Grant Awards for Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2004
Priority Grant Areas
Community Development
During 2004, the Foundation authorized nineteen community development grants totaling $1,146,500.Direct Program Expenses $68,721
This funding supported consulting assistance to organizations in the Foundation's priority neighborhoods and citywide efforts to create stronger communities.Neighborhoods
Belair Edison Neighborhoods, Inc. $70,000
For the past five years, Belair Edison Neighborhoods, Inc., has followed a "Healthy Neighborhoods" strategy for neighborhood revitalization. This Northeast Baltimore neighborhood is building upon its many advantages: well-built and affordable rowhomes, large expanses of nearby park land, and active resident leadership. These assets are being aggressively marketed to encourage new homeowner investment and increase residential home values, which, although rising, are still relatively low. This grant supports core staff.Charles Street Development Corporation $15,000
The Charles Street Development Corporation was created in 2000 to increase commercial and retail investment along Baltimore's "Main Street"–historic Charles Street from Pratt Street to North Avenue. An active board of property owners and business leaders and a small but experienced staff have succeeded in encouraging extensive streetscape investment, increased leasing activity, and major private investment in historic facade improvements. Projects totaling more than $400 million will be completed by the end of 2005. This grant provides core operating support.Charles Village Community Benefits District $50,000
The Charles Village Community Benefits District, serving a diverse set of neighborhoods just north of the city's central business district and Penn Station, utilizes the Healthy Neighborhoods approach to revitalization. In the past three years, the Benefits District has encouraged significant new retail and residential investment. In 2004, the organization assisted twenty-two homeowners with property renovations and assisted in the reclamation of another twenty-two formerly vacant properties. This grant provides continued support for revitalization program staff.Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc. $70,000
The Foundation has been a consistent supporter of Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc., since the mid-1980s. CHAI works in a diverse set of Northwest Baltimore neighborhoods, has produced 552 units of senior housing, and has assisted more than 1,000 families with homeownership or property renovation. In recent years, CHAI has improved homes in areas with a growing Hispanic population, forged stronger community and public school connections, and played a leadership role in developing community plans. This grant provides support for community development staff.Creative Alliance $20,000
In just two years, the Creative Alliance has established the renovated historic Patterson Theater in Highlandtown as a local mecca for community art, culture, and fun. The work of the Creative Alliance is complementary to that of other local community development organizations–Patterson Park CDC, Southeast CDC, and the Friends of Patterson Park–which, like the Alliance, are spurring significant reinvestment in the very diverse rowhouse neighborhoods of Southeast Baltimore. The Alliance's quarterly events calendar is distributed to 10,000 people and attracts more than that number annually to its festivals and shows. This grant provides general support.Friends of Patterson Park $20,000
Patterson Park, in Southeast Baltimore, is now frequently referred to as Baltimore's Best Back Yard. It has not always been so. As recently as the mid-1990s, the park suffered from neglect, vandalism, and criminal activity. Much of that has been turned around by the lean and effective Friends of Patterson Park, a nonprofit founded by local volunteers in 1998. The Friends coordinate an impressive array of public events and park stewardship activities and have advocated for significant capital investments in park lighting and structures. This grant provides general support.Greater Homewood Community Corporation $150,000
The Greater Homewood Community Corporation provides leadership and management for an array of neighborhood revitalization initiatives in the diverse neighborhoods of North and Central Baltimore. In particular, the Community Corporation manages an effective Healthy Neighborhoods program in Ednor Gardens, a rowhouse neighborhood near the old Memorial Stadium site, and assists in the implementation of strategic action plans for York Road revitalization and the Remington community. This grant provides continued support for general operating expenses and for community and economic development staff.Jubilee Baltimore, Inc. $40,000
For more than two decades, Jubilee has been among the most consistent developers of affordable housing in Baltimore. In the past several years, Jubilee has become a mixed-income development organization, bringing market-rate investment to several of Baltimore's historic yet undervalued neighborhoods. Jubilee has developed the unique expertise to assist homeowners with investing in complicated historic renovation projects, thus leading to the reclamation of numerous vacant or neglected properties in targeted historic areas. This grant provides general support for operations and staff.Mount Vernon Cultural District $65,000
