Public Justice Center, Inc.
Public Justice Center is leading a multi-year campaign to advocate for changes in laws and practices that limit tenants’ rights and deny due process to tenants in Baltimore City’s Rent Court, which results in more than one in 17 renter households being evicted each year. According to a 2020 Stout Risius Ross, LLC report on right to counsel for Baltimore tenants facing eviction, 96% of landlords have lawyers or specialized agents in eviction cases, while only 1% of tenants do. This grant supports PJC’s Rent Court Reform and Eviction Prevention Initiative, which employs a combination of litigation, administrative advocacy, and legislative advocacy to advance the rights of tenants in Baltimore, prevent evictions and reduce household insecurity.
Parks & People Foundation
Parks & People Foundation offers a paid youth internship and environmental education after school and summer YouthWorks program called ‘Branches’ to address two critical issues: the need for meaningful employment for economically disadvantaged youth and the need for a trained workforce caring for parks and green spaces in the City. Participants in the Branches program gain hands-on experience and skills designing and implementing projects that have a community impact while contributing to the areas where many of them live and attend school, including neighborhoods which have high levels of poverty and few opportunities for positive development of young people. During COVID-19 in person restrictions the program will be offered virtually.
Parity Baltimore, Inc.
Parity is an equitable development nonprofit organization launching in Harlem Park, one of Baltimore’s many culturally and historically rich African American neighborhoods. Parity intends to acquire vacant houses and renovate them for sale to new homeowners. Parity has cultivated a cohort of pre-committed and pre-qualified homebuyers. Grant funds will be used for four homebuyer purchase incentives of $10,000 each to support redevelopment and reduce the cost of each house purchase.
Moveable Feast, Inc.
Founded in 1989 as a volunteer-led organization providing home-cooked meals for people with HIV and AIDS, Moveable Feast is now the leading provider of home-delivered medically tailored meals for people with chronic health conditions in the Baltimore region. The organization delivers approximately 500,000 meals annually to over 1,300 individuals who are medically compromised and have diseases that are impacted by nutrition. In addition, 40% of its clients receive medical nutrition therapy to help them make lasting changes to their diets to support improved health. Beyond direct services, Moveable Feast is an active participant in the national Food Is Medicine coalition, an association of nonprofit food and nutrition service providers that collaborate to advance public policy, promote research, and share best practices on the provision of medically tailored meals and nutrition education. This grant provides general support for Moveable Feast’s operations.
Maryland New Directions
Maryland New Directions, Inc., (MND) is a private, nonprofit, career counseling and job placement agency that provides one-on-one job coaching for immediate job placement as well as occupational skills training for careers in the transportation and logistics industry. Funding from Abell will support MND in assisting more than 200 job seekers in Baltimore.