Casey Seeks Grant Proposals for Baltimore Workforce Initiatives

The Casey Foun­da­tion is seek­ing pro­pos­als for com­mu­ni­ty-based work­force ini­tia­tives in East Bal­ti­more to help res­i­dents secure qual­i­ty jobs with local employ­ers. The Foundation’s Bal­ti­more Civic Site will award five to 10 grants of up to $300,000 each to efforts that com­bine skills train­ing, wrap­around ser­vices and job placements.

Non­prof­its with 501(c)(3) sta­tus can apply indi­vid­u­al­ly or in part­ner­ship with oth­er orga­ni­za­tions. Awards will be announced by April 28, 2017.

Down­load the RFP

Among oth­er eli­gi­bil­i­ty require­ments, appli­cants must:

• have expe­ri­ence oper­at­ing a local or region­al work­force devel­op­ment initiative;
• demon­strate a com­mit­ment to advanc­ing equi­ty and inclusion;
• artic­u­late a clear plan for col­lab­o­rat­ing with com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers, ser­vice providers and local employ­ers; and
• be able to meet all data col­lec­tion requirements.

An eval­u­a­tion com­mit­tee com­posed of Casey staff, com­mu­ni­ty stake­hold­ers and rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the Mayor’s Office of Employ­ment Devel­op­ment and the Bal­ti­more Work­force Invest­ment Board will review the pro­pos­als and select awardees. Appli­cants who demon­strate a suc­cess­ful track record of ser­vice in East Bal­ti­more will receive pri­or­i­ty consideration.

The grant pro­gram is one of sev­er­al ini­tia­tives the Casey Foun­da­tion is sup­port­ing to increase employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties, income and finan­cial sta­bil­i­ty for low-income city residents.

“There can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach to work­force devel­op­ment in our city,” says Tomi Hiers, direc­tor of Casey’s Bal­ti­more Civic Site. ​“It’s going to take mul­ti­ple part­ners at the table to devel­op the right mix of solu­tions. This RFP is a way to sup­port a wider range of non­prof­its and encour­age greater col­lab­o­ra­tion, so that we can learn from each other’s strate­gies and, ulti­mate­ly, ensure more peo­ple in East Bal­ti­more have the skills and sup­port they need to get and keep a good job.”

The dead­line for appli­ca­tions is 5 p.m. April 14, 2017. For addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion about the pro­gram, email Ser­gio España and cc: Danielle Torain.

Ques­tions and Answers on the East Bal­ti­more Work­fore Ini­tia­tives RFP