Cardin, Van Hollen Secure Over $80 Million in Direct Investments for Greater Baltimore Region in Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Bill, Vote to Pass it in Senate

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-Md.) announced that they have secured $82,945,902 in direct federal funding for local projects across the Baltimore region within the fiscal year 2023 omnibus funding legislation, which they voted to pass yesterday. The projects encompass a wide array of local and regional priorities, ranging from public safety to infrastructure improvements to community and workforce development. Overall, the Senators included over $200 million in federal dollars directly for Maryland within the legislation.

A full list of the funds included by Senator Cardin in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations legislation is here. A full list of the funds included by Senator Van Hollen in the legislation is here. Now that the legislation has passed the Senate, it is expected to be considered in the House later today prior to being sent to the President for his signature.

“These earmarks advance long-planned and widely-supported projects for our nonprofit and faith-based communities, bolster environmental and green projects, support vulnerable citizens, enhance public safety and expand opportunities for students,” said Senator Cardin. “I am proud to announce these Congressionally Directed Spending projects that meet the direct needs of Marylanders.”

“These federal investments will directly address real needs in communities across Maryland. That’s why we secured these resources that support important local initiatives to boost economic opportunity, enhance public safety, and expand access to health care along with many other important services. I’ll keep working until we get this bill to the President’s desk so we can deliver these funds to our local partners who are ready to put them to good use making a meaningful impact in our communities,” said Senator Van Hollen, a member of the Appropriations Committee.

The funding announced by the Senators includes:

• Nearly $3 million for public safety, including for violence intervention and prevention programs led by the City of Baltimore and the University of Maryland, Baltimore; and license plate readers for Baltimore Police Department
• Over $15 million for education and workforce development, including for the AFRO-American Newspapers’ Digitization Preparation Fellowship; the Howard County Autism Society’s autism hiring program; The National Aquarium’s conservation education programming; various training and degree programs as well as facility upgrades at Morgan State University, Coppin State University, Goucher College, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Towson University, and Notre Dame University of Maryland; Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake’s adult school and skill building center; Living Classrooms’ Job Training for Returning Citizens/Environmental Equity Tree Planting Project; the Transforming Lives Community Development Corporation’s STEM workforce pipeline program; Community College of Baltimore County’s trucking CDL program; expanding the capacity of the Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare Training Institute; and a new campus for educational programming led by I Am Mentality, Inc.
• Over $10 million for health care, including for Baltimore City’s initiatives to close racial disparities in infant mortality and strengthen community-based services for older adults; modernization of Sinai Hospital’s emergency department; Park West Health System’s behavioral health facilities expansion; Sheppard Pratt Health System’s residential crisis services center for mental health treatment; addiction recovery and support led by Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition; substance abuse education in Harford County led by Ashley Addiction Treatment; the MedStar Curtis National Hand Center; a seniors’ aging in place program led by Johns Hopkins University; and Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Pediatric Long Covid Clinic
• Over $15 million for infrastructure projects, including for improvements in East Baltimore’s Eager Park neighborhood; renovations at the Aberdeen Train Station; rehabilitation of water treatment tanks at Baltimore’s Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant; flood mitigation planning in Turner Station; a full interchange on the Broenig Highway to reduce traffic congestion around Sparrows Point; a pedestrian trail connection between Downtown Columbia to Savage; and corridor advancements within the Baltimore Greenway Trail Network
• Over $2.5 million for economic development, including for Baltimore Community Lending Inc.’s Small Business Development & Resource Center; Maryland Institute College of Art’s initiative to boost the state’s creative economy; TEDCO’s Black Women Entrepreneurs Open Institute; and construction of a food eatery and office space in a current food desert in East Baltimore
• Over $5.5 million for affordable housing, including for transitional housing for homeless individuals; Jewish Community Services’ living group home renovations; converting vacant houses into affordable homes in the McElderry Park neighborhood; a safehouse for survivors of domestic violence and abuse; and Mary Harvin Community Development Corporation’s affordable housing construction program
• Over $15 million for community development, including for the redevelopment of the site of East Baltimore’s former water pumphouse; Catholic Charities of Baltimore’s head start and community programming center; conversion of a former fire house into a mixed-use community center; the mitigation of health risks in Baltimore City homes; reclamation of dilapidated land in Johnston Square for conversion­ into community amenities; restoration of the Juanita Jackson Mitchell Legal Center building; a food pantry in Windsor Mill; New Shiloh’s Cultural Arts and Recreation Center; a multi-generational community family life center in Woodlawn; renovations at the Druid Heights Maggie Quille Center for community services; and renovations of the Upton Mansion Research Center to house the AFRO’s archives
• Over $5 million for historical and cultural initiatives, including for renovations at the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum; restoration of the WWII-era S.S. John W. Brown; and renovation of Arena Players Incorporated, the oldest continually operating African American community theater in the country
• Nearly $1.5 million for the environment, including for the Nature Conservancy’s forest conservation efforts and Goucher College’s solar panel installation

