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significantly to the economy and local tax rolls. A bridge was constructed between Calvert
and St. Mary’s Counties, increasing the amount of commercial and commuter traffic. A
tobacco buy-out program virtually ended tobacco farming and watermen were devastated by
decreasing populations of oysters and crabs due to pollution of the waters surrounding
Southern Maryland. In 2019, the population is 13.2 % Black, 4 % Hispanic or Latino and
81.4% White.

Calvert County is a peninsula 30 miles long and nine miles wide. It is bordered on the east
by the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay and on the west by the Patuxent River. Even
though the county is only 30 miles long, it forms three distinct communities. The Northern
end of the county is dominated by expensive housing communities principally occupied by
commuters who work out of the county. It also includes Chesapeake and North Beaches,
one of the waterfront tourist areas of the county. The central part of the county includes the
seat of county government, Prince Frederick and much of the commercial life of the county.
The Southern part of the county is home to a mixture of higher and lower cost housing, as
well as Solomons Island, the other featured tourist area of the county.

Laying the Groundwork…. Establishing Trust

A series of community conversations about social, economic and racial issues began
organically in a serious way in about 2005. Each of these would become part of the
groundwork that contributed to where we are with the Big Conversations on Race and
Privilege as we know them today.

Northern Calvert

In the northern end of the county, Pastor Ken Phelps from All Saints Episcopal Church
established the unincorporated Housing for All Calvert group in 2006 to advocate for
affordable Low Income and Workforce Housing to meet community needs. This effort
engaged many groups and individuals in dialogue, education and advocacy. It gained
momentum and eventually became the Southern Maryland Action Coalition (SMAC) and,
later, TRUST (Rebuilding TRUST in Southern Maryland). Significant efforts included
support of an initiative to close the achievement gap between whites and students of color in
our public schools. The group brought an anti-racism workshop developed by the Episcopal
Diocese of Maryland to the county and, with the help of partners from the Community
Mediation Center of Calvert (CMCC), tailored that workshop material to the needs of the
local community. We learned early on that we had to be mindful of terminology such as
“anti-racism” and “White privilege”. In 2014, people were reluctant to participate in
programs that sounded racially charged. Instead of “anti-racism”, we used terminology like

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