Workforce Development in East Baltimore Gets Boost With New Grants

The Casey Foun­da­tion has award­ed near­ly $700,000 in grants to five non­prof­it work­force ini­tia­tives to help res­i­dents in East Bal­ti­more gain the skills and cre­den­tials they need to get fam­i­ly-sup­port­ing jobs with local employers.

Awardees include:

• Civic Works
• Jane Addams Resource Cor­po­ra­tion Baltimore
• Job Oppor­tu­ni­ties Task Force
• The Choice Program
• Youth Empow­ered Society

Sys­temic inequities in the city’s work­force, crim­i­nal jus­tice, trans­porta­tion and edu­ca­tion sys­tems have left low-income indi­vid­u­als in many com­mu­ni­ties — par­tic­u­lar­ly East Bal­ti­more — dis­con­nect­ed from qual­i­ty employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties. By pro­vid­ing train­ing, wrap­around ser­vices and job place­ment sup­port, these orga­ni­za­tions will work to address the bar­ri­ers res­i­dents face and con­nect them with good jobs in high-growth indus­tries such as con­struc­tion, man­u­fac­tur­ing and welding.

“These orga­ni­za­tions have strong track records in the com­mu­ni­ties they serve,” said Ben Seigel, exec­u­tive direc­tor of the 21^st Cen­tu­ry Cities Ini­tia­tive, a research col­lab­o­ra­tive focused on urban devel­op­ment in Bal­ti­more, and a mem­ber of the eval­u­a­tion com­mit­tee that made the selec­tions. ​“We are eager to see how the recip­i­ents use the grants to cul­ti­vate new part­ner­ships with trust­ed, neigh­bor­hood-based groups and devel­op career path­ways for peo­ple who have been cut off from them for far too long.”

To be eli­gi­ble for fund­ing, appli­cants had to demon­strate a com­mit­ment to advanc­ing racial and eth­nic equi­ty and inclu­sion and artic­u­late a clear plan for ensur­ing that at least 75% of pro­gram par­tic­i­pants live in East Bal­ti­more. Over the next year, the awardees will work with res­i­dents to devel­op cus­tomized career plans that pair their skills and goals with the needs of local employers.

“These folks have their ears to the ground and they under­stand how to con­nect peo­ple with jobs and oppor­tu­ni­ties,” says Tomi Hiers, direc­tor of the Foundation’s Bal­ti­more Civic Site. ​“We wel­come their exper­tise and hope this part­ner­ship will fuel fur­ther col­lab­o­ra­tion and cre­ativ­i­ty to ensure our strate­gies are help­ing as many res­i­dents as pos­si­ble, in the ways they need them to.”

Suc­cess­ful pro­grams may be eli­gi­ble for addi­tion­al fund­ing in 2018.

Learn more about the Foundation’s work in Baltimore