Associated Catholic Charities, Inc.
The Samaritan Center – a project of Catholic Charities – offers to help people resolve emergency needs and increase self-sufficiency through information and referral services, direct financial assistance, and advocacy. This grant provided eviction prevention funds to serve 120 households at risk of homelessness. The Samaritan Center works closely with low-income families and landlords to resolve unpaid rent and ensure clients remain stably house after receiving assistance.
Blue Water Baltimore, Inc.
Blue Water Baltimore advances clean water and watershed protection and elevates citizen concerns through multiple fronts: water and outfall sampling, data collection and scientific analysis, outreach and education, green infrastructure installation and tree plantings, cultivation and sale of native plants, targeted policy work, legislative advocacy, as well as litigation to hold polluters accountable under the Clean Water Act. This grant provides staff support to address top pollutants plaguing Baltimore City and its waterways: stormwater runoff, sewage overflows, and litter/trash.
Fund for Educational Excellence
Partnering with Baltimore City Schools, The Abell Foundation has co-sponsored the Baltimore Robotics League, an afterschool competitive robotics clubs for students from Kindergarten to 12th grade who build and compete in VEX and FIRST tournaments locally and nationally. Over 600 students participate in robotics clubs three hours per week at 78 school locations. Abell funding this year has been dedicated to increasing the number of Jr. FIRST Lego teams in 20 elementary schools.
Baltimore Kids Chess League, Inc.
The Abell Foundation has supported the launch and growth of the Baltimore Kids Chess League in Baltimore City Public Schools since 2004. Part of the Abell portfolio of afterschool “academic” sports, The Chess League serves over 700 kindergarten through 12th grade students in 45 schools who practice weekly with teacher mentors and compete in local, state and national Chess Federation tournaments with increasing success. Baltimore is now on the map as a chess-development hub.
Association for the Public Defender
The Association for the Public Defender of Maryland was created to support the activities of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (OPD), an independent state agency that provides legal representation to indigent defendants throughout the state. This grant provides matching funds for an AmeriCorps volunteer who will be placed at OPD in Baltimore City to develop a routinized process for public defenders to include expungement petitions into their process for closing a case. The project year will focus on a pilot cohort of public defenders to develop, implement, and refine a process that can be replicated throughout Baltimore City and ultimately OPD offices statewide.