PUBLIC SAFETY

Project Name: Baltimore City Violence Intervention and Prevention
Applicant: City of Baltimore
Description: Funds will be used to advance the new Public Safety Accountability Dashboard and support intimate partner violence intervention activities. The new dashboard will incorporate traditional criminal justice data from multiple agencies and public surveys to better track violent crime and response and enhance transparency in public safety activities. The City will also undertake intimate partner intervention activities to address an increase in domestic violence-related homicides in the city by supporting survivors and reducing further harm.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $500,000

Project Name: License Plate Readers
Recipient Name: City of Baltimore, Baltimore Police Department
Project Purpose: License plate reader (LPR) technology allows Baltimore Police Department (BPD) patrol cars to capture license plate data from vehicles they encounter on their shifts. It has helped to clear several murders, including that of a Baltimore Police Department officer, and other investigations, including non-fatal shootings, armed robberies and carjackings. Funds would purchase and install LPR technology into nearly 100 BPD vehicles.
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Included: $1,300,000

Project Name: Train the Trainer Interdisciplinary Violence Prevention Program
Applicant: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Description: Funds will be used to develop, implement, and evaluate an interdisciplinary training program for non-profit leaders, police officers, lawyers, and social workers on violence prevention. UMB plans to partner with Heartsmiles and the Black Mental Health Alliance to teach best practices in violence prevention, youth and community engagement, and avoiding interpersonal violence. By engaging with trusted community leaders and sharing effective strategies, the program will improve coordination on city-wide violence intervention and prevention.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,100,000

EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Project Name: AFRO-American Newspapers’ Digitization Preparation Fellowship
Applicant: Afro Charities, Inc.
Description: The AFRO-American Newspapers is the oldest Black-owned business in Maryland and has an archive of approximately three million photographs, several thousand letters, back issues of the paper, and personal audio recordings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Funds will be used to prepare the physical materials in the AFRO archives collection for future digitization so they can be available to the public. Afro Charities will recruit community members as Fellows to prepare the archive and digitize the collection.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $257,000

Project Name: Autism Hiring Program
Applicant: Howard County Autism Society
Description: The Autism Hiring Program advances workplace neurodiversity and acceptance, connecting businesses to an untapped workforce of skilled Autistic adults and targeting jobseekers not supported by existing systems. Federal funds will be used to build on the program, which began in 2020, expanding the number of employer partners and serving more applicants. The program includes training for employers and ongoing support from an Employment Specialist, a 10-week skills training program for jobseekers, and continued peer mentoring and support to maintain successful employment.
Project Location: Columbia, MD
Amount Included: $440,000

Project Name: B-360 Educational Campus
Applicant: I Am Mentality Inc.
Description of Proposal: This project will establish a safe, permanent location for B-360’s education programming and allow youth and young adults to ride their dirt bikes in a safe place while learning about science, education, and math. With this new site, B-360 will solidify their impact in Baltimore with a multi-use facility and regional hub that provides transferable skills and culturally relevant education. The site will serve an estimated 3000+ youth and young adults in the space annually with educational programming and divert nonviolent offenders into job and career training programs.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $2,000,000

