The Vacants to Value program, introduced in Baltimore with great fanfare five years ago, is intended to put committed homeowners into some of the city’s 16,000 empty homes. How well has the program been working? Tom gets some answers from Joan Jacobson. She’s the author of a new Abell Foundation report that evaluates which of the program’s goals are being met, and which are missing the mark.
Next, WYPR’s Mary Rose Madden joins Tom to discuss her continuing series, On the Watch. The series brings us the voices (and images) of the Baltimore police and members of the city's African American community, and examines the struggle to improve their troubled relationship.
Then, with the need for male mentors greater than ever, the president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Chesapeake talks with Tom about how men can make a powerful, positive difference in the lives of the region's young people.