Anne L. Blumenberg, Esq.
1946 – 2025
Community Law Center is saddened to learn of the passing of our founder and longtime Executive Director, Anne Blumenberg.
Anne’s vision, dedication, and commitment to Baltimore’s neighborhoods is ever-present in our work today.
Thank you to Anne, and to all who commit to a more just future in her honor.
Anne Blumenberg Memorial Fund
Community Law Center is accepting donations in support of the Anne Blumenberg Memorial Fund to honor Anne’s decades-long work with communities and neighborhoods across Baltimore City. Proceeds will benefit Community Law Center.
Checks can also be mailed to: Community Law Center
Attn: Anne Blumenberg Memorial Fund
3355 Keswick Rd, Suite 200, Baltimore MD 21211
Learn More About Anne
December 2004 The Daily Record | March 2005 Abell Foundation Salutes | April 2005 Congressional Record
Remembering Anne
If you would like to submit your thoughts, please send an email to gro.walytinummoc@liam or call 410-366-0922. Unless otherwise stated or specified, comments submitted with Community Law Center may be shared publicly.
“Anne was special not because she helped the community, which she did; it wasn’t because she dedicated her life to fighting injustice for others, although she did; it’s not because she created a vast network of allies throughout the state to help expand access to otherwise privileged resources and legal aid, or the countless outreach projects in impoverished communities so people could be emboldened to fight for their neighborhoods, even though she did. Anne was special, because she didn’t have to. The work she did was selfless, and often times, thankless. But for Anne, the decision to use her gifts to enrich the lives of others was as easy as breathing for her. She truly believes in what she helped create, and it was her unwavering commitment to the people, not just the city, that drives the CLC today. She continues to inspire us to do good for goodness’ sake and will be dearly missed.” – Ingrid Hitchens, former colleague of Anne at Community Law Center
“It is with profound sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Anne Blumenberg, the visionary founder and first executive director of the Community Law Center. Anne’s unwavering commitment to justice and community empowerment laid the foundation for our organization and continues to inspire our work today. Her legacy lives on in the countless lives she touched and the community she transformed. We are deeply grateful for her contributions and will honor her memory by steadfastly pursuing the mission she so passionately championed.” – Brian Meltzer, Chair of Community Law Center Board of Directors
“Anne was simply amazing. In addition to her legal innovation, she was kind, a brave survivor, didn’t complain, hospitable, and gave so many people opportunities – changing the course of their lives. I came back to CLC to get my second bite at the apple. I was often too young and timid to get the best of her vision and aged into it, wanting to do well by her. Let’s do that – always!”
– Amy Yontef-McGrath, former colleague of Anne
My impression of Anne was that of “a quiet storm”. She founded the Community Law Center as an asset with an arsenal of how-to skills that equipped neighborhood leadership with the capacity to effectively take on nagging community issues associated with liquor stores, vacant housing, zoning problems. Anne’s advocacy for neighborhood self-help through education and the awareness of the legal remedies available, contributed a great deal to the strength and revitalization efforts of many Baltimore city neighborhoods. “Coming together is a beginning; Keeping together is progress; Working together is success.” Henry Ford. It has been my pleasure to know Anne. Shirl Byron, former CLC Board Member
I was sad to hear of Anne’s passing and to hear about the chance to honor her this weekend. I was a staff attorney in the early 1990s, working on both the vacant housing receivership process and nuisance law enforcement. Anne had assembled an amazing team, and I learned from them all – the attorneys but also the paralegals and community engagement partners and community leaders. I took the lessons I learned from Anne and the team at CLC and have been honored to apply and build on these experiences both in Baltimore in the 1990s and then across the country over the last few decades, as a trainer and funder. What I really learned from Anne was to surround myself with smart creative people and to be willing to take risks and to innovate to solve the problem.
– Betsi Griffith, former CLC staff attorney