Project Name: B-360 STEM Programming and Educational Campus
Applicant: I am Mentality, Inc.
Description: Since 2017, B-360 has served over 7,000 students by turning Baltimore’s youth and young adults’ interest in dirt biking into an opportunity to educate them about the engineering design process and provide safe spaces to apply engineering and rider safety. They serve youth ages 5-15 with workshops on engineering, mechanics, robotics, coding, 3D printing, CAD, laser engraving, electricity, soldering, welding, team building, presentation, and entrepreneurship. Participants over the age of 16 learn similar training and programming but are also hired to work with younger students. Federal funds would be used to expand staffing and provide equipment for educational amenities like a 3D printing lab, auto body shop, and computer labs.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,000,000

Project Name: Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare Training Institute
Applicant: Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare
Description: Since 2005, the Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (BACH) has facilitated training and connected the most vulnerable Baltimore residents to its collective of employer partners, a group of local hospitals and healthcare systems committed to hiring participants from BACH programs. At the same time, the employer partners give BACH insight on their employment needs in each healthcare field to ensure that BACH structures training for high-demand positions. The federal funds would be used to create the BACH Training Institute in healthcare that will lead to employment for the participants. The project has existing funding from the City of Baltimore and State of Maryland to support six career training tracks, and federal funds would allow for the development of nine more, training participants for fifteen health care professions with available positions with BACH’s employer partners.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $827,905

Project Name: Center for Equitable Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Applicant: Morgan State University
Description: Funds will be used to support the new Center for Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) at Morgan State University. The Center will address complex data projects related to the development, deployment, and verification of socially responsible and equitable AI that recognizes diverse needs and users.
Project Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount Included: $2,000,000

Project Name: Conservation Education Programming
Applicant: The National Aquarium, Inc.
Description: The National Aquarium provides statewide environmental conservation education to students grades Pre-K through 12 through the Terrapins in the Classroom and AquaPartners programs and through professional development for educators. Federal funds would be used to support these efforts that serve more than 13,000 participants each year from Maryland.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $401,615

Project Name: Coppin State University Nursing Certification Support
Applicant: Coppin State University
Description: The COVID Pandemic proves just how critically important the need for qualified health care workers to serve the community, especially the City of Baltimore, which is home to some of our most vulnerable populations. Coppin State University’s nursing program provides significant personnel support to this community with highly qualified nurses. Federal funds will enable nursing students to participate in preparatory courses and register for needed certification exams.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $53,000

Project Name: Coppin State University Teaching Certification Support
Applicant: Coppin State University
Description: The State of Maryland continues to experience a shortage of highly-qualified teachers. In order to be certified, prospective teachers need to take and pass the Praxis Core and Praxis II tests. Federal funds will be used by Coppin State to provide students with prep courses for the exams at no or minimal costs and assist students in paying the exam fees so more are able to successfully reach certification.
Project Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount Included: $87,000

Project Name: Earth and Space Institute Upgrades
Applicant: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Description: The Earth and Space Institute at UMBC supports multidisciplinary research and education in earth and space sciences and engineering. Funds will be used to upgrade laboratories to meet critical NASA certifications and enable the Institute to expand its capacity to undertake NASA and private missions while training students and young engineers.
Project Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount Included: $1,000,000

Project Name: Expanding the Healthcare Workforce at Goucher College
Applicant: Goucher College
Description: Goucher College is currently making a significant capital investment to both expand and upgrade their existing life sciences and health sciences teaching facilities. This will allow the College to double the number of students who can be admitted into the biology, biochemistry, chemistry, neuroscience, pre-nursing, and pre-med programs. Federal funds would be used equip the life sciences and health sciences teaching labs with the latest equipment so that today's graduates will be prepared to enter the workforce and research labs of tomorrow.
Project Location: Towson, MD
Amount Included: $1,255,800

