GEDCO’s STORY

Years ago, an elderly individual who was a parishioner at Govans Presbyterian Church sought support from the church’s deeply empathetic and proactive pastor, Reverend Jack Sharp. This person was facing substantial health issues, did not have children or an active support system, and was in dire need of affordable housing. This request quickly exposed a larger need in the community. Thus, an interdenominational coalition of 7 solution-seeking pastors, from the following churches, formed Govans Ecumenical Homes in 1984:

  • The Church of the Nativity, Cedarcroft Episcopal, now known as the Churches of the Nativity and Holy Comforter
  • Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter, now known as the Churches of the Nativity and Holy Comforter
  • Govans Boundary Parish United Methodist Church
  • Govans Presbyterian Church
  • Pleasant Hope Baptist Church
  • St. Mary of the Assumption Church
  • Gregory Memorial Baptist Church

As we continued to expand our efforts and projects as a growing nonprofit that provided affordable housing, we became a development corporation in 1991. Since its inception, GEDCO has steadily expanded its array of programs and network of like-minded community partners to meet growing levels of need in the community. Today, it provides affordable housing and supportive services to a combined 7,000 individuals annually. GEDCO fastidiously pursues solutions to Baltimore’s increasingly complex and interconnected social problems of poverty, hunger, homelessness, housing insecurity and affordability crises, employment barriers, and mental illness.

For a detailed timeline of GEDCO’s history, Click here.