Mace’s Lane: Rooted in Community. Growing With the Shore.

Five years of relationships, opportunity, and impact lead to a new chapter at Mace’s Lane. Every young person deserves a place where they are welcomed for who they are, valued for what they bring, and encouraged to imagine what comes next. Since opening the Boys & Girls Club at Leonards Lane in 2021, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore has worked alongside the Cambridge community to make that promise part of everyday life.

It takes shape in homework help after a difficult school day. In friendships that make a young person eager to return. In a trusted adult who recognizes a strength—and offers the encouragement to develop it. Now, as we prepare to celebrate the opening of the Boys & Girls Club at Mace’s Lane Community Center on November 12, that promise is gaining more room to grow.

A Commitment Built Through Everyday Presence

Over the past five years, more than 2,000 young people ages 6–18 have participated in BGCMB programs, camps, outreach efforts, and community events in Cambridge.

Our Cambridge impact report documents an investment that reaches across young people’s lives: more than 35,000 meals served, more than 20,000 hours of homework help annually, and more than 25 community outreach events each year.

These numbers reflect the consistency families count on: a safe place after school and during the summer, caring mentors, academic support, and experiences that help kids discover what they enjoy and where they can excel. They also reflect a commitment to keep listening, strengthening partnerships, and building opportunities around the community’s young people.

Belong. Find Joy. Keep Growing.

At the Club, young people should know their ideas matter, their strengths are recognized, and they have people in their corner. That sense of belonging creates room to try something unfamiliar, work through a challenge, and take on greater responsibility.

In Cambridge, academic support includes homework help and IXL learning tools. Through the PIVOT program, school-based mentoring and social-emotional support have helped students improve attendance, reduce behavioral incidents, and strengthen coping skills.

Teen programming connects young people with leadership development, workforce readiness, and career exploration. This past May, Cambridge teens visited three Maryland universities, exploring academic programs, admissions processes, and possibilities for their futures. Teens have also represented their community at the Summit for America’s Youth and participated in a roundtable with Governor Wes Moore.

“Through the Youth of the Year program at the Boys & Girls Club, I’ve gained the confidence and abilities to effectively lead and connect with others,” shared Michael, a Cambridge Youth of the Year.

These experiences put our promise into practice: young people supported, challenged, and trusted to lead. And throughout it all, there is room for joy—the friendships, discoveries, celebrations, and shared experiences that make the Club a place young people want to be.

A Community’s Legacy. A New Generation’s Future.

Mace’s Lane holds generations of history, pride, and connection. Its next chapter reflects the dedication of alumni, community leaders, residents, and partners who have carried a vision for its future.

BGCMB is proud to help bring that vision to life.

As the doors reopen, alumni will return to a place that helped shape them. Today’s young people will discover a place where their own stories can unfold.

The new Club will expand access to academic support and enrichment, create more opportunities for teen leadership and workforce readiness, and provide space for deeper family and community engagement.

The responsibility that comes with this investment extends well beyond opening day. It means preparing welcoming spaces, building meaningful relationships, and delivering a Club experience that families can trust—every Club, every day, every young person.

Here for the Shore. Invested in What Comes Next.

Our commitment to Maryland’s Eastern Shore continues in Cambridge and Salisbury, where BGCMB works alongside local partners to connect young people with support and opportunity. Schools, local government, public safety agencies, health and wellness organizations, philanthropic partners, and families have helped make this progress possible. Those relationships are essential to sustaining it.

Mace’s Lane represents a significant next step in that shared work: a lasting investment in Cambridge and a foundation for reaching more young people across Dorchester County.

We have seen what becomes possible when a community invests in its youth. We are committed to building on that progress with care, creativity, and a belief in what young people can achieve.

When the blue doors open at Mace’s Lane, they will carry a promise: You belong here. There is joy to discover. And we’ll be here to help you keep growing.