Louis “Buddy” Sapolsky is enjoying retirement the only way he knows how. Since stepping down in March of 2013 as president and executive director of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore — a position he held for 18 years — he has kept busy and worked as a paid consultant for various community organizations.
“It was time to relax a bit,” says Sapolsky, 72, “but I set goals for myself so that I wouldn’t get bored.”
One of his first gigs was working for Sinai Hospital as a liaison to the Orthodox community and leading focus groups about their health care needs and services.
But Sapolsky wanted to expand his horizons beyond the Jewish community. One example is his work for the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training. MCVET is a nonprofit that provides housing and other types of support to the state’s homeless veterans, some of whom struggle with physical, mental and substance abuse problems.
MCVET brought in Sapolsky as a paid consultant to help the organization hire a new executive director and guide the leadership through a new strategic planning process.
Eventually, the organization asked Sapolsky to join its board, which was an easy “yes” for a man drawn to community service. “This place saves lives,” Sapolsky says “It’s heartwarming work.”
In addition, Sapolsky has been involved with the Bethel A.M.E. Church in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Upton. He first became associated with the church through the Rev. (now Bishop) Frank M. Reid III, whom Sapolsky met at workshops at the JCC.
“Reid is internationally known as a brilliant preacher, teacher and leader,” says Sapolsky. “I’m proud to call him a friend.”
Reid approached Sapolsky with a request to help renovate a former community center building adjacent to the church. Reid envisioned a new community center that would be the heart and soul of Upton, which decades ago was a thriving African-American neighborhood.
“Today, Upton ranks worst in almost every bad category you can imagine, including crime, homelessness and disease,” says Sapolsky. “Pastor Reid asked me to develop the strategic plan for renovating a 20,000-square-foot church building, which at one time was the go-to place to obtain social services in Upton.”
Larry Rosenberg, former chairman of the JCC board, says Reid asked Sapolsky for help because “Buddy is a community organizer and leader. He believes in the vital role community centers play in bringing people together. He understands people’s problems, synthesizes those voices into ideas and turns those ideas into action.”
As a paid consultant, Sapolsky began talking to Upton residents and decided to create a board of directors to lead what will eventually become the Bethel Empowerment and Wellness Center.
Co-chaired by Rosenberg and former Mayor Sheila Dixon, the center’s board includes prominent members of Baltimore’s Jewish and Methodist communities.
Sapolsky discovered that many Upton residents have little access to such critical social services as nutrition, health care and legal and financial aid. “People have difficulty navigating a system which isn’t exactly set up to help them,” he says.
Promise Heights, an organization that works with schools and families to promote healthy nutrition and parenting practices, will be the center’s primary tenant. The center also will house a commercial kitchen, where residents can get a healthy meal, and a teaching kitchen, where community members will learn to cook for themselves. Members also will enjoy around-the-clock access to social workers and counselors, as well as legal and financial advisers.
“The residents of Upton, just like Baltimore’s Jewish community, want to make things better for themselves and their neighbors,” says Sapolsky, who lives in Pikesville.
Renovations on the project are ongoing. “The board [of directors] will continue to ensure the right vendors come in to provide crucial services,” Sapolsky says.
At a time of life when some people would be in a garden or on the golf course, Sapolsky says he’s thoroughly enjoying his “retirement.”
“What has been a wonderful benefit for me is I got to meet some amazing people who I would have never met before,” he says. “I learned a whole lot about poverty and homelessness, and experienced the resiliency of a community that wants to make things better for themselves. How do you help struggling communities lift themselves up by their bootstraps? It comes down to people who want to help others.”
Brandon Chiat is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.
Buddy Sapolsky discusses the Upton community with former Mayor Sheila Dixon and others. Photo by Steve Ruark
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