Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle

The Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle (BWGC) has awarded $317,245 in grants to 20 Baltimore area non-profits this year.  The Circle is made up of more than 300 women who pool charitable contributions of $1,000 each in order to improve life for disadvantaged women and their families in the Greater Baltimore area. 

            “The grants process is multi-faceted and includes educational programs that help us understand the challenges facing our community,” says Circle Co-chair Ellen Bernard.  “This gives our grant-reading teams greater scope as they review applications, make site visits and meet with people working directly with those in need.”

            Beginning in September 2010, the Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle, a fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation, will celebrate its 10th anniversary.  Since making its first distributions in 2002 and including this year’s selections, the organization has awarded 151 grants, contributing close to $2 million dollars to 107 organizations.  According to Circle Co-chair Christie Coe, “In 2010, as in the past, our grants address a broad spectrum of need in the Baltimore area.” 

            This year’s programs provide:

• housing services, literacy classes, parenting and life skills programs;
• after-school programs, college access specialists, assistance for pregnant teens and mentoring programs for adolescent girls;
• advocacy for foster children and an educational program for homeless preschoolers;
• college programs for incarcerated women, transitional housing services for ex-offenders; and
• help for seniors to access entitlement programs.

 

The 2010 BWGC grantees include:

Alternative Directions, Inc. - $20,000

 To provide intensive case management, 28-day inpatient and 6-month transitional housing for ex-offenders in the Turn About Program (TAP).

 

Baltimore Curriculum Project - $3,150

To offer Spanish literacy classes to Wolfe Street Academy mothers.

 

Bon Secours of Maryland Foundation - $20,000

To provide GED training, early literacy, and in-home support services through the Family Support Center.

 

Camp Fire USA Baltimore - $10,000

For Peer Proof, an after-school program that teaches violence prevention skills.

 

College Bound Foundation - $15,000

To provide a college access specialist at Western High School.

 

The Community School - $10,000

For an academic, mentoring, and college support program for youth ages 15-17 who are earning their high school diplomas.

 

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Baltimore, Inc. - $20,000

To recruit and train volunteers to become advocates for adolescent girls who are foster children in the Juvenile Court System.

 

Episcopal Community Services of Maryland - $15,000

To partially fund a full-time assistant teacher for preschoolers as part of A Family Affair: School Readiness for Homeless Children and Their Mothers.

 

Eudaimonia Foundation Corporation - $10,000

To support the salary of a coordinator to work with at-risk teenage girls at the MATHS Charter School.

 

The Family Tree - $20,000

To expand the Parenting for Success program to serve 100 more women.

 

INNterim Housing Corporation - $19,560

To support a pilot permanent housing leasing program for homeless mothers who have graduated from the INNterim Apartment Program.

 

Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing - $11,135

To train birth companions to assist pregnant teens.

 

Living Classrooms Foundation – $15,000

To provide at-risk girls with opportunities and growth experiences as part of GEM (Girls' Empowerment Mission).

 

Mosaic Community Services - $13,400

To assist women in the Residential Crisis Program by paying for clothing, food, housing deposits and medicine.

 

Night of Peace Family Shelter, Inc. - $15,000

To support a homeless shelter and help clients find permanent housing.

 

Prison Education Partnership: Maryland Correctional Institute for Women College Program - $20,000

To fund three college courses for female inmates to earn credits toward AA and BA degrees.

 

Prisoners Aid Association of Maryland - $20,000

To help homeless female ex-offenders and their children find housing and develop skills to succeed.

 

Southeast Early Head Start at Kennedy Krieger Institute - $20,000

For a mental health consultant to oversee a parenting skills program for at-risk parents.

 

St. Mary's Outreach Center - $20,000

To hire a part-time staff person to help seniors access entitlement programs as part of the Community Outreach Information, Assistance and Referral Program.

 

University of Maryland School of Social Work - $20,000

To fund a resource mother and four workshop leaders for the Promise Heights - Parent University program, as well as to underwrite food, handbooks and graduation costs for program participants.