Bon Secours of Maryland Foundation
$30,000 / 2004 / Health and Human Services
Third-year support of the Bon Secours Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Program (YEEP), designed to break the cycle of low graduation rates and poor employment histories. YEEP has been developed to help 90 high school youth living or going to school in Southwest Baltimore obtain after-school and summer employment, and plan careers. The program offers 12 training sessions in job readiness, leadership, and job placement; six weeks of bi-weekly financial literacy classes; and career/post-high school education classes.
Legal Aid Bureau, Inc.
$150,000 / 2004 / Health and Human Services
Fifth-year funding of the Child Support/Barriers to Employment Project, an initiative designed to address the financial needs of noncustodial parents with child support obligations. The program provides individual representation to more than 200 noncustodial parents, addressing systemic problems within the child support enforcement system.
The Samaritan Center
$50,000 / 2004 / Health and Human Services
Two grants for continued funding of the Travel Voucher Program, which helps homeless people in need of travel assistance. The programs provide bus vouchers to more than 400 homeless people who want to leave Baltimore to reunite with family, find employment, or receive treatment for substance abuse.
Catholic Charities
$250,000 / 2004 / Health and Human Services
Capital funding toward the construction of the new Our Daily Bread Employment Center. The center will house four programs: Our Daily Bread, supported by volunteers and donors, serving meals to an average of 750 homeless people per day and breakfast on weekdays to more than 100 seniors and disabled persons; Christopher’s Place Employment Academy, a residential program helping homeless men find and maintain full-time employment at a living wage and permanent housing; St. Jude’s Employment Center, providing poor, homeless, and disadvantaged persons with a transition back into the work force; and The Samaritan Center, providing travelers’ aid service and bus vouchers to homeless persons who want to leave Baltimore City to reunite with family, find employment, or access substance abuse treatment.
Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church
$41,875 / 2004 / Health and Human Services
Challenge grant for renovation to the church and community center to allow for expanding outreach programs serving needy residents in East Baltimore. Working with the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, the church offers a food pantry, a six-week summer camp for 40 children, a computer literacy program, and, in partnership with Civic Works, neighborhood cleanups and gardens.