Youth Empowered Society
Opened in October 2012, the YES Center is the only drop-in center for unaccompanied homeless youth and young adults in Baltimore. The center serves youth ages 14 to 25, providing counseling, peer support, connections to resources, and a safe place for the youth to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, laundry facilities, and access to phones and computers, among other things. Services provided by YES staff members and partner agencies include employment readiness, job training, and job placement support; assistance accessing housing; case management; assistance in accessing public benefits; health care, including behavioral health; tutoring; and legal services. This grant supports the salaries of a case manager and peer intern who assist clients in addressing their needs.
Y of Central Maryland
The Y of Central Maryland, founded in 1853, provides services to children and adults of all demographic and economic backgrounds in Baltimore City and surrounding counties. The Y has partnered with St. Agnes Hospital to renovate and expand the site of the former Cardinal Gibbons High School in the Morrell Park/Violetville area of southwest Baltimore into their third full-service Family Center in the city. This project will culminate with the enrollment of 6,500 new Y members, the creation of 200 full-time and part-time jobs, and programming for at least 250 youth from the surrounding area.
Up2Us Sports
Up2Us Sports was founded in 2010 as a national non-profit with the goal to use the power of sport to fight childhood obesity, end academic failure, and reduce youth violence by empowering youth with the skills they need to make good choices and to be physically active. In 2018, Up2Us opened a chapter in Baltimore to provide 200-trained coaches over the next five years – 40 per year – to community organizations throughout the city, with a focus on South and West Baltimore, for at least a one-year period. This grant helped to partially subsidize the expenses incurred by community programs with limited resources.
St. Francis Neighborhood Center
The St. Francis Neighborhood Center has served the Reservoir Hill neighborhood in many ways since 1963, including by offering after-school programming where students engage in tutoring and homework assistance along with arts, music, and performance activities. This grant supported the organization in the renovation and expansion of their 125-year-old three-story townhome at 2405 Linden Avenue. The new 12,000 sq. ft. facility will include five classrooms, a study hall and library, a café and kitchen, two meeting rooms, a multi-purpose room, an art studio, and an expanded computer lab.
St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center
The St. Ambrose host home program matches homeless young adults, ages 18-24, with homeowners who have been recruited and trained to work with this population, who provide temporary homes for the youth until they find permanent housing. The program is designed to be a short-term stay, with a goal of transitioning the youth to permanent housing within five months. This grant provides operating support for the host home program, which expects to house 25 homeless youth over the coming year.