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.
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.
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.
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.
Civic Works, Inc.
In operation since 2009, Civic Works’ Real Food Farm is the largest farm in Baltimore City, demonstrating that an organic urban farm can produce tens of tons of food nearly year-round and increase household food security by addressing lack of access to healthy produce through two mobile markets operating in East and West Baltimore. At Real Food Farm and through the Baltimore Orchard Project, Civic Works offers unique training and service learning opportunities for AmeriCorps members, young adults, and Baltimore City schoolchildren in keeping with Civic Works’ mission to provide skills development and community service. This grant supports the salaries of key staff, as well as mobile market expenses.