Power House

About

The building that is now Living Classrooms’ POWER House community center opened on July 8, 1910 as a firehouse, operating as Engine Company 34. It housed the horse-drawn LaFrance Steam Engine, one of the oldest fire engines in the United States. The horse stables can still be seen in the lower level of the POWER House.

POWER is an acronym for Providing, Opportunities, to Work, Expand, and Rise. Year-round out-of-school time programming provides services in five core areas: Education and Career Development, Character and Civic Development, Health and Life Skills, The Arts and Cultural Enrichment, and Health and Wellness. In addition, the POWER House offers financial literacy, English as a Second Language, GED preparatory classes, and job training courses for adults weekly. POWER House’s Teen Club, serves high school students, providing them with academic support and enrichment activities to meet the program’s goals of increased academic achievement and graduation rates, readiness for higher education, and improved behavior and attitudes toward learning.

In 2018, the POWER House became the first solar powered, community-based resiliency hub in the nation and became an important resource for the community when the grid fails – due to emergencies, natural disasters, or widespread service outages – creating enough clean energy to create seventy-two (72) hours of sustainable power to the community center. Thus, providing access to electricity, heat and air conditioning, fresh food, water, charging stations, medication storage, and a safe place for the community to gather.

Locate Us

316 S. Caroline Street
Baltimore, MD 21231