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When Shiron Lindsay ‘09 came to the University of Maryland (UMD) as an undergraduate student, she had a game plan: study mechanical engineering, focus on manufacturing, go to law school, and become a patent lawyer.
But when she graduated in 2009, the U.S. economy was in freefall.
“During the time I was graduating, there was a recession and the programs that helped pay for law school and those careers just dried up,” she said. “So I came home and had to pivot.”
Home is Baltimore, and Lindsay found herself pivoting to education—as an instructional technology specialist for Baltimore City Public Schools. The core of her work is training teachers and supporting their technology needs in the classroom, but she says one of her favorite parts of her job is working with students and introducing them to STEM education.
“When they tell me that they're studying something in the STEM fields in undergrad, I'm so excited. It’s one of the best things.”
Around the time Lindsay graduated from the Clark School, Baltimore had spent years in the national spotlight—because of a TV show.
“This was the time of The Wire,” she said. “Baltimore did not necessarily have a good reputation.”
She wanted to give back to a city that was suffering from divestment and experiencing a vacant housing crisis. So she decided to buy her home in Baltimore and even become a block captain organizing neighborhood clean-ups.
The experience of becoming a Baltimore resident and working for the city’s benefit was something Lindsay wanted to replicate for others. In 2020, she decided to buy a second home in Baltimore’s Pimlico neighborhood, where a number of her students camefrom. It was a vacant building she purchased for $45,000, spent an additional $10,000 rehabilitating, and eventually rented out to tenants who were struggling to find housing.
“I wanted to do what I had done in my own neighborhood—put someone there who wanted to be a part of the change, honor and respect the neighbors, and build community.”
The tenants were a couple who had completed a Narcotics Anonymous program and were seeking permanent housing. They didn’t have a long rental history but had savings and fellow NA members who vouched for them as good tenants.
“They moved in April 2020 and they are still there. They actually just got a new stove on Monday,” Lindsay added.
Since the house in Pimlico, Lindsay has purchased three more homes, using what’s called the BRRR method: Buy, Rehabilitate, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. After renovating a home and finding tenants, Lindsay refinances the property based on its increased value and uses the equity to fund future purchases.
She continues to rent the homes to Baltimoreans seeking long-term housing and has specific criteria for all of her ventures: it has to be near public transportation and there must be grocery stores, strong schools, and community centers in the neighborhood.
Now, an owner of five properties, Lindsay says she seen her city change for the better since she first came back in 2009. And she credits both top-down and bottom-up initiatives for its come-up.
“I think we're seeing leadership that is really invested in the future of our children and thinking about how we are utilizing our resources to make Baltimore better, but I also see community organizations that are sprouting up and coming together,” she said, noting that both community groups and the mayor are encouraging block parties and cleanup days around the city.
“I hope that it is sustained and that we'll continue to see communities thrive and grow.”
March 28, 2025
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