We believe that a community of creative problem-solvers, faced with complicated, seemingly intractable challenges, is well-served by thought-provoking, research-based information, and analysis. We support the development and dissemination of research in two ways:
Abell Reports are commissioned reports by subject matter experts, academics, and investigative journalists that provide studies of selected issues on the public agenda.
These projects – undertaken with grant funding by academics and nonprofit research and advocacy organizations – advance learning on issues key to Baltimore City.
Baltimore City depends on nonprofits to provide services, particularly in Black and low-income communities. This Abell Report asks what causes the delays in the City’s contracting process with nonprofits and how can those delays be fixed?
The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) is designed to preserve public housing and provide the funding necessary for long deferred capital improvements. Has the program achieved those objectives in Baltimore? This Abell Report offers some early assessments.
Vacant houses, uninhabitable due to abandonment or lack of owner investment, exert a heavy cost on neighborhoods and the City as a whole. This report calculates just how steep the public cost is and provides an economic backdrop for future action.
Where are the challenges of digital inclusion greatest in Maryland? This mapping tool, developed with funding from the Abell Foundation, uses a Digital Equity Index to highlight the communities — in urban and rural areas — facing the steepest challenges.
Vacant houses, uninhabitable due to abandonment or lack of owner investment, exert a heavy cost on neighborhoods and the City as a whole. This report calculates just how steep the public cost is and provides an economic backdrop for future action.
In 2021, we weathered the continuing disruption and devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. We celebrated the distribution of effective, groundbreaking vaccines and endured the waves of the Delta and Omicron variants. We also came to grips with the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black and Brown communities: from learning interruptions due to lack of internet access and stable learning environments to the challenges in returning to work due to the closing of childcare centers. We also mourned the 337 Baltimore residents lost to homicide, the 718 lost to COVID-19, and the 980 lives lost to overdose.
In the face of all of this, Baltimoreans continued to inspire us – sometimes simply by carrying on and other times by pushing for transformational change.
We need to develop sustainable, clean, and affordable sources of energy. Can heat from the Earth’s interior offer a potential solution? This Abell Report examines the science of geothermal energy and evaluates whether it’s a viable alternative for Baltimore.
Too many children continue to be exposed to deteriorating lead-based paint in their homes. This Abell report examines what it would take for Baltimore City to tackle the urgent problem of lead paint poisoning.
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Header photo courtesy of Venture for America.
