COALITION MEMBERS

Laurence Frederick Campbell hails from the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He tells people his mother named him after noted poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar and his middle name was inspired by that great warrior for freedom, Frederick Douglass.  He holds to the belief that our lives are made richer by the paths that our forefathers tread and that we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors who held to the faith.

Mr. Campbell currently serves as Chair of the WBC Community Development Corporation (WBC CDC), a nonprofit organization formed in 2005 with the assistance of N. Scott Phillips and the support of Wayland Baptist Church,  to revitalize the communities of northwest Baltimore City.  The office of the WBC CDC is located in the Forest Park area on Garrison Blvd. Responding to the issue of vacant and abandoned houses and the lack of affordable housing in the Forest Park communities , Mr. Campbell led the board in establishing the Forest Park Neighborhood Stabilization Project.  This Project has developed a plan to acquire and renovate 10 abandoned/vacant houses in the catchment area that includes Garrison Boulevard, Fairview Avenue, Wolcott Avenue and Woodhaven Avenue.  Currently three houses have been bought, rehabilitated, and sold in the 3800 and  3900 blocks of Fairview Avenue. All were sold to affordable housing families.

In 2009, in partnership with the WWFF-BOC community association, the Maryland Office on Aging and the Baltimore City C.A.R.E. Program, Mr. Campbell helped to establish the Senior Wellness Activity Program.  This program provides a hot nutritious lunch to seniors from the community as well as activities designed to stimulate physical, social, educational and spiritual well-being of older adults.

To fill the overwhelming demand for affordable housing for seniors, Laurence Campbell led the initiative that recently culminated in the erection of a 90-unit, four-story housing facility for seniors.  Named after Wayland Baptist Church, Wayland Village Senior Apartments brought together the energies of the WBC CDC, Unity Properties/ Bon Secours Hospital System, Wayland Baptist Church and Enterprise Homes to construct and provide rent-assisted housing for low-moderate income seniors.   

Laurence is actively involved in Wayland Baptist Church where he has been a member for 53 years.  During this time, he served 24 years as a Deacon and also a teacher in Sunday School for 50 years.  In the early 70s and 80s, he initiated and oversaw several successful renovation programs that raised over $250,000 for capital improvements to Wayland Baptist Church.  

Mr. Campbell is retired from Westinghouse Defense/Northrop Grumman having worked over 41 years in various professional and management positions.  He was responsible for over $35 million in inventory and operating budgets.  Campbell was the go-to person for negotiations and acquisitions for Westinghouse and Northrop, supervising over 120 employees. He has served on three additional boards in Baltimore and Maryland.

Laurence graduated from Saint Mary’s Seminary and University with a Master of Arts in Theology; The Johns Hopkins University with a Masters of Administrative Science (MBA);  Towson State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree, majoring in business administration and marketing and the Community College of Baltimore with Associates of Arts in Business .
He is married to Janette S. Campbell and they have three successful children and six bright grandchildren.

His motto is “work while it is day for the night comes when no man can work”.