History
Learning Inc. is a small nonprofit organization operating in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore City. Founded as The Learning Circus in 1998, Learning Inc. originally provided after-school enrichment activities to young children in the Hampden-Remington-Woodberry area. Coming from families living with drug and alcohol problems, physical or emotional abuse, and poverty, these children were at great risk for underachievement, failure or worse. The Learning Circus was designed to provide them an alternative to "hanging out on the street, waiting for something to happen.” Within weeks of the program’s opening, the staff noticed that older children and teens were hanging around at times when they should have been in school. Chronically truant or already drop-outs, these young adults were likely to remain trapped in a poverty cycle that would further damage themselves and their communities. Intending to break that cycle, the staff expanded The Learning Circus into two distinct free of charge programs to combine academic instruction with innovative life skills and enrichment activities: Our programs have always been free and open to youth living in Baltimore City, and participation is on a voluntary basis.