Black Yield Institute, Fiscally Sponsored by Maryland Philanthropy Network
Black Yield Institute promotes the concept of black land ownership and food sovereignty through the development of ghe Cherry Hill Urban Community Farm. The farm increases access to healthy, affordable food; fosters positive community activity on a vacant Housing Authority of Baltimore City site; offers educational, skill building, and leadership development opportunities; and promotes dialogue about food access, neighborhood development, and environmental justice. Grant funding supports staff costs, equipment and supplies to continue urban farming production.
Black Women Build – Baltimore
Black Women Build – Baltimore buys abandoned houses, works with Black women to restore them and then sells the houses to the women at affordable prices. The organization instructs trainees in the carpentry, electrical and plumbing trades while they work on homes they may later purchase. Trainees do not earn a license in a trade, but they are equipped with skills that they can parlay into a construction job and into savings from the knowledge of home maintenance. Grant funds will be used as down payment and closing cost assistance to support three home purchasers.
Black Women Build – Baltimore
Black Women Build – Baltimore buys abandoned houses, works with Black women to restore them and then sells the houses to the women at affordable prices. The organization instructs trainees in the carpentry, electrical and plumbing trades while they work on homes they may later purchase. Trainees do not earn a license in a trade, but they are equipped with skills that they can parlay into a construction job and into savings from the knowledge of home maintenance. Grant funds will be used as down payment and closing cost assistance to support three home purchasers.
Banner Neighborhoods Community Corporation
Banner Neighborhoods provides low-income senior and disabled homeowners with home repairs and handicap modifications. Relieving homeowners of the cost and difficulty of completing home repairs and maintenance enables them to age in place and retain their community ties and social networks. The exterior house improvements, and in some cases tree and vine removal in yards, are critical to keeping senior’s home compliant with code, avoiding environmental citations and municipal fines that unpaid can lead to tax sale and loss of a home.
Baltimore Development Corporation
For Baltimore to both attract Opportunity Zone and other investments and ensure such investments benefit community residents and businesses, the Opportunity Zone and Impact Investment Coordinator provides a valuable resource and competitive advantage to connect investors with projects and to connect projects to critical financing. Baltimore has been nationally recognized as one of the first cities to have a designated point person for the Opportunity Zone program. The grant covers the third year of the Coordinator’s salary.