Diabetes Walk Returns to Harbor Point, Funds Stay Local in Baltimore
Harbor Point will host Baltimore’s first Step Out Walk in six years, and the money raised will stay local for diabetes research and programs serving city families.
Harbor Point will again fill with walkers in Baltimore’s first Step Out Walk in six years, and Katie Ferrante said the money raised will stay local for diabetes research and programs serving city families. For a city where more than 54,000 adults are living with diabetes, the return gives Baltimore a visible way to turn a Saturday morning into support for neighbors managing a lifelong disease.
The American Diabetes Association lists the 2026 Step Out Walk: Maryland for Saturday, May 9, from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Harbor Point in Baltimore. A Baltimore events calendar lists an earlier 8:30 a.m. start, suggesting the waterfront site may open before the official walk time. The association describes Step Out as its premier walking fundraising event, with proceeds supporting research and resources for people living with diabetes.
Ferrante, who leads development for the Baltimore chapter, tied the fundraiser directly to local need. Money raised in Baltimore stays in Baltimore, she said, and the dollars back programs that already serve city residents, including Camp Charm City at Johns Hopkins for children living with type 1 diabetes and Project Power Youth at Crossroads School.
The public health stakes are broad. Baltimore City Health Department figures show about 500,000 people in Maryland have diabetes and 1.6 million adults have prediabetes. In Baltimore City alone, more than 54,000 adults are living with diabetes, a number that reaches deep into neighborhoods from East Baltimore to the waterfront and across families already managing clinic visits, medication costs and the daily burden of the disease.
State data underscore the scale of the problem. A Maryland Department of Health diabetes brief says 10.9% of Maryland adults reported being diagnosed with diabetes in 2023. An American Diabetes Association Maryland fact sheet puts the statewide total at about 578,400 adults, or 10.5% of the adult population, and estimates about 35,000 adults are diagnosed each year.
Maryland health materials also say diabetes is a leading cause of death in the state and a risk factor for other major causes of death. After six years away from Baltimore, the Step Out Walk returns with a clear local purpose: raise money here, keep the support here, and connect Harbor Point to the city’s wider fight against a disease that touches thousands of Baltimore families.
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