Art with a Heart
$35,000 / 2012 / Workforce Development
For support and expansion of the 2012 Summer Job Program, a visual arts initiative serving 50 at-risk Baltimore City youth. Participants from Rose Street Community Center, Paul’s Place, and Dr. Raynor Brown Elementary/Middle School enroll in a four-week, five-days-a-week program and are given the opportunity to create and market their artwork. They receive job and life-skills training; work two, two-hour shifts in the retail store; and receive stipends of $10 per day as part of the summer work experience.
Living Classrooms Foundation
$5,000 / 2012 / Workforce Development
Toward renovation costs of the Ex-Offender Mentoring Academy. In partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, Living Classrooms is assisting 342 ex-offenders who are re-entering the community.
Job Opportunities Task Force
$125,000 / 2011 / Workforce Development
Toward continued support of the JumpStart Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program for 70 Baltimore City residents. The 13-week program has been designed to provide low-income city residents with training in handling tools, construction math, and safety, as well as an introduction to the carpentry, electrical, and plumbing trades. Approximately 70 percent of program graduates are placed into employment, with 25 percent enrolled in apprenticeships.
Art with a Heart
$30,000 / 2011 / Workforce Development
For support and expansion of the 2011 Summer Job Program, a visual arts program for 50 at-risk youth from the Rose Street Community Center, Paul’s Place, and the Raynor Brown Elementary/ Middle School. Students receive a stipend of $10 a day to create more than 200 marketable pieces of art during the four-week program, and work in the HeARTSware store, for a minimum of four hours, selling their artwork as a job-readiness experience.
Job Opportunities Task Force
$75,000 / 2011 / Workforce Development
For continued support of the Baltimore CASH Campaign, an initiative designed to increase the use of the Earned Income Tax Credit. The campaign plans to serve 9,000 residents while operating 15 to 17 free tax preparation sites. Plans call for strengthening and expanding its financial education program to help clients save more of the money they earn; enrolling tax filers into public benefits programs through EarnBenefits; and building assets of low-wage tax payers through savings accounts and the purchase of savings bonds.