BALTIMORE, MD — As communities nationwide grapple with shifting economic landscapes and mounting pressures on youth wellbeing, Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, president and CEO of the national youth advocacy organization Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), is continuing his multi-state journey to put the focus squarely where it belongs: on the minds and futures of America’s children. On Monday, Dr. Wilson will arrive in Baltimore, Maryland, to hear directly from children, parents, caregivers, and educators about the pressing mental health challenges they face and the community-driven solutions they envision.
The visit centers on a high-profile town hall event scheduled for Monday afternoon at the Historic Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary School, located at 507 W. Preston St. in downtown Baltimore. The historic school serves as a vibrant local site for The Y in Central Maryland’s Baltimore CDF Freedom Schools program. Through a powerful and enduring local partnership, the Freedom Schools program works tirelessly across the Baltimore area to help children and young people build essential literacy, leadership, and social-emotional skills while actively combating the well-documented phenomenon of summer learning loss.
Monday’s scheduled event is not an isolated occurrence, but rather a vital component of a comprehensive, multi-state listening tour orchestrated by CDF. The tour is specifically designed to inform the organization’s aggressive nationwide advocacy for children while actively empowering parents, caregivers, and young people to step forward and drive positive, lasting change within their own local communities. Dr. Wilson’s trip to Charm City follows a rigorous series of high-engagement town halls and community conversations held in major urban centers across the country, including Charlotte, Chicago, Little Rock, and Oakland.
These listening sessions are part of a broader, sustained organizational initiative. Since 2022, CDF has conducted executive listening sessions with families at CDF Freedom Schools sites spanning 13 states. At each stop along the way, parents, caregivers, and youth have bravely shared candid assessments of what is working and what is failing in their neighborhoods as they strive to raise the next generation with dignity, hope, and joy. By mapping out local barriers and charting clear pathways to change, participants in these sessions are directly fueling a robust national movement dedicated to child well-being and equitable support systems.
This year, the Children’s Defense Fund has anchored its national programming and advocacy around a deeply probing and urgent central question: "Are the Children Well?" This guiding inquiry has served to elevate critical discussions surrounding the mental health and social-emotional wellness of America’s young people at a time of unprecedented societal stress. The urgency of this question has only intensified as communities nationwide begin confronting the immediate, real-world impacts of major federal policy shifts, including Congress’s decision last year to enact sweeping cuts to healthcare and nutrition spending across the United States.
The upcoming Baltimore town hall promises to be a powerful forum for these discussions. Scheduled to run from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST, the event will bring together CDF Freedom Schools scholars, community stakeholders, and Dr. Wilson for an open dialogue. Reporters, media personnel, and local observers are invited to join Dr. Wilson and the scholars from The Y in Central Maryland at 3:00 p.m. EST to witness firsthand how young people and their families are articulating their needs and claiming their agency.
Founded in 1973, the Children’s Defense Fund has spent more than five decades building community so that young people can grow up surrounded by dignity, hope, and joy. CDF maintains a distinct and vital role in the American advocacy landscape as the only national, multi-issue organization working directly at the intersection of child well-being and racial justice. The organization advances the needs of America’s most diverse generation in history—encompassing the 74 million children and youth under the age of 18 and the 30 million young adults under the age of 25.
Through grassroots movements rooted deeply in marginalized communities, CDF builds enduring power for child-centered public policy. These policy efforts are consistently informed by a commitment to racial equity and the authentic, lived experiences of children and youth. Among its most celebrated initiatives is the renowned CDF Freedom Schools program, which currently operates in nearly 100 cities across 30 states and territories, providing safe, enriching, and culturally affirming spaces for youth during the critical summer months.
As Dr. Wilson takes his seat among the students, educators, and families at the Historic Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary School on Monday, the voices of Baltimore’s youth will once again feed directly into a national dialogue designed to ensure that the nation’s leaders prioritize the well-being of every child, ensuring they have the support and resources required to truly thrive.
