Youth Empowered Society, Fiscally Sponsored by Maryland Philanthropy Network
The YES drop-in center serves homeless youth ages 14 – 25, providing counseling, peer support, connections to resources, and a safe place for youth to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, laundry facilities, and access to phones and computers, among other things. YES staff and partner agencies provide employment counseling and job placement support; housing assistance; case management; assistance accessing public benefits; access to health care; legal services; and leadership development opportunities. This grant will support the construction and relocation costs associated with the YES Center’s move to a new, larger building that will better meet the needs of the youth it serves.
Up2Us Sports
Up2Us aims to engage, train and support sports coaches to transform youth, programs and communities. The organization partners with AmeriCorps to offer year-long coaching placements with schools and community programs as a service learning opportunity. This grant will help subsidize the cost-share for community-based programs that operate in-person programming so that they are able to hire a high-quality coach.
The Samaritan Community
The Samaritan Community provides support to families and individuals who are in crisis, using an individualized approach that addresses the unique needs of each client. The vast majority of clients served are unemployed, and many have chronic illnesses, including mental health and substance use disorders. The center’s programs include a food pantry, emergency financial assistance, individual and group counseling, and referrals. This grant supports the Samaritan Community’s regular programs, as well as a special fund established to meet the needs of clients who have been directly impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Maryland MENTOR, Fiscally Sponsored by Fund for Educational Excellence
Maryland MENTOR aims to increase the quality and quantity of mentoring relationships for Maryland’s young people and close the mentoring gap. The organization provides free training, technical assistance, and quality improvement efforts to mentoring programs. The Mentoring Connector also helps programs recruit mentors. This grant provides general operating support.
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins Brancati Center for the Advancement of Community Care (“The Brancati Center”) will implement an evidence-based diabetes self-management training and support program for 70 people in partnership with three churches in East Baltimore: Zion Baptist Church; Memorial Baptist Church; and Israel Baptist Church. The Brancati Center will assess the effectiveness of the program through both laboratory results and validated patient questionnaires for the following outcomes: A1C levels; weight loss; blood pressure; medication burden (the number of diabetes-related medications and the type and dosages of medications); and participants’ knowledge of diabetes self-management information.