Funders Provide $3.3 Million Boost to Summer Programs for Baltimore Youth

Now in its fourth year, the Bal­ti­more Sum­mer Fund­ing Col­lab­o­ra­tive, has announced that 11 char­i­ta­ble orga­ni­za­tions — includ­ing some of Baltimore’s largest phil­an­thropic insti­tu­tions — have joined togeth­er to sup­port high-qual­i­ty sum­mer pro­grams for the city’s chil­dren and youth in low-income families.

The col­lab­o­ra­tive, which will pro­vide more than $3.3 mil­lion in sup­port, includes the Abell Foun­da­tion, Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, Bloomberg Phil­an­thropies, Care­First Blue­Cross BlueShield, Clay­ton Bak­er Trust, France-Mer­rick Foun­da­tion, The Har­ry and Jeanette Wein­berg Foun­da­tion, Joseph and Har­vey Mey­er­hoff Fam­i­ly Char­i­ta­ble Funds, Lock­hart Vaugh­an Foun­da­tion, the City of Bal­ti­more Mayor’s Office of Human Ser­vices and Under Armour.

Last year, 91 Bal­ti­more pro­grams oper­at­ed with fund­ing from the col­lab­o­ra­tive, and more than 14,500 young peo­ple were served. The group hopes to increase these num­bers and expand oppor­tu­ni­ties for young peo­ple across the city. To be con­sid­ered, pro­grams must pro­mote aca­d­e­m­ic, social and emo­tion­al growth in chil­dren and youth and be inclu­sive of stu­dents of all abilities.

Many youth and young adults in Bal­ti­more lack access to activ­i­ties — aca­d­e­m­ic, recre­ation­al, enrich­ment or work expe­ri­ence — to keep their minds engaged over the sum­mer. As a result, they expe­ri­ence ​“sum­mer slide,” los­ing one to three months of knowl­edge and skills gained dur­ing the pre­vi­ous school year.

While all 11 mem­bers of the col­lab­o­ra­tive have indi­vid­ual mis­sions and pri­or­i­ties, they share the same goal: To ensure more youth have the chance to reach their full poten­tial dur­ing the sum­mer and beyond.

Baltimore’s Promise, a cra­dle-to-career col­lec­tive impact non­prof­it, is host­ing the collaborative’s online appli­ca­tion. Baltimore’s Promise is also offer­ing three pre-pro­pos­al con­fer­ences to pro­vide poten­tial appli­cants with an oppor­tu­ni­ty to raise ques­tions and hear direct­ly from col­lab­o­ra­tive members.

These ses­sions will take place at the fol­low­ing times and locations:

• Tues­day, Jan. 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
  Enoch Pratt, Penn­syl­va­nia Avenue Branch
  1531 W North Ave.
   
• Thurs­day, Jan. 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
  Enoch Pratt, South­east Anchor Library
  3601 East­ern Ave.
   
• Fri­day, Jan. 19 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
  Fam­i­ly League of Baltimore
  2305 N. Charles St.

To be eli­gi­ble for funds, appli­cants must pri­mar­i­ly serve chil­dren and youth from low-income fam­i­lies who live in Bal­ti­more City and, if oper­at­ing for four or more hours per day, must have a plan to serve healthy meals to pro­gram par­tic­i­pants. The col­lab­o­ra­tive will pri­or­i­tize sum­mer pro­grams that have been in exis­tence for at least two years, work to pro­mote aca­d­e­m­ic and social-emo­tion­al growth in chil­dren and youth, and are inclu­sive of stu­dents of all abilities.

The appli­ca­tion dead­line is 5 p.m. Fri­day, Feb. 2, 2018.

Access the appli­ca­tion and learn more about each funder’s eli­gi­bil­i­ty criteria