Past Grantees
2025 Grantees
Category Name: Health Services
Grant Amount: $19,492
Project Description: Grant covered doula support for justice involved people and caregivers of incarcerated parents.
Mission: 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 assisted up to 60 clients this past year and our funds helped them meet that goal.
Category Name: Workforce Development
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered general operating funds.
Mission: 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, allowed 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.
Website: https://btiworks.org/
Category Name: Workforce Development
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered general operating funds.
Mission: 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 were used to underwrite the costs of the Pharmacy Technicians and Certified Nursing Assistants programs.
Website: https://caroline-center.org
Category Name: Life Skills
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered general operating funds.
Mission: 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 paid 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.
Website: https://www.drinkatthewell.org/
Category Name: Financial Literacy
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant funds were used to provide housing and financial counseling for families.
Mission: Dundalk Renaissance Corporation mobilizes stakeholders to invest in greater Dundalk’s neighborhoods, economy and quality of life. Its Financial Counseling program helps low income residents, many of whom are renters or senior citizens, move closer to financial stability and home ownership. Residents receive assistance with budgeting, building and sustaining credit as well as legal issues. In many cases the program has meant the difference between homelessness and an apartment or a home. Our funding expanded outreach through additional staff hours to reach 100 more women and families.
Category Name: Housing
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating expenses
Mission: 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. The Circle's funds were used to help defray the costs of two Americorps members who are client coordinators, a valuable and necessary resource.
Website: https://www.fightblightbmore.com
Category Name: Emergency Services/Workforce Development
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered the GEDCO CARES Women and Children's Eviction Prevention project.
Mission: 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.
Website: https://gedco.org/
Category Name: Literacy/Education
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered general operating funds.
Mission: 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.
Website: https://beachefforaday.org/
Category Name: Literacy/Education
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating expenses
Mission: 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.
Website: https://www.ioscbaltimore.org/
Category Name: Service to Seniors
Grant Amount: $24,275
Project Description: Expanding of services to women and their families and establishing new programmatic personalized case management system.
Mission: 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 supported program expansion by helping to defray the costs of background checks, training and insurance.
Website: https://lorishands.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Housing
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating expenses
Mission: Night of Peace Family Shelter provides year-round emergency shelter and myriad support services for families with children who are experiencing temporary homelessness. Night of Peace provides shelter in private walled pods, plus all necessities of daily life for adults and children. Its core program includes employment and job readiness referrals, homework help,financial literacy instruction, support groups and assistance in applying for social services like food stamps, child support and social security disability. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Night of Peace Family Shelter was forced to close, which ultimately resulted in a loss of funding from Baltimore County. BWGC’s grant for general operating funds helped stabilize Night of Peace as it rebounds from the impact of COVID. Night of Peace is unique in its mission to keep families together and to provide comprehensive services to all family members while maximizing the dignity of all families residing in the shelter.
Website: http://www.nightofpeace.org/
Category Name: Workforce Development
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating funds
Mission: 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.
Website: https://www.pivotprogram.org/
Category Name: Advocacy
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating funds.
Mission: PREPARE Inc helps women incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women to prepare for parole hearings. Because inmates are not permitted to have representation at parole hearings, it is vitally important that they understand the process and the relevant requirements before they appear. One of the most important factors considered in a parole hearing is a thoroughly prepared reentry plan. PREPARE staff help the women, individually and in work groups, to write compelling reentry plans, often comprising over 100 pages. While plans are being drafted, PREPARE assists in lining up the components of the plans for successful execution such as housing, job training, etc. PREPARE creates a complete system of resource counseling and post-incarceration services. These women receive help crafting persuasive narratives which allow their stories to be told successfully before a Parole Board. PREPARE is the only service of this nature for the women at MCI-W and its work is sorely needed.
Website: https://prepare-parole.org/
Category Name: Health Services
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating funds.
Mission: 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.
Website: https://therbcf.com
Category Name: Family & Community Development
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating funds
Mission: 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 was 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.
Website: https://www.bmoreslyc.org/
Category Name: Health Services
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating funds
Mission: 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 supplied diapers for 2,500 children for an entire month.