Since its creation in 1996, Mt. Vernon Cultural District membership has grown to twelve cultural, educational, and religious institutions; three foundations; and several leading corporations and public agencies. The institutional members of the District are a destination for more than 1.5 million annual visitors and will be the focus of more than $100 million in capital investments in the next five years. This grant provides general and program support.Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville $20,000
The Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville (NOGLI) was formed in 2001 to lead revitalization efforts in six diverse Northeast Baltimore neighborhoods: Arcadia, Beverly Hills, Lauraville, MoraviaÐWalther, Morgan Park, and Waltherson. NOGLI is working to increase business investment along its Harford Road corridor and to increase residential investment and home values in surrounding neighborhoods. In particular, the organization is helping local seniors take on maintenance and renovation projects. This grant provides support for core staff.Patterson Park Community Development Corporation $75,000
Last year the Patterson Park CDC developed fifty properties for homeownership in the Southeast Baltimore neighborhoods just north and east of Patterson Park. The organization has reversed what was once a depressed and declining real estate market. When the CDC began its work in 1996, median sales prices for rehabilitated rowhomes were $50,000. In 2004, the average price for a CDC-renovated home had risen to $183,000, and it is projected that the same houses will sell for about $200,000 in 2005. This grant supports core staff and general operations.Reservoir Hill Improvement Council $50,000
In the past few years, the historic Reservoir Hill neighborhood in West Baltimore has shown a sharp increase in market-rate homeownership investment. Historic rowhomes that have stood vacant or neglected for years are becoming highly sought after, and home values have risen steeply. The nonprofit Reservoir Hill Improvement Council is working both to encourage the market-rate investment of new homeowners and to increase the housing opportunities available to longtime residents of more modest income. The organization is working to achieve a stable and diverse mixed-income neighborhood. This grant provides support for core staff and general operations.Southeast Community Development Corporation $90,000
The Southeast Community Development Corporation is spurring new commercial and retail investment in Highlandtown's Eastern Avenue business district–one of the city's seven designated Main Streets and one of its two designated Arts & Entertainment districts. The CDC is also working to increase homeownership investment and resident leadership in the surrounding neighborhoods of Highlandtown, Bayview, and BaltimoreÐHighland. Artists and young professionals are increasingly interested in homeownership in Highlandtown, and a growing number of Hispanic families are investing in BaltimoreÐHighland. This grant supports revitalization staff, general operations, and organizational development.Citywide Community Development
Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative $125,000
Since its founding in 1995, the Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative (BNC) has built and sustained a core membership of twenty foundations, individuals, lending institutions, and other corporations that annually contribute to a pooled fund for community development. BNC has raised nearly $5 million for neighborhood revitalization, nonprofit capacity assistance, and a special regional community development initiative. This grant supports BNC's new Regional Equity Initiative and continues support for its Neighborhood Revitalization Fund.Baltimore Community Development Alliance $7,500
The Baltimore Community Development Alliance is a group of sixteen public and private funders that invest in local neighborhood improvement. BCDA members are working to better align collective resources to produce healthier housing conditions and markets. This grant provides support for the development and publication of a community development workforce assessment commissioned by the Maryland Center for Community Development.Great Neighborhoods, Great City: The Healthy Neighborhoods Approach in Baltimore $14,000
The "Great Neighborhoods, Great City" paper is an update of an occasional paper of the same title published by the Goldseker Foundation in 2001. Both were written by national consultant and neighborhood strategist David Boehlke to describe a market-oriented approach to physical and social revitalization. This paper provides a brief update on the progress of Baltimore neighborhoods that have adopted what has become known as the Healthy Neighborhoods approach.Healthy Neighborhoods, Inc. $150,000
Last year, Healthy Neighborhoods grew from a three-year-old pilot program to a formal organization with an experienced president and a board of local corporate and institutional leaders. HNI, housed at the Baltimore Community Foundation, is working to expand the promising revitalization work begun by a network of ten City neighborhoods. There are many more transitional neighborhoods like these in Baltimore–areas that do not have a high level of vacancy or blight, but that do have housing markets that are depressed relative to the region. This grant provides general support.Live Baltimore Home Center $90,000