Project Name: Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake Excel Center
Applicant: Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc.
Description: Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake is working to open the Excel Center, an innovative school model that provides adults with a high school experience, the opportunity to access postsecondary credentials and skill-building experiences, and wraparound support services. Upon completion students will receive a state-recognized high school diploma. Each student is supported by a dedicated coach to provide guidance as they seek their diploma and credentials, and the site offers free childcare and transportation assistance. All students are encouraged to earn career certifications and/or college credit along with their high school diploma to emerge prepared to fill openings for good jobs- ones that offer complex, purposeful work alongside living wages, benefits and opportunities for advancement. Funds will be used to support program operations.
Project Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount Included: $1,400,000

Project Name: Growing Primary Care and Health Professionals through Higher Education
Applicant: Notre Dame of Maryland University
Description: Since the founding of its School of Nursing in 1979, Notre Dame University of Maryland (NDUM) has provided high quality healthcare education. Its programming now includes a School of Pharmacy and Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapist, and Family Nurse Practitioner training. Federal funding will expand the Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapist, and Family Nurse Practitioner curriculum and purchase equipment and technology to ensure students are able to learn on the same tools they will use in practical settings.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $963,000

Project Name: Living Classrooms’ Job Training for Returning Citizens/Environmental Equity Tree Planting Project
Applicant: Living Classrooms Foundation
Description: The Living Classrooms’ Job Training for Returning Citizens/Environmental Equity Tree Planting Project will work to annually train up to 24 apprentices who are returning citizens to Baltimore with skills in planting and care of trees that will be planted in disinvested communities in East Baltimore. Together, this will allow returning citizens to have a pathway to employment post-incarceration while providing community beautification and revitalization work.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $750,000

Project Name: Morgan State University Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences
Applicant: Morgan State University
Description: The need for African Americans in the medical profession is well documented, with black men representing less than 3% of all medical students nationally, a figure that has not changed in the five decades. Morgan State University seeks to address this through the creation of the first Osteopathic College of Medicine at an HBCU. In order to prepare students for admission into this program, the University will first establish a Master's Level program in Biomedical Sciences. These federal funds will be used to support establishment of this new Master’s Level program, including equipping labs and classrooms, developing coursework, and recruiting faculty and staff.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,995,000

Project Name: STEMcx Workforce Development and College Readiness Program
Applicant: Transforming Lives Community Organization/STEMcx
Description: The Transforming Lives Community Development Corporation’s workforce pipeline program provides underserved students with STEM workforce experiences. Federal funds will help scale up the program to place 50 students in 8-week paid summer experiences working directly with local STEM companies and organizations, along with college readiness preparation programming, including mentoring from current college students taking STEM courses.
Project Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount Included: $195,000

Project Name: Teacher Workforce Initiative
Applicant: Towson University
Description: Maryland is experiencing a teacher shortage and in the last three years the numbers of students graduating from Towson University as Education majors has declined by more than 15%, exemplifying the problem. Towson University seeks to reverse this trend through a campaign to recruit and incentivize students to enter the teaching profession by targeting 1st generation and underrepresented students and career changers for recruitment and training. Federal funds would be used to support strategic outreach and student financial assistance with the goal of graduating 40-45 new teachers in the next two years.
Project Location: Towson, MD
Amount Included: $950,000

Project Name: Trucking CDL Program
Applicant: Community College of Baltimore County
Description: The Baltimore region has long been a center of supply chain management and manufacturing and demand for truck drivers is expected to increase by 5-6% over the next five years as the Port of Baltimore and Tradepoint Atlantic continue to grow. The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC)’s Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Training Center at Tradepoint Atlantic trained 151 students in its first year of operation and has already outgrown its capacity to meet demand. Federal funds will support program expansion and tuition and fees for eligible students.
Project Location: Sparrows Point, MD
Amount Included: $721,130

