Baltimore Tree Trust
Baltimore Tree Trust’s Community Forester Corps program offers virtual, classroom, and hand-on training in tree planting and maintenance, urban forestry, and tree mapping and data management. The program creates viable pathways to employment opportunities for people who have been marginalized by lack of education, discrimination, and unavailability of jobs matching their skill sets. By planting and maintaining trees, trainees contribute to Baltimore City’s goal of increasing tree coverage from 26% to 40% by 2037. Expanding the urban tree canopy improves the health of residents and livability of neighborhoods, promotes environmental stewardship, addresses adverse climate change and extreme heat, and advances equity.
Baltimore Corps
Baltimore Corps supports Baltimore City’s social innovation sector by recruiting and deploying mission-driven young professionals to Baltimore City’s public agencies and social sector organizations. As the local Kiva Baltimore operating partner, Baltimore Corps works with entrepreneurs, small businesses, and micro-businesses, with an intentional focus on supporting Black-owned businesses. Baltimore Corps’ Kiva Baltimore program staff assist businesses at every step of the process to apply, fundraise, and repay loans through the technology lending platform. Kiva-Baltimore supports Black-owned small-businesses and micro-enterprises operating in Baltimore City through COVID pandemic-related challenges and beyond. Grant funds will be used to support staff costs to meet expansion needs and increased demand from small and micro-business ongoing advice and consultation and provide 25 microloans through the Kiva-Baltimore platform.
The York Road Partnership, Fiscally Sponsored by GEDCO
For many years, the York Road Partnership (YRP) has worked along and across York Road to develop a long-term vision to improve the commercial corridor, reverse the long-term trend of disinvestment, and support adjacent neighborhoods. The corridor is currently characterized by high commercial vacancy and a lack of community-focused retail. Support for an “Invest York Road” initiative will create a crowdfunding tool to raise local, community capital for acquisition, renovation, ownership and leasing of vacant and under-utilized commercial buildings along York Road in Greater Govans.
Venture For America
Venture for America (VFA) strengthens entrepreneurship, business formation, and economic growth by attracting top talent college graduates to work in start-up and early-stage companies. Since 2013, VFA has matched 148 Fellows with full-time employment in nearly 60 high-growth companies and startups in Baltimore. Additionally they have supported the launch of 16 Fellow-founded companies in Baltimore. Of the 209 Fellows selected nationally for company matches in 14 cities in 2021, 57% identify as people of color, 52% are female or gender nonconforming, and 24% are first generation college students. VFA expects 21 Fellows to begin two-year fellowships in start-up companies in Baltimore in fall 2021.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is the nation’s largest trails and active transportation organization, dedicated to connecting people and places by trail, many from former rail lines. RTC is leading community partners, anchor institutions, and Baltimore City government in the planning and implementation of the 35-mile Baltimore Greenway Trails Network loop, which was formally adopted by the Planning Commission as part of the City’s Green Network Plan in 2018. The Greenway encompasses Baltimore’s downtown area and, when finished, will link more than 75 neighborhoods. This grant will support staff costs and efforts to develop design standards and guidelines for the interconnected parks and trails of the Baltimore Greenway, implement a trail count program, and implement an equitable development planning process now to ensure residents’ needs remain a priority.