Business Interface, Inc.
$75,000 / 2008 / Workforce Development
To provide tuition assistance for the warehouse associate job training program for 21 low-income, ex-offender minority males in Baltimore City. The program calls for a four-week training program in basic computer skills to track products, in reading skills to understand where products are retrieved and stored, and in basic math skills. Business Interface finds placement opportunities with local warehouse employers and tracks job retention for a six-month period.
CASA of Maryland, Inc .
$100,000 / 2008 / Workforce Development
For continued support of the Baltimore Worker Employment Center for day laborers and low-income workers. The formal hiring center offers a safe and organized way of helping workers find jobs, helping them to avoid waiting on street corners to be hired. Each month, the center aims to place 300 workers into temporary jobs, and 10 workers into permanent jobs, all paying a living wage. In addition, CASA provides identification cards to those who register with them and helps to solve legal problems, such as recovering lost wages.
Catholic Charities/The Samaritan Center
$100,000 / 2008 / Health and Human Services
Two grants for continued support of eviction prevention and traveler’s aide programs administered by The Samaritan Center. The center provides direct financial assistance to homeless and low-income individuals in Baltimore City, helping them avoid eviction and utility termination, and providing transportation vouchers to those stranded in Baltimore without lodging. Clients are referred to other counseling services to obtain income support, such as food stamps, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits, and referrals to job training and placement.
Center for Emerging Media
$75,350 / 2008 / Criminal Justice and Addiction
For a study of War Room Offenders at the Baltimore Booking and Intake Center. The study will determine whether the criminal justice system is successfully focusing law enforcement resources on violent offenders and addressing the continuing cycle of violence.
Center for Emerging Media
$5,000 / 2008 / Community Development
Toward start-up costs of the Marc Steiner Show with Morgan State University’s public radio station, WEAA. The daily interview format with selected guests, and follow-up by call-in questions, addresses current issues of local interest.