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Our Mission

To create and encourage infrastructural, economical, and community development initiatives, to promote public art installations, and to beautify, revitalize, and improve the wellbeing of all businesses and individuals in St. Mary’s County.

St. Mary’s CDC is committed to serving Lexington Park and greater St. Mary’s County by addressing the needs and supporting the goals of its residents. Our mission pushes us to enhance the quality of life for all individuals, families, and small businesses in the area by providing resources, investments, and projects that empower us all to help Lexington Park reach its full potential.

Through partnerships with local organizations, and with help from volunteers and community leaders, St. Mary’s CDC is able to apply for and use grant funding and donations to implement projects and programs that address the needs of our community. We are committed to helping families achieve stability and self-sufficiency through our affordable housing development, Patuxent Cove, and through the development’s on-site programming that promotes financial literacy, employment, and access to vital local resources.

We also focus on economic development and infrastructure investments that support the long-term prosperity of the area. A strong economy is essential for maintaining sustainable communities and helping families achieve financial stability. To that end, St. Mary’s CDC work closely with local businesses, government agencies, and community organizations to identify opportunities for growth and development. Our goal is to help foster an environment that encourages entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation. The CDC also works to support infrastructure investments that enhance the quality of life for residents and businesses, such as improvements to commercial properties, neighborhoods, and public facilities.

Additionally, St. Mary’s CDC works to create safe and healthy neighborhoods through community revitalization efforts, outreach, and advocacy. Our Great Mills Road Cleanup initiative, which began in 2022, functions as our most significant community empowerment strategy, empowering residents to work as a team to beautify our town and feel a sense of pride as a result. We believe that by working together, we can create a brighter future for everyone in St. Mary’s County.

Thank you for your interest in St. Mary’s CDC. We invite you to explore our website to learn more about our mission, programs, and projects, and to discover ways you can get involved in our efforts to make a positive impact in our community.

What We Do

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ArtsPark

Our Impact

Here at St. Mary’s CDC, we believe in making a difference. Read below to learn more about the projects we have completed in Lexington Park!

Murals

St. Mary’s CDC partnered with St. Mary’s Arts Council to implement a number of murals located off of South Shangri La Drive in Lexington Park. Click through our projects below!

Lexington Park Alive! was the first mural project by St. Mary’s Community Development Corp. (CDC) in collaboration with the St. Mary’s County Arts Council. The CDC’s Art Park Committee held a contest for design submissions and the winner was Lynn Wescoe.

Completed in 2019, Lexington Park Alive! is located on the back of our office building behind Mr. Tire at the corner of Shangri La Drive and Great Mills Road.

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“Artist Rainbow” combines the faces of famous artists, speakers, poets, orators, a hip hop musician, a street artist, a Piscataway performing artist, and that very famous smiling portrait!

Roz Racanello, former St. Mary’s CDC staff artist, was inspired to design the collage after overseeing the installation of the corporation’s first mural Lexington Park Alive!

A competition was held to select four additional Maryland artists to work with Ms. Racanello on “Artist Rainbow” , those selected were Kailee Findlay, Caitlin Jones, Elizabeth Lopez, and Katia Meisinger.

Artist Rainbow was completed in 2019 and can be found on the opposite end of our office building from Lexington Park Alive!, by Ashley HomeStore.

Public art is never guaranteed to be permanent. Unfortunately, this wall has been repainted.

Wings Across Lexington Park” was a portrait-height installation of wings from all types of creatures, the initial section painted in 2018 and an addition completed in 2020.

In early spring 2020, Ms. Racanello was compelled to create an homage to the nurses and medical workers battling on the front lines of COVID-19. Ms. Racanello’s nephew, a nurse on the front lines in New York, NY, was both the inspiration and the model for the artwork.

Wings Across Lexington Park” was on Sale Center Lane, the alleyway between Ashley HomeStore and Amazing 2 Nails & Spa by the Great Mills Road/Shangri La Drive intersection.

While our public art initiatives work to improve the perception of Lexington Park, St. Mary’s CDC works with members of our community towards beautifying our town in other ways.

Annual Great Mills Road Community Cleanup

The annual Great Mills Road Cleanup event works towards our vision of a beautiful and thriving Lexington Park. The community’s efforts to clean up litter, pull weeds, clear sidewalk areas, and mow neglected grass by the roadway shows proof of our ability to work together for a common purpose – making Lexington Park a better place to live, work, and play.

Cleanup news

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CONTENT COMING SOON!

Patuxent Cove

Through partnerships with Three Oaks, St. Mary’s Housing Authority, and Conifer Realty, St. Mary’s CDC developed its first affordable housing community, Patuxent Cove, to offset just one of the many economic challenges some southern Marylanders face. Construction was completed in mid-2020.

The 60-unit mixed-income housing complex is located off of Pegg Road just outside Gate 1 of Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Units are one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments and are priced at market rate and at percentage of income.

Read more about the Patuxent Cove project here.