Live Baltimore continues to offer marketing programs that are a national model for increasing investment in overlooked and undervalued urban neighborhoods. In the last year it published the "City Living Resource Guide," attracted 2,000 people to home-buying fairs, opened a storefront headquarters on North Charles Street, and implemented the second year of a marketing campaign to encourage Washington, D.C., residents to move to Baltimore. This grant supports LBHC home fairs, consumer tracking systems, and marketing campaigns.Neighborhood Design Center $25,000
The Neighborhood Design Center partners with many of the organizations supported by the Foundation, providing professional community design and planning assistance. In particular, NDC provides the Neighborly Places program to help nonprofits and residents in transitional neighborhoods. Staff and volunteers provide assistance with the design of streetscape and facade improvement projects. This grant provides support for general operations and Neighborly Places staff.Nonprofit Sector
Eleven grants totaling $160,000 were authorized in this category in 2004. Nonprofit-sector grants are made in two categories: grants to individual nonprofit groups for organizational development and grants to organizations that strengthen the leadership and management of nonprofits throughout the region.Direct Program Expenses $41,621
This funding supported consulting assistance to nonprofit groups receiving grants to improve organizational performance.Organizational Development
Nine management assistance grants were awarded in the following categories:
Strategic Planning: to review factors that affect future success, to evaluate program priorities, and to set strategic long-range goals for organizational performance
Community Law in Action $5,000
Founded in 1998, CLIA's mission is to help urban young people become problem-solving leaders and advocates for social change in their schools and communities.Creative Alliance $10,000
The Creative Alliance presents and promotes cultural programs from its base at the Patterson Theater in Highlandtown.Edward A. Myerberg Northwest Senior Center $5,000
The Myerberg Senior Center, established in 1976, provides a range of educational and nutritional programs that benefit more than 600 local seniors each week.Maryland Center for Arts and Technology $7,500
Founded in 1999, MCAT trains disadvantaged young people and adults to become capable workers in financial, healthcare, and other industries.
Fundraising & Board Development: to develop multi-year plans to diversify and expand income and to develop board skills toward achieving fundraising goalsCenter for Summer Learning $5,000
The Center for Summer Learning was founded in 1992 to engage college students in tutoring public school children over the summer months. It now helps more than 2,500 public school children avoid the substantial learning losses that would otherwise occur.Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation $7,500
GEDCO partners with faith communities in Northcentral Baltimore to provide affordable housing with supportive services and to assist in meeting the emergency needs of community residents, particularly seniors.Greektown Community Development Corporation $7,500
Greektown CDC was founded in 1998 by leaders of the Greek community to be a catalyst for the revitalization of their historic Southeast Baltimore neighborhood.
Program Evaluation: to evaluate program reach and impact and to design systems for ongoing program review and improvementKids on the Hill $7,500
Kids on the Hill was founded in 1996 to provide arts and cultural programs for young people in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood.Maryland Food Bank, Inc. $5,000
The Maryland Food Bank was founded in 1979. It coordinates the procurement and distribution of twelve million pounds of food annually to nonprofit organizations that serve people in need throughout the State.Nonprofit Sector Development
Two grants were awarded to the following organizations:Center for Community Technology Services,
University of Baltimore Education Foundation $25,000
The Center for Community Technology Services helps small- and medium-sized nonprofits in the Baltimore region use appropriate information and communications technologies to achieve efficiencies, improve the impact of their services, and manage resources effectively. In the past year, CCTS provided technology assistance to fifty nonprofit organizations. This grant supports program staff.Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations $75,000
The Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations is a national leader in providing education and management assistance to nonprofits. In recent years, Maryland Nonprofits has offered new programs that are in high demand: Management Consulting Services and the Executive Transition Initiative. The Consulting Services program provides a range of organizational development assistance to nonprofits, including Executive Transition services, which help board leaders through the complicated process of staff leadership change. This grant supports both programs.Regional Initiatives
During 2004, the Foundation authorized five grants totaling $235,000 to support regional initiatives.Direct Program Expenses $34,621
This funding supported consulting assistance to organizations working to improve regional awareness and collaboration in the Baltimore region.Baltimore Collegetown Network $25,000
