With a warm, welcoming smile, Carleen Goodridge greeted her guests like they were family. As each one entered her newly opened café, The Stand by Le MONADE, nestled between the city courthouse and Mercy Hospital in downtown Baltimore, she walked over and embraced them. Her hair was fashioned into two waist-length braids that draped over the shoulders of those she hugged. I’m grateful and ecstatic,” said Goodridge, a 44-year-old Bayview resident. “Being in Baltimore has helped me complete my identity and find a better version of myself.”
