The Work First Foundation
$200,000 / 2020 / Workforce Development
With funding from the Abell Foundation, in 2009, America Works (through its nonprofit Work First Foundation) launched the Baltimore Ex-Offender Reentry Employment Program. The program provides a two-week-long job-readiness workshop for cohorts of six to seven ex-offenders. The program targets ex-offenders under 40 years of age, and those who have been recently released from prison or jail. To date,1,318 ex-offenders have graduated from the two-week training course, with 804 being placed into jobs (a 61% job placement rate). Participants earned an average of $9.39 at placement, with 65 percent remaining employed for six months or more. Since June 2017, the Baltimore City court system has been referring low-income individuals to the program as they await trial, rather than jailing them because they cannot afford to pay bail. To date, 305 pretrial defendants have enrolled into the program. Of those, 227 have gone to trial, with 78 percent experiencing a positive outcome.
Whitelock Community Farm, Fiscally Sponsored by Fusion Partnerships, Inc.
$30,000 / 2020 / Community Development
Whitelock Community Farm, over its 10 year history, has harvested over 40,000 pounds of organic produce. Distribution sites include a Reservoir Hill farm stand, neighborhood mobile market sites, community supported agriculture (CSA) program, a city wide farmers market and local restaurants. This grant provided support for infrastructure upgrades will allow the Farm to maximize food production, minimize food waste, expand outreach to youth in the community, and increase sales.
Vehicles for Change, Inc.
$390,000 / 2020 / Workforce Development
Since 1999, the Abell Foundation has supported Vehicles for Change (VFC) in making low-cost cars available to low-income job seekers in Baltimore City. In 2015, with funding from Abell, VFC launched an automotive technician repair program. VFC hires men and women who have been recently released from prison or who have been granted work release (usually in small cohorts of seven to eight people). All program applicants have successfully completed the 600-hour Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Auto Maintenance and Light Repair training program while incarcerated. At VFC, they receive three to five months of paid work experience, earning $9 an hour. The on-the-job experience is designed to build the trainees’ resumes and overcome any reservations that employers have about hiring returning citizens. All trainees must pass at least four ASE certification tests. The program is working: of the 150 trainees who enrolled since the beginning of the program, 13 are still in training, 131 wer placed into full-time employment and only six have not completed because they were on work release and had to return to prison. All of the 131 graduates have been placed into employment, with an average starting hourly wage of $16 per hour. Funding from Abell will support the training and job placement of 56 to 60 Baltimore residents.
Tuerk House, Inc.
$140,000 / 2020 / Criminal Justice and Addiction
Tuerk House is State Licensed and Joint Commission accredited and offers a full continuum of drug treatment programs, from inpatient residential withdrawal management to halfway house as well as intensive and standard outpatient services. Funding from the Abell Foundation will support the Tuerk House’s four-stage renovation project to improve and expand its 75 year old structure. The entire renovation process will increase TH’s overall capacity from 73 to 104 beds, create improved dining and group spaces, and add nursing and counseling offices.
TNTP, Inc.
$50,000 / 2020 / Education
TNTP has recruited, prepared and placed an average of 110 non-traditional teachers annually in Baltimore City Public Schools since 1997. Their efforts, both policy and programmatic, to increase the number of high quality teachers of color entering Baltimore City and Maryland public schools have resulted in a pool that is 50% black and 60% people of color. TNTP will continue its policy work at the State level to successfully adopt new Teacher License regulations that will remove certification barriers and advocate for a legislative grant program that will remove financial barriers for teachers of color.
