Current Grantees

Our grantees work hard in the face of enormous challenges. Their big hearts, dedication, and vision hold the promise of a better future for their clients and inspire us to give our best as well.

St. Luke's Youth Center

Other: Family & Community Development 

Grant: $25,000

https://www.bmoreslyc.org/

The Saint Luke’s Youth Center, Inc. (SLYC) is a parent-led collaborative of West Baltimore families working together to provide young people with critical resources and safety-net of support.  Thirty-seven families and 94 children in the Franklin Square and Poppelton neighborhoods participate and are supported by “Moms on a Mission”, a group of parents and grandparents and guardians who are largely responsible for the success of these programs. Among the programs offered are: SLYC After School; In-School Youth Mentorship; SLYC Summer; SLYC Case Management.  The results are self-evident: GPA averages in math and science over 80% since 2019-2020 and school attendance of greater than 92%, among the highest in the state.  Our grant will be used to contribute to the wages and benefits for the women driving these programs and for their professional training/certification in areas such as mental health care, social work, and critical medical care. 

GEDCO Cares Women and Children Eviction Project

Emergency Services/Workforce Development

Grant: $25,000

Govens Ecumenical Development Corporation, GEDCO, is a community organization that provides affordable housing, supporting services and emergency assistance to community residents. Last year, 260 people received funding for eviction prevention, enabling 1,855 children to remain in their homes. Our grant funds will enable GEDCO CARES to serve additional women and children by preventing eviction and placing 50 women in jobs paying at least $15.00 per hour. Wraparound services foster growth toward personal independence.

Vehicles For Change

Workforce Development

Grant: $25,000

Vehicles for Change, a national organization based in Baltimore, empowers families with financial challenges to achieve economic and personal independence through car ownership and technical training. Vehicles for Change has created the only virtual reality training program in the United States geared toward preparing incarcerated women for jobs as automotive technicians. Last year, in a pilot program, students were trained to do basic car repair: use an auto lift, complete an oil change, replace a set of brakes and remove and replace a tire. With VFC’s connections, women can be placed in jobs with starting wages from $15-$20/hour. Our funding will allow 30 inmates to engage in this exciting and innovative 6-week program.

Pivot, Inc

Workforce Development 

Grant: $25,000

PIVOT supports women impacted by the criminal justice system, typically through incarceration, with a comprehensive array of services to enable them to reclaim their lives, rejoin their families and reinvigorate their communities.  PIVOT’s Women Re-entry and Workforce Development Program begins with a 6-week pre-release program to initiate re-entry planning and, upon release, continues with a 9-week supportive community program where women can hone their life skills and connect with resources and employment opportunities. This one-of-a-kind, remarkably successful program is funded primarily through government grants which restrict how the funds can be spent. Our grant will help enable PIVOT to fill the gap in funding so that they can continue to provide childcare, transportation and housing to the women they serve.

Caroline Center

Workforce Development

Grant: $25,000

Caroline Center educates under and unemployed women in Baltimore for careers with potential advancement.  Founded 27 years ago, Caroline Center was founded on the belief that educating women can transform communities and have generational impact.  It offers tuition-free education to women of 18-50, including a fifteen-week training program for nursing assistants and pharmacy techs and a recently completed pilot construction apprenticeship program.  Beyond their training, women are assisted with scholarships applications, resume writing and other services.  Circle funds will be used to underwrite the costs of the Pharmacy Technicians and Certified Nursing Assistants programs.

BioTechnical Institute

Workforce Development 

Grant: $25,000

The Biotechnical Institute of Maryland’s Laboratory Associates Program provides tuition-free training in basic laboratory skills to bright, ambitious, unemployed and under-employed residents of the Baltimore area. In addition to training in basic laboratory skills, BTI offers support for personal and professional development, and job placement assistance. The 16-week program also offers remediation for those who need to improve basic skills. Our grant, used for operating expenses, will allow BTI to recruit and train 10 single female custodial parents without college degrees, preparing them for entry-level jobs in the life sciences. Graduates of this exceptional program will receive an industry-recognized credential, putting them on a path toward financial independence. 

Lori's Hands

Service to Seniors 

Grant: $24,275

https://lorishands.org/

Lori’s Hands serves as a bridge between community members with chronic illness and college students who provide practical assistance to support independent living for these community members and who in turn learn about the community members’ life and health experiences. Lori’s Hands established its Baltimore program in 2022 to provide free in-home support to chronically ill older adults, 90% of which are women with limited support and financial resources. By partnering with 10 area universities, they provide college students, trained and supervised by LH, who visit weekly, helping with such tasks as shopping, housework, and companionship.
Fifty percent of LH clients report a decrease in isolation and loneliness. Our funding will support program expansion by helping to defray the costs of background checks, training and insurance.

St. Francis Neighborhood Center

Literacy/Education

Grant: $25,000

https://www.stfranciscenter.org/

St. Francis Neighborhood Center has served the Reservoir Hill and Penn North community since 1963, providing holistic intervention programs for youth and families. Services include after-school and summer programming for children K-8, paid internships for high schoolers, food giveaways, programs for seniors, girls’ groups, neighborhood clean-ups and much more. Our grant will provide operating funds for use in expanding student capacity by 100%, increasing the number of classes offered, adding workforce development programming and covering the operating costs of a new classroom building. St. Francis Neighborhood Center is truly the beating heart of Reservoir Hill.