Website: https://www.sharebaby.org
Category Name: Literacy/Education
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating funds
Mission: 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.
Website: https://www.stfranciscenter.org/
Category Name: Health Services
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating funds
Mission: The Violet Project empowers Maryland’s youth, particularly those in low-income communities, with accessible sexual and reproductive health services and education. Through a peer network, young people gain the knowledge and confidence to take charge of their sexual and reproductive health and receive clinical care adjunct services. The Violet Project provides free menstrual and safer sex products as well no-cost at-home sexually transmitted infection tests. Those who test positive can receive free treatment from volunteer Johns Hopkins OB-GYNs. The Circle funding was used to support the volunteer coordinator and outreach coordinator who manage the 700-strong volunteer network. Additionally, our funds were used to help defray the shipping costs of the free products and tests available to participants.
Website: https://www.violetproject.org/
Category Name: Food and Hunger Services
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: General operating funds
Mission: 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 was 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.
Website: https://uempowerofmd.org/
Category Name: Workforce Development
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Virtual reality training program in MD Corrections Institute for Women.
Mission: 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 allowed 30 inmates to engage in this exciting and innovative 6-week program.
Website: https://vfc-vr.org/
2024 Grantees
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Services to Seniors
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered general costs of transportation including drivers salaries, gas, insurance, and vehicle maintenance.
Mission: Empowering older adults in Baltimore City to age in place independently with access to transportation and social services, AIM has been serving Baltimore's older adults since 1973.
Website: https://www.actioninmaturity.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Literacy / Education
Grant Amount: $17,000
Project Description: Grant covered increases in general operating needs due to COVID and inflation.
Mission: To help Latina girls overcome the socio-cultural, economic and academic barriers they face in pursuing a college career.
Website: https://adelantelatinabaltimore.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Housing
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered general operations of the emergency shelter & supportive services programming.
Mission: To provide women and their children experiencing homelessness with a safe place to rest, recover, and heal. We then partner with them to devise and implement a path to long-term safety, stability, and independence in society.
Website: https://www.baltimoreoutreach.org/
Program: BSO OrchKids FY23 General Operating Funds
Category Name: Literacy / Education
Grant Amount: $22,500
Project Description: Grant covered continued work of OrchKids in schools through Baltimore City.
Mission: To perform the highest quality symphonic music of all eras that nurtures the human spirit. We are committed to engaging, inspiring, educating, and serving our audiences in meaningful and intentional ways, and to enhancing Maryland as a center of cultural vitality and importance.
Website: https://www.bsomusic.org/
Program: General Operating
Category Name: Grants Learning Lab
Grant Amount: $10,000
Project Description: Grant funds were used for Coach G general operating budget.
Mission: To engage youth in Education, Leadership, and Mentoring.
Website: https://www.coachgacademyinc.org/
Program: Applicant Award
Category Name: Grants Learning Lab
Grant Amount: $250
Project Description: Application Award
Mission: To provide avenues of successful communication in business and scholastic through exclusive, empathetic, and effective consulting and training.
Website: https://dijahstraining.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Case Management / Referral
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered general operating support for “Roadmap to Success” Program.
Mission: Supports all women, and serves young women ages 18-25, regardless of race, class, and background.
Website: https://www.herresiliency.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Food and Hunger Services
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered salary of a full-time kitchen staff member to oversee the four Baltimore City community food programs.
Mission: Empowers kids to cultivate healthy, successful futures for themselves and their families through food literacy, culinary competence, curiosity, and creativity.
Website: https://beachefforaday.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Grants Learning Lab
Grant Amount: $10,000
Project Description: Meeting ladies where they are, we provide supportive services to stabilize and empower their lives.
Mission: Empowers kids to cultivate healthy, successful futures for themselves and their families through food literacy, culinary competence, curiosity, and creativity.
Website: https://ledladies.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Food and Hunger Services
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Expanding of services to women and their families and establishing new programmatic personalized case management system.
Mission: Provides the homeless and poor of Baltimore City with the assistance and support to move towards independence and stability.
Website: https://mannahouseinc.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Housing
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Continue operations of the Marian House Transitional Supportive Housing Program.
