More than a dozen local nonprofit organizations have
received a shot in the arm from the Johns
Hopkins Neighborhood Fund in the form of 2008-2009 grants
totaling more than $86,000 for
projects that address the needs of communities neighboring
the Johns Hopkins campuses in the areas
of health, education, public safety, employment and
community strengthening.
The fund was created in 2007 by then university
President William R. Brody to address the
needs of the communities in and around Johns Hopkins
campuses. During the first two funding cycles,
grants have totaled more than $162,000.
To be eligible for funding, nonprofit organizations
must submit their grant application through
an affiliate of Johns Hopkins and deliver services to the
communities within a three-quarter-mile
radius of the Johns Hopkins campuses that participated in
the annual United Way of Central Maryland
campaign or are within the Live Near Your Work program
boundaries.
Grant submissions and projects were approved by the
fund's Allocation Committee, which
comprises a cross section of Johns Hopkins employees and is
chaired by Frank Bossle, executive
director of JHI
Internal Audits.
Thanks to the grants, community members will benefit
from a wide range of efforts such as
educational programs to promote academic achievement and
college attendance for public high school
students, nutritious meals to those in need, community
beautification projects, a homeless shelter and
home-buying fairs.
"None of this would have been possible without the
generosity of the hundreds of Johns
Hopkins faculty, staff and retirees who contributed to the
Neighborhood Fund during the annual
United Way campaign," Bossle said. "Hopkins people
understood and responded to the need of the
communities where they live and work."
The recipients and their funded programs are as
follows:
Children of the World
Co-op: Expand Outreach Program to increase subsidies
for lower-income families and expand ESL programs.
The Community School:
Curricular materials and activities to provide
opportunities to
increase students' knowledge and skills across academic
content and technology, as well as personal
and social development.
Greater Homewood Community
Corp.: Get There! program to promote academic readiness
and college attendance for students in public high
schools.
Heart's Place Shelter:
Supplement portion of expenses for facility (rent and
utilities),
groceries, clothing, replacement of broken cots and
client-support services, including transportation
to medical appointments, job training/job interviews and
pharmacy assistance.
Historic East Baltimore
Community Action Coalition: LATCH (Let's All Take
Computers
Home) program to allow schools to strengthen their
connections with their families by providing
computers in their homes. Funding will provide Internet
access to participants.
Incentive Mentoring
Program: Fostering academic achievement, self-esteem
and personal
growth among Paul Laurence Dunbar High School students at
high risk of dropping out of school.
Live Baltimore Home Center:
Twice-a-year Buying Into Baltimore Home Buying Fair and
Neighborhood Tours that enable people to explore various
neighborhoods and have the opportunity to
receive a $3,000 grant toward down payment and closing
costs on a home in Baltimore City.
Meadow Mill Athletic Club
Foundation: Baltimore Fitness Academy (bMOREfit), which
teaches, trains and mentors at-risk 17-to-21-year-old
Baltimore City youth enrolled in the YO!
Baltimore (Youth Opportunity) program.
Meals on Wheels of Central
Maryland: Providing nutritious meals, personal contact
and
related services to individuals who are homebound due to
advanced age, disability or recuperation
from illness or injury and who are unable to shop and/or
prepare meals for themselves.
My Sister's Place Women's
Center, A Catholic Charities Program: My Sister's Table
program, which provides meals daily to poor and homeless
women and families.
Parks & People Foundation:
Community Greening Resource Network, a new membership
program for community-managed gardens through which
individuals will receive access to plant
materials, tools, educational opportunities and networking
events.
Shepherd's Clinic: Joy
Wellness Center, which promotes community health through
quality
affordable programs that teach strategies for balancing the
physical, emotional, social and spiritual
areas of life. Core programs are Movement 101, Nutrition
101 and Stress Reduction/Coping
Mechanisms.
The Village Learning Place:
Books2Go, providing early literacy exposure through
engaging
read-alouds, language development and opportunities to
extend learning through activities, games and
dramatic play.
For more about the Johns Hopkins Neighborhood Fund, go
to:
web.jhu.edu/uw/NeighborhoodFund.html.
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