Immigration Outreach Service Center

Literacy/Education 

Grant: $25,000
https://www.ioscbaltimore.org/

The Immigration Outreach Services Center was created in 2000 to serve the needs of Baltimore’s immigrants as they rebuild their lives.  The S4 Program serving immigrant women is an outgrowth of the Center’s Computer Literacy program.  It offers comprehensive wraparound services including housing, legal consultations, mentoring, food assistance, computer and financial literacy and job referrals.  Transitional housing may be provided for up to three years. Over 1000 women and children have benefited from wraparound services and educational programs.  The largely volunteer staff  working at S4 assists their clients with attaining legal employment status so that they may work and live independently with their children as well as guiding them toward ESOL classes and mentoring them on job and career goals.  This inspiring group does a lot with very little and our grant will be meaningful in helping them carry on their good work. 

Drink At The Well, Inc.

Life Skills

Grant: $25,000
https://www.drinkatthewell.org/

Drink at the Well serves women living in the Curtis Bay area who are survivors of sexual exploitation, addiction, abuse and poverty. It provides a range of services including safe space, food, childcare, showers, clothing, and counseling. After graduating from a life development program, women can participate in Hons Honey, a workforce development and employment program that pays sustainable wages. Hons Honey produces hive-based products from their own bees, and markets and distributes these products. BWGC funds will pay the wages and operating expenses of Hons Honey social enterprise and workforce development. Hons Honey gives women recovering from trauma purpose for their lives and hope for their future.

Goucher Prison Education Partnership

Literacy/Education

Grant: $25,000

https://www.goucher.edu/learn/goucher-prison-education-partnership/

The Goucher Prison Education Project (GPEP) seeks to provide an excellent college education to students incarcerated in Maryland. Today, 65 women are enrolled at the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women.  Our grant will be used exclusively to support incarcerated women by halving the time to degree from 9.5 years to 4, expanding opportunities and strengthening support for students returning home.    This very successful project has been educating the incarcerated for more than 10 years from preparing students for college-level course work through completion of a bachelor’s degree in American Studies. They receive full scholarships, books and supplies and are taught by the Goucher and other local colleges’ faculty.  The transformational nature of this experience cannot be overstated. 

Night of Peace Family Shelter, Inc.

Fight Blight Bmore

Housing
Grant: $25,000
https://www.fightblightbmore.com

Fight Blight Bmore (FBB) seeks to remediate blight in historically Black communities across Baltimore.  The presence of vacant, abandoned, dilapidated, underutilized and misutilized properties contributes to disinvestment and population loss, thus significantly decreasing the taxable properties in these neighborhoods and negatively affecting community life.  Our grant would help fund the continuing operation of the Stop the Oppressive Seizures (SOS) Fund which provides direct services to individuals and families vulnerable to displacement due to tax sale, ground rent, tangled titles, water bills and/or deferred maintenance issues. Since its inception, FBB has provided more than 100 homeowners with resources to stabilize their housing and over 80 homeowners to pay taxes, fees and ground rent thereby avoiding sales.  The FBB partners with various volunteer legal organizations who provide advice and counsel to their clients.  Our funds will help defray the costs of two Americorps members who are client coordinators, a valuable and necessary resource.

Dundalk Renaissance Corporation

The Violet Project

ShareBaby, Inc.

Health Services

Grant: $25,000

ShareBaby addresses basic needs of Baltimore’s most vulnerable young children through the distribution of diapers, wipes and other essential items that reduce severe diaper rash infection in the babies who are served which in turn reduces familial stress and time missed from work due to infant illness and distress. ShareBaby is Baltimore City’s only diaper bank and the only one in the region to provide baby gear, clothing and other needed items.  ShareBaby distributes diapers and supplies from a warehouse staffed by 5 employees and a host of volunteers to 70 partner agencies serving children across Baltimore.  ShareBaby spends approximately $50,000 for two months of diapers.  Our grant will supply diapers for 2,500 children for an entire month.

Rob's Barbershop Community Foundation

Health Services

Grant: $25,000

Rob’s Barbershop Community Foundation makes hair care accessible to people with barriers to regular grooming products and services.  BWGC funds will enable women currently housed at the 145-bed T.I.M.E. Organization Shelter, which provides mental health services in downtown Baltimore, to receive basic grooming services. Our funds will pay for a stylist to provide products and services one day per week for a year. With cut, styled and clean hair, women can attend job interviews, housing appointments and family visits with confidence and dignity.

Baltimore Doula Project

Health Services 

Grant: $19,492

The Baltimore Doula Project supports pregnant women and caregivers in the Baltimore area by providing services to pregnant, postpartum and incarcerated individuals and women seeking abortion care.  The volunteer-run prison doula program has a baby registry program to send infant supplies to the caregivers of infants who are born to incarcerated parents and has begun a prison lactation program so that incarcerated mothers can pump breast milk for their babies.  The volunteers work closely with prison staff to educate and facilitate prenatal and postpartum support groups at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women.  This unique organization plans to assist up to 60 clients this year and our funds will help them meet that goal.

UEmpower of Maryland

Food and Hunger Services                              
Grant: $25,000

UEmpower of Maryland (UEOM)  is a community-led nonprofit which champions youth and community collaboration and employs community youth in meal service.  The Food Project (TFP) for which they have been granted funding prepares over 2000 meals and distributes 45,000 pounds of fresh food monthly.  Food is only one benefit.  TFP also employs young people from the community and sponsors health screening, dental and visual clinics, among other services.  Young people can take advantage of a supportive entrepreneurial environment in which they can test ideas and learn from others.  Our grant will be used to support the various activities and expenses associated with running a vibrant and busy community organization that addresses a serious community issue, food insecurity, while investing in the future of at-risk youth.   

PREPARE Inc.