Rose Street Community Center
$300,000 / 2007 / Workforce Development
For continued support of rehabilitation services for ex-offenders, adults recovering from substance abuse, and at-risk youth. The center provides transitional housing and case management to as many as 30 men per week, linking them to employment opportunities, providing stipends for living expenses, and referring them to drug treatment and job training programs. An average of 35 at-risk youth and young adults participate in daily peer mediation activities designed to reduce gang-related shootings and homicides.
BioTechnical Institute of Maryland, Inc.
$75,000 / 2007 / Workforce Development
For continued support of the BioSTART and Laboratory Associates Programs. BioSTART, a 12-week bridge program, has been developed to introduce Baltimore residents to bioscience terminology, employment possibilities, laboratory procedures, and laboratory math. Upon successful completion, students move on to the Laboratory Associates Program that includes nine-week laboratory classes, followed by three-week internships. The internships qualify the applicants for entry-level laboratory positions with average starting wages of 12 per hour, plus benefits.
St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore, Inc.
$80,000 / 2007 / Workforce Development
For continued support of the Learn to Earn Program, a job readiness training program at the St. Ambrose Outreach Center. The program offers adult education, job-training, and placement services. Job training includes coursework in child care, medical terminology, certified nursing assistance, clerical, computer skills, and computer terminology.
GROUP Ministries, Inc. Baltimore
$107,300 / 2006 / Workforce Development
Capital funding for the purchase of a house to provide job training in home renovations to ex-offenders. The arrangement allows GROUP Ministries to train 20 to 30 men as carpenters, electricians, and plumbing apprentices in preparation for pre-journeyman status. Once completed, the house will be used as a transitional group home for ex-offenders in recovery.
Housing Authority of Baltimore City
$84,150 / 2006 / Workforce Development
To provide 60 low-cost used cars through the Vehicles for Change program to families participating in the Special Mobility Housing Choice Voucher Program. The recipients will also receive funds for driver education training, licensing, and vehicle registration fees. The purpose of this initiative is to facilitate transportation to and from employment for low-income families who have moved to the suburbs and are poorly served by mass transit.