Other refugees in Reservoir Hill

Ellen and I had the good fortune to meet John who lives three blocks south of us on Eutaw Place. He is a refugee from the Congo but had come by way of India. He now works in the IT department at Johns Hopkins University. Quite an amazing guy. at some point he decided to serve other refugees by providing housing. He bought a three-story row house and is housing single men who are struggling to establish themselves. There are four men who live with him. They are all from the Congo and are either students or working. He charges them a small amount of rent but forgoes the rent if they have difficulty paying. We dropped by a couple of days ago to visit him.

John also volunteers as a family mentor for refugees resettled by the International Rescue Committee resettlement office in Baltimore. He recently bought a small condo on Park Avenue in Reservoir Hill and is providing cheap housing for a couple of refugees. We hope to organize a Reservoir Hill refugee/immigrant potluck one of this days. Speaking of immigrants, I recently became acquainted with Jose, who lives, with his wife and child, catercorner from us on the intersection of Whitelock and Eutaw Place. He is from Guatemala and works as a maintenance man in the building across the street. The face of Reservoir Hill is changing. Here is a snapshot of Ellen with John in front of his house.