Helping Oppressed People Excel (HOPE), Fiscally Sponsored by Fusion Partnerships, Inc.
$15,000 / 2020 / Criminal Justice and Addiction
HOPE is a descendant of the Public Safety Compact (PSC), a justice reinvestment agreement between the State of Maryland and the Safe and Sound Campaign. One of the PSC graduates is Antoin Quarles-El, a PSC graduate and founding member of the PSC Core Action Team – that led advocacy and peer-to-peer support for PSC participants. After the closure of the PSC, Mr. Quarles-El would not let the network falter and founded HOPE to provide continued peer support and connection to resources for fellow returning citizens. Funding from the Abell Foundation will allow HOPE to continue its work with approximately 15-21 individuals weekl. During the pandemic, HOPE mentorship has continued using phone calls and video-conferencing, providing an important social contact and support for its clients. Peer mentors keep in regular touch with members outside of weekly meetings too, checking-in on their status, health, and any new challenges or milestones.
From Prison Cells to PhD, Inc
$20,000 / 2020 / Criminal Justice and Addiction
From Prison Cells to PhD was created in 2016 to help people with criminal convictions obtain employment and/or postsecondary education (PSE). Clients receive workforce development training, career readiness skills, college application/readiness assistance, and 1-2 years or more of mentoring. Funding from the Abell Foundation will support its Prison to Professional (P2P) program providing these services to individuals recently released from the Baltimore City Detention Center (BCDC). P2P will serve 80 individuals in several cohorts over the next year virtually and if restrictions allow at some point in-person. Components of the P2P Program include the following: (1) An 8-week workshop; and (2) Ten months of case management which includes weekly peer mentoring, executive coaching, and tutoring.
Food & Water Watch
$35,000 / 2020 / Community Development
In light of two decades of water rate hikes and in the face of the public health and economic crises unleashed by COVID-19, more than ever Baltimore City residents need a comprehensive water affordability program to prevent water shut offs. Food & Water Watch will advocate for timely implementation of the Water Accountability and Equity Act signed into law in January 2020. The program bases bills on household income and is designed intentionally to help vulnerable populations and communities of color who are disproportionately affected by the rising cost of water service.
Farm Alliance of Baltimore, Inc.
$35,000 / 2020 / Community Development
Farm Alliance of Baltimore will continue to offer a Double Dollars program to incentivize households receiving federal food benefits to spend their dollars on fruits and vegetables at local farm stands, community centers, the Civic Works’ mobile market, and the Waverly Market stall. The target population for this project is low income adults and children who live in Healthy Food Priority Areas, or areas with high food insecurity, and who remain at a significant disadvantage as they have unequal access to resources, especially healthy nutritious food.
Drink at The Well – Hon’s Honey Social Enterprise
$40,000 / 2020 / Health and Human Services
Drink at the Well operates a drop-in center that serves vulnerable women in the Curtis Bay community in South Baltimore. The center offers case management, mentoring, financial literacy education, food, clothing and flexible financial assistance in a community that has few resources. In 2018, Drink at the Well launched a social enterprise known as Hon’s Honey, which sells locally-sourced honey and honey-based skin care products and provides employment opportunities for women in The Well’s mentoring program. This grant provides operating support for Hon’s Honey.
