.org with questions or to express interest.

NDC’s annual awards honor the many dedicated volunteers, community partners, and local leaders who make our places great.

Put simply, NDC wouldn’t exist without the dedication of our amazing volunteers and community partners. Every year, we celebrate them!

Johnny Macon, Former NDC Staff and Sarah Hope, NDC Volunteer and Former Board Member share project work.
Johnny Macon, Former NDC Staff and Sarah Hope, NDC Volunteer and Former Board Member share project work.

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds.

If you want to support NDC’s work and have experience in the below disciplines (or something related), we’d love to collaborate.

  • Architecture

  • Urban Planning

  • Interior Design

  • Landscape Architecture

  • Historic Preservation

  • Community Organizing

  • Community Design

  • Stormwater Design

  • Social Design

  • Graphic Design

  • Photography

There’s an amazing symbiotic relationship between our volunteers and community members.

The local designers and experts who dedicate their talents to community projects learn from the community about the area’s needs and challenges, while residents get exposed to key design and implementation processes. Volunteers report their experience to be engaging and enriching!

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“Working with NDC has taught me to listen to every unique voice in a design process and to always include those voices in design decisions.”

Carol Currotto, Interior Designer


“NDC provided me with an opportunity to work on a project with community stakeholders. I’ve always believed that to have a better understanding of where you are working, you need to go to those communities and talk with the residents.”

Jasmine Forbes, City & Regional Planner