New Leaders – Baltimore
With the help of Abell Foundation start-up funding in 2005, the New Leaders Program has trained 375 leaders and developed 126 new principals making them the leading provider of training for principals and school leaders in City Schools. The New Leaders program seeks to train high quality principal candidates to lead schools, support teacher retention, and build teams. There are currently 112 New Leaders alumni actively working in education in Baltimore City, including 46 principals representing 29% of all principals in the district.
Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service
Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service provides legal assistance, dispute resolution, and connection to services, benefits, and tax credits for low income homeowners facing unaffordable water bills and municipal taxes. Left unpaid, these municipal liens could result in the loss of the home to tax sale foreclosure. Outreach and advocacy on water bill and property tax affordability are ideally approached jointly because for so many residents these two issues are linked. MVLS will conduct outreach to the more than 900 homeowners who were removed from 2021 tax sale due to COVID-19 forbearance by Mayor Scott. And MVLS will leverage community relationships to enroll homeowners and tenants with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty line in the Water for All Program (Water Accountability & Equity Act).
Maryland Dental Action Coalition, Inc.
The Maryland Dental Action Coalition (MDAC) is a statewide dental access advocacy group. Over the past several years, MDAC has been steadily building the case for expanding access to comprehensive adult dental coverage for all Medicaid recipients. This grant supports MDAC’s efforts to pass such legislation in the upcoming 2022 session.
Interfaith Action for Human Rights (IAHR)
IAHR represents people of faith who educate and advocate in Maryland, DC and Virginia for corrections systems that avoid unnecessarily punitive practices such as solitary confinement and that instead focus on rehabilitation and successful reentry. Funding from the Abell Foundation will allow IAHR to continue working with its Maryland partners on and ending the practice of solitary confinement in Maryland.
Intercultural Counseling Connection, Fiscally Sponsored by Fusion Partnerships, Inc.
Intercultural Counseling Connection provides therapeutic services for asylum-seekers and forced migrants in Baltimore through a pro-bono referral network of mental health professionals, as well as high quality interpretation in any language. Its clients are from over 30 different countries and have experienced extreme violence, including torture. Intercultural Couseling Connection serves about 100 clients a year in individual and group therapy. This grant is for general operating support.