Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc.
Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc. (HNI) is a citywide initiative that promotes investment in “middle Neighborhoods” through resident engagement, a focus on promoting neighborhood assets, and investment in housing stock. HNI serves 41 neighborhoods across the City. This grant provided support for core program activities and expansion to other neighborhoods.
Environmental Integrity Project
Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) advocates for effective enforcement of environmental laws to hold polluters accountable and engages in permitting, regulatory and enforcement proceedings to reduce pollution and improve public health. Through their Baltimore Environmental Justice Campaign, the organization conducts data analysis, produces technical memoranda, creates legal strategies and builds community partnerships to reduce disparate impacts of toxic air pollution on low-income communities.
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) works with the Port of Baltimore, one of the City’s largest and most concentrated sources of emissions, to reduce air pollution associated with freight and cargo transportation. EDF’s extremely capable science and policy staff bring data analysis and evaluation skills, environmental information sharing, and best practice emissions reduction and clean energy implementation from their work with ports across the country.
CASA de Maryland, Inc.
The Baltimore Welcome Center provides employment placement services for day laborers and low-income workers who begin to assemble early in the morning in the hope of being selected for jobs in construction, landscaping, home improvement, sanitation, and other day-to-day, physical labor-intensive jobs. In the coming year, CASA plans to place workers in 1,700 daily jobs, 40 temporary/seasonal jobs, and 35 permanent jobs; to provide 150 people with legal consultation on immigration, employment, or housing matters; to provide 500 people with basic financial education/counseling, and 300 low-income households with free tax preparation services; yo educate 200 eligible Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) about the naturalization process, and help 75 LPRs submit their naturalization application; and to provide 60 students with Mi Espacio after-school programming.
Building STEPS, Inc.
Building STEPS provides promising students from Baltimore’s non-academic criteria high schools interested in science and technology (STEM) with an education in workplace dynamics and internships, as well as counseling in college and career choices in a program that spans from 11th grade through college to career. Building STEPS intends for 88 percent of its participants to earn a post-secondary degree, and the vast majority will be the first in their family to graduate from college. This grant will enable Building STEPS to expand the number of high schools it serves from 15 to 18-20, and increase the number of incoming 11th grade students to 150. Overall, the program will serve over 550 Baltimore City students/graduates ages 16-24 in the next year.