Maryland Food Bank
The Maryland Food Bank’s School Food Pantry program operates food banks in schools that serve large populations of families living in poverty, including approximately 100 Baltimore City public schools. The program delivers food to each participating school on a monthly basis, including fresh produce and shelf-stable products. All food is provided to families free of charge. This grant supports the continued operation of the School Food Pantry program in Baltimore City.
Erin Levitas Foundation
The mission of the Erin Levitas Foundation is to reduce the incidence of sexual assault and increase support for those who have experienced it. This grant aims to double the number of seventh graders in Baltimore City receiving the Levitas Initiative’s research-based program for sexual assault prevention and to support the staff and evaluation work necessary to ultimately bring the program to scale in Baltimore City and beyond.
United Way of Central Maryland, Inc.
The United Way’s Homelessness Prevention Program works to identify and quickly stabilize families when they enter crisis – then provide coaching and support to help them increase their income and become more self-sufficient. This grant helped launch a new program site at James McHenry Elementary/Middle School that serves 20 families a year and assists students in avoiding disruptive school transfers. The project is in collaboration with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore, Inc.
Launched in 2014, St. Vincent de Paul’s Front Door program provides short-term rent subsidies coupled with housing search assistance, intensive case management, and employment support to homeless families in Baltimore City. Over the past five years, the program has placed over 250 families into privately owned housing, and almost all remained housed one year after exiting the program. St. Vincent de Paul tailors services to the needs of each family to ensure that the families achieve stability and are able to remain housed. While the housing costs are covered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Abell Foundation grant funds pay for furniture, moving costs, and miscellaneous costs associated with eliminating barriers to employment.
St. Francis Neighborhood Center
The St. Francis Neighborhood Center has served the Reservoir Hill neighborhood since 1963 with after-school and summer programming for community youth. This grant will further support the renovation and expansion of their 125-year-old three-story town home at 2405 Linden Avenue with a new 12,000 sq. ft. facility (including 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.) The $5.5 million expansion is anticipated to be complete in Fall 2020.