After his playing days were over, former Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith was looking for a home for his LEVEL82 Foundation, so he took a ride around the city.
He looked for a place with high need, near a school, with a strong community association, and a green space for kids to play outside.
When he came to the Hilton Recreation Center in West Baltimore, he found a field that was half dirt, so it was missing quite a bit of green, and the building needed extensive renovations after being closed for more than 10 years.
"This place is perfect," he thought. "We created a vision and a dream for what it would be like to truly maximize the space."
Six years later, on a sunny October afternoon, that dream came true. The ribbon was cut on the Baltimore Ravens Boys & Girls Club, a state-of-the-art facility that will be transformative for kids and families in West Baltimore.
"It's honestly unbelievable," Smith said Monday. "What you're looking at is the excitement of opportunities – a feeling that you have the tools. There are a lot of barriers to overcome, and this space removes a lot of them to provide support. And that's going to lead to a lot more success for young men and women."
Smith wasn't the only one with a dream. While he helped get the ball rolling, many other partners got it across the finish line in what was a massive undertaking. The project is only the third such collaboration in the nation between an NFL team and a Boys & Girls Club.
Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti had his own dream. One of the team's three pillars is to be a positive force in the community, and he wanted to find a space where his franchise could make a long-lasting impact in Baltimore with an after-school space and recreation center.
First, the Ravens donated to help Smith get the lights on (literally and figuratively) at the shuttered Hilton Recreation Center, where Smith helped run and build programming for after-school and summer programs. As time went on, it became clear that maybe that was also the ideal spot for Bisciotti's vision.
Former Ravens President Dick Cass reached out to Smith and said the team wanted to collaborate in a big way. In 2023, the Ravens and the Bisciotti Foundation announced a $20 million donation to transform the center and expand its services in conjunction with Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore (BGCMB) and Green Street Academy. They would build a new facility with a new field in the Hilton Recreation Center footprint.
The Baltimore Ravens Boys & Girls Club at Hilton Recreation Center will provide academic support, mentoring, leadership development, health and wellness programs, and athletic opportunities for children and teens. The newly renovated facility includes:
- Dick Cass Field - A multi-purpose athletic field with sports lighting
- Under Armour gymnasium with a full-size court and bleachers
- Activity and games spaces, including an in-house studio
- A fitness center
- Tutoring spaces
- Indoor and outdoor community gathering areas
Green Street Academy never had its own home field before this. Founded in 2010, the charter school has sent kids to other parts of Baltimore to play sports. Kids would walk miles to see their friends play.
Now, huge banners of the kids hang in a gymnasium funded by Under Armour and christened by NBA legend Steph Curry. Now, other teams will be eager to play on their turf field, named after Cass for his longstanding leadership, community service, and commitment to Baltimore.
"There are more than 252,000 kids across the state of Maryland that don't have access to an incredible out-of-school time program like this," said Jeff Breslin, President & CEO of BGCMB. "Our vision is to close that gap one kid, one club, one community at a time. One incredible step forward in that vision is the Baltimore Ravens Boys & Girls Club at Hilton Recreation Center."
"This Club represents the very best of what can happen when our city, local organizations, and private partners come together with a shared vision," added Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. "The Ravens Boys & Girls Club at Hilton Recreation Center will be a game-changer for West Baltimore families – providing our young people with safe spaces, strong mentors, and the resources they need to grow into the leaders of tomorrow."
Bisciotti said the reason why he wanted to make such a commitment is because he's heard numerous times from his players that if it wasn't for an after-school program like the Boys & Girls Club, they wouldn't have made it.
The Ravens have several current examples of that. Kyle Hamilton went to the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta. Ronnie Stanley went to the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada. John Jenkins went to the Boys & Girls Club of Meriden in Connecticut. They all have memories of playing billiards, basketball, ping pong, and video games. Jenkins still remembers that he had to get his homework done before he could get on the court.
Basically, it was a safe place where a kid could be a kid and grow.
The Ravens are Jenkins' seventh NFL team, and he said it's "breathtaking" to see the commitment Bisciotti and the team have made to this scale of a project.
"To see an organization like this and the standard that they stand on and how they pour into the community, you don't see that too often," Jenkins said. "It makes everybody else want to dive in."
Community leaders across Baltimore and partners in the project poured into the new facility Monday afternoon for their first tour. But the first ones through those blue doors were the kids.
Smith had a dream. Bisciotti had a dream. Ravens players had dreams. This investment will help youth and families in West Baltimore realize their dreams, too.
"You deserve this," Bisciotti said, with kids watching from the first few rows. "And we're not going to stop here. We're taking applications for the next one and the next one and the next one."
