Public Justice Center, Inc.
The Public Justice Center (PJC) is a nonprofit, legal services, and advocacy organization that addresses social justice, economic and race equity, and fundamental human rights for individuals in Maryland. With funding from the Abell Foundation, PJC has led a multi-year campaign to research and advocate for changes in laws and practices that limit tenants’ rights and deny due process in eviction cases in Baltimore City’s rent court. As a member of the Renters United Maryland coalition, PJC has been advocating for a legal right to counsel for tenants facing eviction. This grant will fund a study of the cost-effectiveness of providing counsel to tenants in eviction cases in Baltimore City.
Legal Aid Bureau, Inc.
In 2015, Maryland Legal Aid launched the Lawyer in the Library program to provide legal services clinics in Baltimore City libraries, in an effort to make legal services more accessible to people in the community. Part of Legal Aid’s “community lawyering” initiative, the Lawyer in the Library program operates clinics on a regular basis in eight Baltimore City library branches, offering legal advice and representation on a range of civil legal matters. This grant provides operating support for the Lawyer in the Library program.
Johns Hopkins University
Vision for Baltimore is an innovative citywide partnership designed to improve vision screening and follow-up care for Baltimore City public school students. Launched in 2016, Vision for Baltimore screened over 50,000 students during its first three years, provided approximately 9,000 eye examinations to students who failed the vision screenings, and provided more than 6,000 free pairs of eyeglasses to city students. Partners in Vision for Baltimore include the Baltimore City Health Department, which conducts the vision screenings, nonprofit Vision to Learn, which provides eye examinations and eyeglasses in a mobile clinic that visits schools throughout the city, Baltimore City Public Schools, which provides logistical support to ensure that children can be screened and receive follow-up care, and Johns Hopkins University, which provides staff support to ensure that children are able to access the services and encourages students who receive glasses to wear them consistently. This grant provides operating support for year four of Vision for Baltimore.
Intercultural Counseling Connection
The Intercultural Counseling Connection (ICC) is a network of mental health professionals who partner with trained interpreters to provide pro bono therapeutic care and counseling to refugees, asylum seekers, and other forced migrants. With a cadre of about 30 trained therapists, the ICC serves over 100 individuals every year with trauma-informed and culturally competent 1:1 and group counseling sessions to address their psychological, emotional, and social wellbeing. This grant helped support ICC’s general operations, which prioritizes serving uninsured individuals who do not receive federal benefits or supportive services from refugee resettlement agencies and would otherwise lack access to appropriate mental health services.
Homeless Persons Representation Project, Inc.
Homeless Persons Representation Project (HPRP) provides free legal services to homeless individuals throughout the state of Maryland. This grant supports HPRP’s Homeless Youth Initiative, which provides direct representation to unaccompanied homeless youth on a range of legal needs, and advocates for policy solutions to youth homelessness in Maryland.