The Mission Continues
The Mission continues provides veterans with an outlet for continued service in 55 metropolitan areas. Veteran volunteers work with nonprofit partners and community leaders through its week long Mass Deployment initiative. Baltimore is this year’s Mass Deployment site, with planned projects in the Harlem Park and Brooklyn/Curtis Bay communities. This grant provides support for expenses and equipment associated with this year’s project.
Moveable Feast, Inc.
Moveable Feast prepares and delivers nutritious meals to individuals who are medically-compromised and have HIV, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses. In addition to providing home-delivered meals, Moveable Feast provides meals for drop-in centers and substance use treatment programs, nutritional therapy and medical transportation for clients with specific needs, and operates a culinary arts job training program. This grant funded the purchase and installation of a new walk-in freezer to expand Moveable Feast’s frozen storage capacity and enable it to serve more clients.
Charm City Care Connection
Abell Foundation support will allow CCCC to open a daytime Harm Reduction Drop-in Center (HRDC) for people with a substance use disorder to provide a safe space to access needed services and support. The HRDC will include low barrier and easy to access services, including the following:syringe exchange,fentanyl test strip distribution, naloxone distribution, community meals and case management.
Center for Urban Families, Inc.
The mission of the Center for Urban Families (CFUF) is to strengthen urban communities by helping fathers and families achieve stability and economic succes. STRIVE Baltimore, the cornerstone of CFUF’s programming, emphasizes attitudinal training, job placement, and post-placement support, with a strict, demanding, three-week workshop that focuses on workplace behavior, appearance, and attitude. Upon completion of training, STRIVE graduates are placed in jobs, and are followed by STRIVE staff for two years. Last year,180 participants graduated from STRIVE Baltimore, with 93 graduates (or 52%) being placed into jobs; 104 graduates of other CFUF programs and 138 former graduates were also placed into jobs, bringing the total number of job placements to 335. STRIVE graduates placed in employment earned an average of $12.20 per hour, and 74% remained employed for at least six months.
BUILD
Turnaround Tuesdays is a BUILD jobs initiative in which residents meet at Zion Baptist Church on Tuesday mornings from 9 am to 11 am to receive help in finding employment. Over 125 people participate in Turnaround Tuesdays each week, completing a 10-week leadership training curriculum that focuses the skills needed to sustain employment. The jobs movement is working: last year, 202 people were placed into jobs, earning an average wage of $14.50 per hour. According to BUILD, 74% of those placed have remained employed at least a year. Retention is higher (84%) at anchor institutions such as Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical System. BUILD is establishing an employment pipeline to “good paying jobs” at these and other long-standing large, anchor institution employers, encouraging them to hire people with criminal records.