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.
Baltimore Outreach Services
Baltimore Outreach Services (BOS) operates a 40-bed emergency women and children shelter at Christ Lutheran Church, in Federal Hill. The organization also offers case management, transitional housing, educational programming, health and mental health services, job training, and employment services. This grant helped sustain BOS’ various supportive services offered to up to 250 women and children a year, including successfully placing 20 women into jobs.
Baltimore City Health Department
The Baltimore City Health Department’s Family Planning Access Project, a component of B’More for Healthy Babies, provides counseling about, and access to, effective family planning methods. Founded in 2016 with funding from the Abell Foundation, the project has focused on increasing access to Long Acting Reversible Contraception. The next phase of the project will focus on counseling women about contraceptive options and using a new “family planning toolkit” designed to engage women in conversations about their life goals, reproductive health needs, and family planning options. This grant provides two years of support for implementation of the Family Planning Access Project.