After doing a lot with a little, Next One Up plans to make a bigger impact with new HQ
BALTIMORE -- Since 2009, Next One Up has been making a difference for countless boys and young men in Baltimore without an actual dedicated space. Now, the mentoring program is getting its own home.
"I'm just excited for when they get to see it. And see them operate in this space," said Shel Simon, Deputy CEO of Next One Up.
From summer classes and tutoring, to athletic training, and even excursions, Simon and the Next One Up team have done a lot with, at times, not so much.
"When we were bouncing around town, these boys would follow us anywhere," Simon said. "Whether it was the libraries or the church basements or the community centers that couldn't hold all of us."
Though those spaces were small, Next One Up's impact has been anything but. Now, they'll have Base Camp - a 14,000-square-foot headquarters at Belvedere Square in North Baltimore.
There are about 150 boys and young men in the program, from middle school all the way to college, including Jeremiah Kroger. He's in the 10th grade at Archbishop Curley High School.
"It don't give me extra time to go places, do bad stuff. It keeps me here doing good things," he said. "Most people, they wanna go out and party and stuff. But if they would come here, they would like it. It's not nothing you couldn't like about being here. It's everything."
Jeremiah says his favorite part has been, "basketball tournaments, field trips, bikes"
"I made a lot of brothers here. A lot of brothers"
Soon, Jeremiah, Angelo and the rest of Next One Up will be able to fill a 14,000-square foot space in Belvedere Square.
The facility will include a full gym.
"they're all athletes so they'll be able to come here after school and get their workouts in," Simon explained.
It'll also house a student lounge decked out with TVs and gaming consoles, as well as a STEM room, which Shel calls a "makers space".
They'll "be able to build drones. We'll do bicycle mechanics. Woodshop work," he said. Simon also hopes this room will expand their vision for their futures.
"Yeah, our young men are much more than just athletes. And really, with this space, we'll try to bring that out of them."
Raised in West Baltimore, Shel knows all too well the difference those kinds of experiences can make.
"This program serves the kid that I once was," he said. "Black young men in Baltimore don't get to see those opportunities laid out in front of them too often."
Next One Up plans to have the new space renovated and ready to open by the summer of 2023.
Sina went Behind the Lens on WJZ at 9. See her talk more about the story here:
