South Baltimore Learning Center
The South Baltimore Learning Center (SBLC) has provided adult education services to Baltimore City residents for nearly three decades, serving more than 600 adult students each year. With funding from the Abell Foundation, SBLC plans to offer 12 classes at the Regional Skills Training Center (RSTC) located on Park Heights Avenue in West Baltimore. Classes will include three low literacy/low math classes designed for applicants that did not qualify for sector skills training programs located at the RSTC, three traditional pre-GED classes for eligible training participants, and three GED fast-track classes. SBLC’s goal is to provide effective instruction that will result in the grade level gains needed to access one of the sector training programs in the RSTC.
Jane Addams Resource Corporation
The Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) Baltimore trains unemployed and/or underemployed Baltimore City residents in welding and computer numerical control (CNC) at the Regional Skills Training Center on Park Heights Avenue in West Baltimore. With funding from the Abell Foundation, students receive hands-on training and earn industry-recognized credentials in a work-like environment. Beyond technical skills training, JARC Baltimore provides employment readiness and financial support services to trainees during and after training. Graduates are placed in jobs earning an average of $16.80 per hour.
Civic Works, Inc.
Civic Works Baltimore Center for Green Careers (BCGC) has built a multi-tiered green career “pathway out of poverty” by training and placing Baltimore City residents in the brownfields remediation and residential energy-efficiency industries. During the five-week entry-level brownfields remediation training program, participants receive five industry-recognized certifications and conduct a hands-on practicum. The three-month, entry-level energy retrofit installer training program provides one month of classroom-based instruction and two months of on-the-job training through Civic Works’ social enterprise, known as EnergyReady. Graduates are placed into jobs earning $15.29 per hour.
Baltimore Teacher Supply Swap
In resource-strapped districts like Baltimore City, teachers spend an average of $600 of their own money each year for school supplies for their students. The Baltimore Teacher Supply Swap aims to lighten that burden by providing teachers with donated or surpassed supplies to support classroom learning. This grant supports the Swap’s Supply Mobile, which brings the most needed supplies directly to the teachers at their schools.
Youth Empowered Society
Opened in October 2012, the YES Center is the only drop-in center for unaccompanied homeless youth and young adults in Baltimore. The center serves youth ages 14 to 25, providing counseling, peer support, connections to resources, and a safe place for the youth to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, laundry facilities, and access to phones and computers, among other things. Services provided by YES staff members and partner agencies include employment readiness, job training, and job placement support; assistance accessing housing; case management; assistance in accessing public benefits; health care, including behavioral health; tutoring; and legal services. This grant supports the salaries of a case manager and peer intern who assist clients in addressing their needs.