Working To Enhance The Quality Of Life
In Baltimore And In Maryland.
In response to COVID-19, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA) in partnership with the Baltimore Civic Fund as a fiscal sponsor, established the Emergency Relief for Immigrant Families program. Through community partners, the fund will respond to the urgent needs of undocumented immigrant families who are excluded from the CARES Act and other governmental benefits like Unemployment Insurance and SNAP.
Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence (MPGV) began in the mid-1980s. It educates the public, lawmakers, and criminal justice stakeholders about best practices to prevent gun violence. Funding from the Abell Foundation will support its efforts with its newly created Maryland Violence Prevention Coalition. Project goals include educating policymakers and civic leaders about violence prevention strategies, fostering cooperation between the public, nonprofit, and public sectors, breaking down silos, and encouraging problem-solving to improve services and public safety outcomes.
This grant supports two of Maryland Citizen’s Health Initiative's current efforts: 1) The “Easy Enrollment” program, which uses individual tax returns to identify people who are eligible for, but not enrolled in, health insurance, and expand it to unemployment applications; 2) Advocate for the formation of and funding for Health Equity Resource Communities, which would be a state-funded grant program focused on reducing disparities in chronic health.
The Literacy Lab employs a professionalized tutoring workforce that provides one-on-one, small group, and whole group literacy interventions to 690 students annually. A replication of the acclaimed Minnesota Reading Corps, Literacy Lab embeds rigorously trained reading tutors in PreK classrooms and provides 1:1 tutoring in schools to children in Kindergarten through third grade. Literacy Lab tutoring participants are between 1.5 to 5 times as likely to be on grade level than students who started at the same grade level and received no tutoring. Approximately 20% of participating students
The Light of Truth Center has been providing safe, supportive housing to women in recovery since 1999. Funding from the Abell Foundation will support increasing LOT's clinical staff to align with COMAR requirements for its 3.1 residential program. This will allow LTC to bill for and provide substance abuse treatment in a residential setting.
The Social Innovation Lab incubates mission-driven companies and nonprofits to maximize their potential to become thriving sustainable ventures that contribute to increased opportunity in Baltimore. Through a six-month social venture accelerator program, the competitively selected cohort of up to ten entrepreneurs is provided programming sessions, access to an extensive network of advisors, one-on-one coaching, co-working space, and $1,000 in unrestricted funding.
Jews United For Justice (JUFJ) educates and mobilizes its network of over 2,000 members in the Baltimore area to participate in advocacy campaigns on a variety of social justice issues. Building on work JUFJ has done over the past three years to advocate for renters' rights in Baltimore, this grant will support JUFJ to work with other coalitions and organizations, including the Public Justice Center and Baltimore Renters United, to advocate for strengthening legal protections for renters in Baltimore City.
I AM MENtality is a mentoring and youth development program for boys and young men in Baltimore City. This grant supports the I AM MENtality Leadership Development Academy, its community-based program in the Irvington and Liberty Heights neighborhoods, which provides group-based and individual mentoring to youth and their families.
Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc. (HNI) is a citywide initiative that promotes investment in “middle Neighborhoods” through resident engagement, a focus on promoting neighborhood assets, and investment in housing stock. HNI serves 49 neighborhoods across the City. This grant provided support for core program activities and expansion to other neighborhoods.
Springboard Community Services provides mental health and case management services to families and youth throughout Central Maryland who have been impacted by trauma. This grant provides capital support for the creation of a new youth resource center in Springboard's main office building in Baltimore City.
