Neighborhood: East Oliver
Photography by Kirby Griffin
Listen:
I take care of myself when I’m taking care of people. When I know people are okay, I’m okay.
-Audrey Carter
Audrey Carter (aka Sister/Ms. Audrey) is the proud mother of one son, Dwayne who God called home to be with him in 2018. She is the grandmother of two awesome grandsons, ages 11 and 16.
She has worshiped at Zion Baptist Church for the past 35 years and serves as the Children and Youth Ministry Coordinator. At Zion, along with her team, she teaches Bible Study and leads the youth every Sunday for Early Childhood and Children’s Church Service. Audrey and her team often help serve the hungry with the “Selfless Saturday” program by delivering food, offering prayer, and providing other resources to those in need. She assisted with organizing Zion’s Annual Community Outreach outdoor celebration and during the Pandemic.
Audrey is a longtime Community Advocate in the Oliver Community and throughout Baltimore City. She is a co-organizer and Secretary of the newly established The People’s Association of Oliver Community. She is also the President of Youth Ventures, an organization she established that seeks to educate, employ, and enrich youth. Through a BMORE Beautiful Yes Youth grant and with the assistance of other partners, she works with youth to employ them to do weekly clean-ups and other community projects.
Audrey is the originator of the community initiative “Team-up to Clean-up” and was featured by Torrey Smith on WBAL as a Hometown Hero for her community clean-up efforts. She also received a “Love Your Block” grant from BMORE Beautiful to continue her “Team-up to Clean up” initiative.
In addition, Audrey was recently recognized as an Honoree in the “1st Annual Women’s Herstory Celebration” given by the East Baltimore Historical Library. She was also selected as a Weaver Awardee for her accomplishments and efforts in the Community with helping others, building relationships and connecting people.
The Guardians is a photo documentary & storytelling project including photo portraits, large scale banners and digital archives that celebrate unrecognized Black female leaders across Baltimore City neighborhoods. This project provides a platform for women who spend their lives fighting for a better, more equitable Baltimore.
Creative Direction and Interviews by Whitney Frazier, WGF Studio