The Baltimore region and its colleges and universities are home to more than 100,000 students and employ more than 25,000 people. In 2002, thirteen of these institutions created the Baltimore Collegetown Network to reinforce the region's identity as a college town; improve the experience for students; attract and retain the best students, faculty, and staff; and promote higher education's economic impact. This grant supports the creation of print and Web site communications.Baltimore Regional Initiative Developing Genuine Equity $20,000
BRIDGE is a membership organization of thirty congregations and organizations representing more than 20,000 people in the Baltimore region. The organization is working to increase access to housing and employment opportunities across the region. A chief focus is the promotion of inclusionary zoning at the county level, modeled after a successful Montgomery County, Maryland, program. This grant is for general support.Baltimore Transit Alliance $50,000
The Baltimore Transit Alliance was created by business, civic, and community leaders in 2004 to marshal public and financial support necessary to implement the Baltimore Regional Rail Plan. The plan calls for a coordinated, modern, and far-reaching system of rail and bus service that effectively connects the region's communities and economic centers. The Alliance is housed at the Greater Baltimore Committee, and this grant provides support for staff and related costs.Citizens Planning and Housing Association $120,000
Citizens Planning and Housing Association is focused on expanding transportation, housing, and economic opportunity for the region's citizens. In the past year, CPHA played a key role in encouraging the region's business and political leaders to support the planning and development of a high-quality and broad-reaching regional rail system, leading to a commitment of $36 million for rail planning. CPHA is also focusing on linking transportation opportunity to neighborhood revitalization by organizing and educating communities located near key transit hubs. This grant supports staff working on transit and housing issues.WYPR (FM) $20,000
Since its transition from WJHU to WYPR in 2002, the region's popular public radio station has established a strong board and a solid management team and has made steady financial and artistic progress. This grant supports WYPR's coverage of regional issues, particularly those related to transportation. ESTABLISHED PROGRAM AREAS
In its established program areas, the Foundation awarded nineteen grants during 2004, totaling $1,180,500.
Community Affairs
Baltimore Community Development Alliance $15,000
The Baltimore Community Development Alliance is a group of sixteen public and private funders that invest in neighborhood improvement. The purpose of BCDA is to better align collective resources to produce healthier housing conditions and markets. This grant provides support for a BCDA staff position that will be housed at the Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative.Book Thing of Baltimore, Inc. $15,000
The Book Thing of Baltimore was founded five years ago to prevent well-maintained books from being discarded, to make them available for free to the public, and to provide classroom teachers with the books they need. The Book Thing accepts book donations and organizes them for free distribution from its small Charles Village location. It is estimated that nearly one million books are distributed annually. This grant provides general support.Business Volunteers Unlimited $30,000
Business Volunteers Unlimited was launched in 2003 to be a board leadership resource for nonprofits and corporations. BVU helps nonprofits identify ways to strengthen their boards and recruits executives from its corporate members, trains them, and makes appropriate matches for board service with its nonprofit clients. This grant provides general support.Enoch Pratt Free Library $25,000
Over the past three years, the special Grants Collection of the Enoch Pratt Library has helped 2,800 people from 250 nonprofit organizations research and learn about grant sources and application strategies. The nonprofits that use the Pratt collection are primarily grassroots organizations working at the neighborhood level and serving a disadvantaged clientele. This grant provides support for staff and educational programming.The Enterprise Foundation $15,000
Maryland housing leaders–public agencies and private institutions–are exploring the feasibility of establishing a privately capitalized loan fund to complement and greatly expand the availability of resources for mixed-use and mixed-income housing and redevelopment in urban neighborhoods. This grant partially supports the cost of the feasibility study.Hampden Village Main Street $10,000
Established in 2000, the Hampden Village Main Street is part of a network of City Main Streets that is working to revitalize neighborhood business districts. HVMS has worked to develop strong resident and merchant leadership. It also has encouraged substantial new investment in retail facades and the public streetscape, and annually it organizes a range of popular festivals that increase public appreciation and use of the district. This grant provides general support.St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center $15,000
SharpÐLeadenhall, a historic African-American community in South Baltimore, is in danger of being overwhelmed by development pressure from thriving areas to the East and by internal issues of high crime and deteriorated public housing. For the past several years, community organizing has helped develop local leadership and forged constructive relationships with adjacent neighborhoods and the City housing agency. This grant provides continued support for community organizing staff.University of Maryland School of Social Work $40,000