Mission: A holistic, healing community for women and their children who are in need of housing and rehabilitative services.
Website: https://www.marianhouse.org/
Program: Free medical and dental care for women in Baltimore County
Category Name: Health Services
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: For clinic staff and to purchase medications and medical/dental supplies.
Mission: To restore dignity, “Healing through Love,” by providing free healthcare.
Website: https://www.amissionofmercy.org/
Program: Application Award
Category Name: Grants Learning Lab
Grant Amount: $250
Project Description: Application Award
Mission: To fulfill the Islamic principle of providing services and resources to those in need.
Program: NSNS Youth & Adult Reentry Program
Category Name: Mentoring
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Re-entry services to an additional 40 women who are currently incarcerated and awaiting imminent release.
Mission: To remove all obstacles and excuses from returning to prison. Delivering readily available resources to change the justifications that leads to using illegal “street” alternatives.
Website: https://nostrugglenosuccess.org/
Program: Per Scholas Baltimore IT Job Training Program
Category Name: Workforce Development
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant supported at least 65 women in the tuition-free IT job training program.
Mission: Empower learners with rigorous training for tech careers, and connect skilled talent to leading businesses.
Program: Sexual and Reproductive Health Peer Education Program
Category Name: Other
Grant Amount: $24,998
Project Description: Grant funds support staffing and program costs for the Sexual and Reproductive
Mission: Works to protect and expand access to sexual and reproductive health care and education, and provides support to its member affiliates.
Program: Reading Partners Baltimore: One-on-one Literacy Tutoring for Elementary-aged Students
Category Name: Literacy / Education
Grant Amount: $20,000
Project Description: Grant supported the stewardship of RPB's active volunteer community.
Mission: To help children become lifelong readers by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results.
Website: https://readingpartners.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Domestic / Sexual Violence
Grant Amount: $22,500
Project Description: Grant covered salary of an additional staff member.
Mission: To build community while supporting the growth, healing, and empowerment of sex trafficking survivors.
Program: Healing Ourselves through Peer Empowerment (HOPE) Project
Category Name: Health Services
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Support the HOPE Program that works with women who have had perinatal or infant loss.
Mission: Provides trauma-informed care and addresses grief as a public health service. We believe all children, adults, and families suffering the loss or death of a loved one should have support and a safe place to heal and recover.
Website: https://robertashouse.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Services to Seniors
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant covered staff salaries and other operational costs.
Mission: Helps older adults meet the challenge of living self-sufficiently with dignity and respect.
Website: https://www.smocbaltimore.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Domestic / Sexual Violence
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant supported the costs to negotiate the legal system and clients' immediate needs.
Website: https://www.tahirih.org/
Program: General Operating
Category Name: Grants Learning Lab
Grant Amount: $4,500
Project Description: Grant expanded the program into a new location in Pig Town to serve more young people.
Mission: Forges a path to wealth building for Baltimore City’s Black and Brown adults and youth through year-round employment opportunities, workforce development classes, financial literacy programs, and an extended support network that breaks the cycle of generational poverty and mass incarceration.
Program: Judicare and Employment Law Hotline Legal Coordinator
Category Name: Legal Services
Grant Amount: $19,650
Project Description: Grant supported the salary of a new legal coordinator position to be filled by an attorney.
Mission: To ensure the physical safety, economic security, and autonomy of women throughout the State. We work toward this goal by providing direct legal representation, information and referral services, and legislative advocacy.
Website: http://www.wlcmd.org/
2023 Grantees
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Literacy/Education
Grant Amount: $20,000
Project Description: Grant supported the general operating funds.
Mission: The Community School is an academic and mentoring program that has worked with hundreds of students since its founding, helping them stabilize their lives, advance their education, and go on to college.
Website: https://tcshighschool.org/
Program: General Operating Funds
Category Name: Mentoring
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: Grant supported the after-school program, pathway planning, community service outings and Thread Family activities.
Mission: Thread harnesses the power of relationships to create a new social fabric of diverse individuals deeply engaged with young people facing the most significant opportunity and achievement gaps. Our community is committed to ending social isolation and building a more equitable culture in which everyone thrives.
Website: https://www.thread.org/