STEM Champions of Baltimore / Fund for Educational Excellence
Like many of Abell’s afterschool academic sports programs, STEM Champions of Maryland trains teacher coaches to prepare middle & high school students for the National Science Olympiad Tournament each Spring. Providing robust curricula and materials for each of the 18 Olympiad activities, STEM Champions also brings STEM professionals and volunteers to work with teachers in the afterschool practices. This year, STEM Champions expects 36 school teams and 650 students to prepare for and enter the City Science Olympiad, with 15 teams advancing to the State Competition, and hopefully to Nationals.
St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore, Inc.
Launched in 2014, St. Vincent de Paul’s Front Door program provides short-term rent subsidies coupled with housing search assistance, intensive case management, and employment support to homeless families in Baltimore City. Over the past five years, the program has placed over 250 families into privately owned housing, and almost all remained housed one year after exiting the program. St. Vincent de Paul tailors services to the needs of each family to ensure that the families achieve stability and are able to remain housed. While the housing costs are covered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Abell Foundation grant funds pay for furniture, moving costs, and miscellaneous costs associated with eliminating barriers to employment.
St. Francis Neighborhood Center
The St. Francis Neighborhood Center has served the Reservoir Hill neighborhood since 1963 with after-school and summer programming for community youth. This grant will further support the renovation and expansion of their 125-year-old three-story town home at 2405 Linden Avenue with a new 12,000 sq. ft. facility (including five classrooms, a study hall and library, a café and kitchen, two meeting rooms, a multi-purpose room, an art studio, and an expanded computer lab.) The $5.5 million expansion is anticipated to be complete in Fall 2020.
South Baltimore Learning Center
South Baltimore Learning Center (SBLC) has provided adult education services for nearly three decades, serving over 700 adult students each year. Two years ago, with funding from the Abell Foundation, SBLC established an office and classroom at the Regional Skills Training Center in Park Heights. Working with sector skills training programs, SBLC provided 60 students with remedial instruction in math and reading. On average, students gained 2.5 levels in reading and 4.0 levels in math. These gains were achieved over an average of 30 hours of instruction. With continued funding from Abell, SBLC will serve 115 students, with the goal of 76 students gaining 3.0 levels in reading and 4.0 levels in math.
Shepherd’s Clinic
Shepherd’s Clinic offers primary and specialty medical care to uninsured adults by leveraging an extensive network of volunteer doctors, nurses and other health professionals. On-site specialty services include cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, women’s health, diabetes management, mental health, and wellness services. The clinic seeks to increase access to health care services for the uninsured, manage chronic diseases, and improve health and well-being. This grant provided Shepherd’s Clinic with general operating support.