HEALTH CARE

Project Name: B’more for Healthy Babies Expansion
Applicant: City of Baltimore
Description: B’more for Healthy Babies has created a national model to eliminate the Black-white racial disparity in infant mortality through a combination of intensive community outreach, linkage of mothers to community services, group-based programming to empower mothers and provide social support, and coordination across service providers to streamline referrals and access to services. Local sites hire people from the community to be Resource Moms and provide training and opportunities for mothers to become peer leaders. Since 2009, when B’more for Healthy Babies launched, the infant mortality rate in the City has decreased by 35%. Federal funds would allow the program to expand these vital services to eight additional neighborhoods: Allendale/Irvington/S. Hilton; Cherry Hill; Clifton-Berea; Greater Rosemont; Greenmount East; Orangeville/East Highlandtown; Pimlico/Arlington/Hilltop; and Southern Park Heights.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $425,000

Project Name: Baltimore Residential Crisis Services Center
Applicant: Sheppard Pratt Health System, Inc.
Description: An in-depth needs assessment by Sheppard Pratt and Greater Baltimore Medical Center has found that over a three-month period, 165 emergency room patients could have been better served in a Residential Crisis Service facility for mental health treatment if one had been available. 96 of those patients were admitted to the hospital because there was no other treatment option. To address this lack of appropriate care, Sheppard Pratt, GBMC, and the Maryland Department of Health are partnering to set up a Residential Crisis Services Center for Baltimore. GBMC has donated a site on North Eutaw Street, and federal funds will be used to complete renovations and make the program operational to serve the community.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,300,000

Project Name: Capital Expansion Project for Behavioral Health
Applicant: Park West Health Systems, Inc.
Description: Park West Health System (PWHS) is a Federally-Qualified Health Center providing culturally-sensitive, primary health, dental, mental, and behavioral health services to the medically-underserved through its 3 locations and a network of public/private service providers for over 50 years, regardless of ability to pay or insurance status. The current West Belvedere Avenue location was built in 1950 as a Jewish Social Club and is outdated and over capacity. Federal funds will support a 15,245 square foot addition and 10,710 square foot renovation of the existing 2nd and 3rd floors of the Park West Belvedere Avenue location. The addition and renovations will enable the expansion of existing services while integrating new disciplines like psychotherapy and youth intervention, bringing the building up to today’s building standards and codes, and improving ADA compliance.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,000,000

Project Name: Dee's Place Wellness and Recovery Services
Applicant: Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition
Description: Every day individuals reach out to Dee's Place for recovery support from addiction, which receives more than 5,000 calls a month. This number includes those who attend NA/AA/AIM support groups, receive support services such as referrals to treatment and housing, and those seeking one-on-one meetings with Certified Peer Recovery Specialists. Dee's Place is committed to working with state agencies, the Baltimore City Health Department, numerous health institutions, community-based organizations, and other recovery centers to combat the opioid epidemic in Baltimore City. Federal funds will allow Dee’s Place to expand their services to increase the number of people participating in meetings and group sessions, peer-to-peer meetings, referrals to treatment and other supportive services; and expand hours of operation.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $600,000

Project Name: Harford County Substance Abuse Education
Applicant: Ashley Addiction Treatment
Description: Ashley Addiction Treatment has a 100-bed inpatient addiction and chronic pain treatment center in Havre de Grace and Intensive Outpatient Programs at locations in Elkton and Bel Air. While they provide comprehensive medical detoxification and holistic patient care, federal funds for this program would focus on prevention, allowing Ashley to work with local Boards of Education to develop and deliver educational programs to middle and high school students on the impact of drug use on their health.
Project Location: Havre de Grace, MD
Amount Included: $420,000

