Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation (GEDCO)
The Govans Ecumenical Development Corp. (GEDCO) operates the CARES food pantry and drop-in center in the Govans neighborhood in North-Central Baltimore City. CARES provides food, emergency financial assistance and employment counseling to more than 4,000 individuals each year. Among other resources, CARES provides eviction prevention funds to approximately 200 households per year, although the demand for eviction prevention assistance far exceeds the resources that CARES has available. To better address this need, CARES developed a new project to assist individuals who are threatened with eviction to access federally-funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds. This grant supports a part-time CARES staff person who assists clients to complete ERAP applications and monitors those applications to ensure clients are able to obtain the funds needed to avoid eviction. The grant also provides eviction prevention funds for households that do not qualify to receive ERAP assistance.
From Prison Cells to PhD, Inc
From Prison Cells to PhD was created in 2016 to help people with criminal convictions obtain employment and/or postsecondary education (PSE). Clients receive workforce development training, career readiness skills, college application/readiness assistance, and 1-2 years or more of mentoring. Funding from the Abell Foundation will support its Prison to Professional (P2P) program providing these services to individuals recently released from the Baltimore City Detention Center (BCDC). P2P will serve 80 individuals in several cohorts over the next year virtually and if restrictions allow at some point in-person.
Franciscan Center, Inc.
Founded in 1968, the Franciscan Center is an emergency outreach and drop-in center that serves individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The center serves a hot, mid-day meal five days a week, dinners twice a week, counseling, case management, flexible financial assistance, and related services. When the pandemic arrived in March 2020, the center significantly increased its meal production to meet the needs of the many Baltimore residents who had lost their jobs and needed assistance, shifted to an outdoor meal service, and partnered with over two dozen organizations to deliver food to people in need throughout the City. During 2020, the center served approximately 350,000 meals, nearly three times the previous annual average. The center also increased its focus on conducting outreach to the city’s homeless population, and hired a community navigator to assist individuals living in homeless encampments to access housing. This grant provides general support for the Franciscan Center’s operations.
Drink at The Well – Hon’s Honey Social Enterprise
Drink at the Well operates a drop-in center that serves vulnerable women in the Curtis Bay community in South Baltimore. The center offers case management, mentoring, financial literacy education, food, clothing and flexible financial assistance in a community that has few resources. In 2018, Drink at the Well launched a social enterprise known as Hon’s Honey, which sells locally-sourced honey and honey-based skin care products and provides employment opportunities for women in The Well’s mentoring program. This grant provides operating support for Hon’s Honey.
Maryland Alliance of Public Charter Schools
The Maryland Alliance of Public Charter Schools (MAPCS) is a non-partisan group that serves as a voice for charter school communities. MAPCS helps to advocate for equitable and transparent conditions for public charter schools, offers support to new and existing public charter schools, and drives the discussion around innovative educational practices that lead to positive outcomes for students. In Baltimore City, thirty charter schools serve 20% of the public school students or around 13,000 students annually.