PREPARE Prepare for Parole and Reentry, Fiscally Sponsored by Fusion Partnerships, Inc.
PREPARE, formerly the Second Chance for Women (SCW), assists inmates in the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW) to prepare for parole hearings. Abell is supporting a full-time position to assist PREPARE to expand its efforts to serve more people in the prison system, including men. As part of this expansion, volunteers will be trained to work directly with individuals on their parole packets and reentry planning.
POP Inc.
The Play On Purpose Freedom School program serves 200 students for six weeks during the summer and is open to students citywide. The Freedom Schools program provides a research-based, multicultural curriculum that emphasizes high-quality literacy and character-building activities, parent/family involvement, civic engagement and social action, intergenerational servant leadership development, sports, and fitness.
Patterson Park Audubon Center
Patterson Park Audubon Center leads hands-on activities that connect a multicultural community with nature in an urban setting. It empowers neighbors through action projects to enhance bird habitat and improve quality of life in Baltimore. Bird-Friendly Baltimore is PPAC’s effort to increase bird-friendly infrastructure in Baltimore. It will create bird-friendly buildings and community-based gardens. Up to 1 million migrating birds die each year due to collisions with buildings, especially in dense cities like Baltimore. PPAC’s bird-friendly buildings activities will include: connecting with municipal leaders to explore policy opportunities; establishing relationships with downtown building managers to reduce reflectivity of surfaces, up-lighting, and unnecessary use of lights at night, particularly during migration. PPAC will also work with partners in targeted neighborhoods to explore their interest in bird and butterfly garden development. Two community-centered, bird-friendly gardens will be designed, facilitated, and planted. This grant will support staff costs for the launch of the Bird-Friendly Baltimore initiative.
Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners
Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners is a financial empowerment and coaching provider that serves low-income workers. Its in-house team of financial coaches specializes in the challenges facing workers today: volatile income, tight cash flow, lack of emergency savings, and burdensome debt. They help clients prioritize savings, take control of their debt, and create a road map to achieving their financial goals. This grant will support staff expenses to assist up to 200 Baltimore individuals affiliated with five Baltimore-based partner organizations.
National Center on Institutions and Alternatives
In 2017, the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA) opened a vocational training center at 301 S. Center Avenue in Baltimore, providing occupational skills training in automotive repair, Commercial Driver’s License Class B, HVAC (healthing, ventilation, and air conditioning), culinary arts, and Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) piloting. Abell funding will support NCIA in training 267 SNAP-eligible Baltimore residents, with 200 earning industry-recognized credentials and being placed into jobs with an average starting hourly wage of $17.