By Aria Brent
AFRO Staff Writer
abrent@afro.com
The Y in Central Maryland is now officially a recipient of funds made available through Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s Engaging Neighborhoods, Organizations, Unions, Governments and Households (ENOUGH) Act. The state-led, place-based strategy focuses on community-driven efforts to break the cycle of generational childhood poverty.
“The Y in Central Maryland is excited to be a recipient of the Governor’s Office of Children’s ENOUGH grant, particularly given that it supports what is central to our mission and work – building healthy, connected and inclusive communities” said John Hoey, president and CEO of The Y in Central Maryland. “It’s in the Y’s DNA to actively partner with a myriad of people and organizations across the communities we serve and we’re looking forward to the impact we can make in the Greater Waverly community with the support of this grant.”
The Y in Central Maryland plans to utilize a $300,000 planning grant to address the root causes of poverty in the Greater Waverly area. As a plan development grant recipient, the organization will focus on community asset mapping and needs assessments, actively engaging residents in developing a neighborhood action plan aimed at increasing economic mobility and ending childhood poverty.
“The coalition that we are convening in the Greater Waverly area will focus on the cradle to career spectrum and reducing childhood poverty in this community,” said Derryck Fletcher, COO of the Y in Central Maryland. “We’re focusing on that continuum because we ultimately believe that poverty largely exists in our communities and in our nation due to historic and intentional disinvestment in communities with a high concentration of poverty.”
“These are communities largely made up of folks who have identities that are oppressed and intentionally marginalized,” continued Fletcher. “In doing our work as an organization that’s committed to approaching everything we do through an equity lens, we realize that if we’re going to disrupt those oppressive systems we have to do that through a lens of liberation.”
On Dec.12 Gov. Moore announced the inaugural class of grant awardees for the ENOUGH Act. The Y in Central Maryland will receive a portion of $13.1 million in grants, made available to a total of 27 organizations. The multi-tiered grants were awarded to entities stamping out childhood poverty in 12 eligible counties and is a part of the historic $20 million investment to support vulnerable communities as they work to combat deeply rooted challenges.
“We know that there are many root causes of child poverty – and the solutions are unique to the challenges on the ground,” Gov. Moore said in a statement. “We are directly partnering in the work to create safe and thriving communities; support healthy and economically secure families; and ensure access to high-quality education. Because partnership produces progress – and nothing else does.”
ENOUGH grantees were chosen through a rigorous and competitive selection process. Each application was independently evaluated based on objective rubric criteria, which included the quality of community engagement, experience in coordination and partnerships, the robustness of governance structures, capacity for progress monitoring, feasibility and quality of proposed activities, use of evidence-based strategies, and plans for sustainability.
With the support of this grant, The Y and its partners have an invaluable opportunity to drive lasting impact by strengthening cross-sector collaboration in areas such as education, health, workforce development, housing and community safety.
According to information released from the Maryland Office of the Governor, select communities and ENOUGH grant awardees include:
Implementation Award Recipients (approximately $3 million each):
- Cherry Hill Strong (Cherry Hill, Baltimore City)
- Park Heights Renaissance Inc. (Park Heights, Baltimore City)
- San Mar Family and Community Services (South End, Hagerstown, Washington County)
Planning Award Recipients ($300,000 each)
- Anne Arundel Partnership for Children, Youth and Families (Pumphrey / Brooklyn Park, Anne Arundel County)
- Child First Authority (Druid Heights, Upton and Westside, Baltimore City)
- Elev8 Baltimore, Inc. (Sandtown Winchester and Harlem Park, Baltimore City)
- South Baltimore Community Land Trust (Brooklyn and Curtis Bay, Baltimore City)
- The Central Baltimore Partnership, Inc. (Greater Greenmount, Baltimore City)
- The Y in Central Maryland (Waverly, Baltimore City)
- Moving Dorchester Forward Inc (Cambridge / South Dorchester, Dorchester County)
- Frederick County Local Management Board (Route 40 “The Golden Mile”, Frederick County)
- CHEER – Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research (Long Branch, Montgomery County)
- Identity, Inc. (Central Gaithersburg, Montgomery County)
- Latin American Youth Center (East Riverdale / Adelphi, Prince George’s County)
- United Communities Against Poverty (District Heights and Suitland, Prince George’s County)
Partnership Award Recipients ($65,000 each)
- City of Cumberland (South Penn and John Humbird, Allegany County)
- One Annapolis, Inc. (Bay Ridge Gardens, Anne Arundel County)
- Greater Mondawmin Coordinating Council (Greater Mondawmin, Baltimore City)
- Tendea Family Inc. (McElderry Park, Baltimore City)
- Urban Strategies Inc. (Perkins Somerset Oldtown, Baltimore City)
- We Our Us (Upton and Druid Heights, Baltimore City)
- Community Assistance Network (Essex, Baltimore County)
- Caroline Human Services Council, Inc. (Federalsburg, Caroline County)
- LifeStyles of Maryland Foundation, Inc. (Waldorf, Charles County)
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Harford and Cecil Counties (Edgewood, Harford County)
- CASA, Inc. (Langley Park, Prince George’s County)
- Prince George’s Department of Social Services (Hillcrest Heights and Marlow Heights, Prince George’s County)
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