The School of Social Work's East Baltimore Community University Partnership was launched in 1998 to provide nonprofits with access to skilled interns. The interns have established a strong record of expanding and strengthening the programs they serve. In addition, the Partnership has become a pipeline for nonprofit talent: Of forty-three interns placed since 1998, thirty are working at local nonprofits or agencies. This grant provides general support.Education
Children's Scholarship Fund of Baltimore, Inc. $50,000
The Children's Scholarship Fund has been working in Baltimore since 1998, providing partial scholarships for students whose parents want an alternative to local public schools. With CSF support, more than 600 low-income elementary school students now attend the parochial or private school of their choice. This grant supports student scholarships.East Baltimore Development Inc. $125,000
In conjunction with the $850 million redevelopment of East Baltimore for a Life Sciences and Technology Park, leaders from Morgan State University, Johns Hopkins University, and local foundations are planning the development of a new community school. This grant provides support for project planning and management.Johns Hopkins University $208,500
This grant, applied at the discretion of the University's President, supports the Goldseker Scholars Program, which last year provided financial aid to thirteen undergraduates from the Baltimore metropolitan area.Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture $50,000
In 2005 the doors will open to the $34 million Reginald F. Lewis Museum. Its mission is to be the premier experience and best resource for information and inspiration about the lives of African-American Marylanders. The museum will include permanent and special exhibitions and a special educational program and curriculum that will reach every public school and most private and parochial schools in Maryland. This grant provides general start-up support.Morgan State University $208,500
At the discretion of the University's President, this grant supports the Goldseker Fellows Program, which in 2004 provided partial fellowships to 132 graduate students from the Baltimore metropolitan area. The grant also supports student participation in the Morgan State University Academy of Finance at Lake CliftonÐEastern High School.Human Services
THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore $208,500
This grant continues support for the Goldseker Foundation Aid and Education Fund. The fund helps new immigrants settling in the Baltimore region become independent and self-supporting.Bon Secours of Maryland Foundation $50,000
Established in 1994, the Foundation is an effective force for community and economic development in Southwest Baltimore. The Foundation works in close partnership with local leaders to implement a community plan for eleven neighborhoods and manages a financial services center, an open-space improvement program, and human services programs for women and families. It also develops affordable rental housing. This grant provides general support.Community Conferencing Center $25,000
The Community Conferencing Center was established in 1998 to provide conflict resolution services to individuals, organizations, and communities in the Baltimore region. The Center uses a participatory process to help people transform conflict into cooperation and take responsibility for changing destructive behaviors. The Center is working in several neighborhoods that receive grant support from the Goldseker Foundation. This grant supports staff and operating expenses.Health Care for the Homeless, Inc. $50,000
Since its creation in 1985, Health Care for the Homeless has been the principal provider of services to and public advocacy on behalf of Baltimore's homeless. The organization is near the finish of a capital campaign that will fund the move to an expanded and improved office and service facility in East Baltimore. This grant supports predevelopment costs associated with the move.Maryland Regional Practitioners Network for Fathers & Families $15,000
Established in 1996, the Practitioners Network promotes policies and programs that more fully engage low-income fathers in the lives of their children. The Practitioners Network trains social service providers and changes public policy to protect the interest of lower income fathers. This group is often overlooked by advocates and social services providers who, for good reason, are focused on the needs of children and their mothers. This grant provides general support.St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center $25,000
Since its establishment in 1972, St. Ambrose has become a premier community development organization in Baltimore. In recent years, the organization has focused its work on affordable homeownership, fighting predatory lending, and helping homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. In particular, St. Ambrose will be preserving good housing opportunities in Northeast Baltimore communities by redeveloping the large number of foreclosed properties owned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Under a special agreement with HUD, St. Ambrose will acquire fifty to onehundred of these properties each year. This grant supports staff working to redevelop foreclosed properties.