Parks & People Foundation
Parks & People Foundation builds and revitalizes public spaces, supports greening groups and nonprofits with material and grant donations, and hosts out-of-school time programs for city-youth from low-income backgrounds that integrate environmental education, outdoor experiences, and social-emotional development. This grant supported the middle school sports program, which provides public school students after-school athletic enrichment with an integrated character development curriculum. Sports offered using a non-traditional model include soccer, baseball, volleyball, kickball, basketball, and flag football.
Maryland MENTOR / Fund for Educational Excellence
Maryland MENTOR was founded in 2018 as the Maryland affiliate of MENTOR: the National Mentoring Partnership. This organization has a mission to increase the quality and quantity of mentoring relationships and to close the mentoring gap across the State and the City of Baltimore by working with mentoring programs serving vulnerable young people. This grant supported Maryland MENTOR’s general expenses, particularly relating to the delivery of technical assistance and trainings on evidence-based mentoring best practices, the launch of the Maryland MENTOR Quality Program Partner pilot initiative, and the execution of targeted outreach to expand the Mentoring Connector database.
Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative Education Fund, Inc.
In 2019, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law creating a new program to identify people who are eligible for but not enrolled in health insurance, and provide support to assist them in enrolling in affordable insurance plans. When fully implemented over the next few years, this new “Easy Enrollment” program is projected to enroll 50,000 currently uninsured people in Medicaid, 70,000 in fully subsidized private insurance, and 100,000 in partially subsidized private insurance. This grant funds the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative to conduct outreach and public education to support the Easy Enrollment program and encourage eligible individuals to enroll in affordable health insurance plans.
The Lieber Institute for Brain Development
The Lieber Institute for Brain Development’s African American Neuroscience Research Initiative (AANRI) is designed to close a gap in neuroscience research in the African American community. This grant supports activities related to the launch of the AANRI.
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 supported the Traveler’s Aid program, which offers travel vouchers to 175 people annually experiencing a crisis that requires travel to a new location. Voucher recipients are typically unemployed adults in search of employment, substance-use treatment, family reunification, or fleeing an abusive relationship.