Project Name: Johns Hopkins School of Nursing CAPABLE Baltimore City
Applicant: Johns Hopkins University
Description: CAPABLE is a person-directed, home-based program that empowers seniors to age in place. The program ranges four to five-months, integrating services from an occupational therapist (OT), a registered nurse (RN), and a handy worker who work together with an older adult to set goals and direct action plans that improve health, independence, and safety. Participants learn new skills, exercises, and how to work with additional tools/equipment/home modifications to make their daily routines more functional as they age. CAPABLE focuses on prevention and problem-solving, building skills that participants can use in the future. Federal funds would allow the Johns Hopkins HealthCare program to reach an additional 100 households within Baltimore City, yielding an estimated $5,000,000 in health care savings driven by reductions in both inpatient and outpatient treatment.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $473,000

Project Name: MedStar Curtis National Hand Center
Applicant: MedStar Curtis National Hand Center
Description: Since 1975, the Curtis National Hand Center has provided treatments for a variety of problems and injuries that affect the function of the hand and upper extremities. Federal funds will support full renovation the second-floor clinical area with industry-proven features that result in improved patient flow, better patient outcomes, higher associate and patient satisfaction, enhanced teaching oversight of civilian and military fellows and technological advancements in this medical subspecialty. The proposed new design will incorporate well lighted, open spaces that feature comfortable furniture and relaxing art with a larger, well-appointed patient and family area, a more efficient and logical layout, and optimized workspaces that utilize X-ray, ultrasound and fluoroscopy equipment.
Project Location: Baltimore, MD
Amount Included: $1,500,000

Project Name: Pediatric Long-Covid Clinic
Applicant: Kennedy Krieger Institute
Description: Reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Children's Hospital Association state that, as of March 24, 2022, there have been nearly 13 million pediatric cases of COVID-19, representing approximately 19% of the cases in the United States. In Maryland, the AAP estimates that as of March 24, 2022 there have been over 200,000 pediatric cases of COVID-19. Based on research estimates, it is expected that there are already 10,000-20,000 pediatric patients in Maryland who have had or will continue to have long-COVID. Evidence suggests that patients with long-COVID benefit from a multidisciplinary treatment approach. The Kennedy Krieger Institute has a long-standing history and proven excellence in multi- and interdisciplinary care models for children and adolescents. As a result, the Institute established the Pediatric Post COVID-19 Rehabilitation Clinic in June 2020 to treat young people with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 and symptoms lasting for more than a month. Federal funds will help support clinical operations and treatments, including for patients who are uninsured or underinsured.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,000,000

Project Name: Sinai Hospital Emergency Department Modernization
Applicant: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
Description: Sinai Emergency Department (ED) is one of only four Level II Trauma Centers in the state and was initially designed to accommodate about 50,000 visits each year, far less capacity than is currently needed. Federal funds for the Sinai Hospital Emergency Department Modernization project will address the increasing rates of trauma patients by increasing the size and scope of all ED trauma bays and improve care for behavioral health patients by allowing separate and immediate access to the ED for these patients, affording them privacy and expedited entry into the facility. Additionally, this project will allow for the renovation of behavioral health rooms to provide for more comfortable settings for unavoidable long-term stays.
Project Location: Owings Mills, MD
Amount Included: $2,500,000

Project Name: Strengthen Community-Based Services for Older Adults in Baltimore City
Applicant: City of Baltimore
Description: National data has shown that social isolation is a prime risk factor for older adults. Many City residents are on waiting lists for in-home services. Federal funding will support a team of service coordinators in Baltimore City’s 13 senior centers who will reach out to older adults in senior housing buildings, private homes, and homeless shelters to connect them with services, resources, and community support systems. It will also pay for comprehensive assessments and case management for homebound City residents 65 and over who are not eligible for Medicaid, providing adult day care, chore service, personal care, medical supplies, home-delivered meals, and medical transportation.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,400,000

INFRASTRUCTURE

Project Name: Aberdeen Station Square
Applicant: City of Aberdeen
Description of Proposal: The Aberdeen Train Station is a multi-modal transportation center offering daily commuter service on Amtrak and Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) trains and the Harford Link Transit bus service. This project would fund the site acquisition and demolition, preliminary engineering and design, and updated cost estimates for improvements to the station. These improvements would remove the physical and economic barriers separating the City residents from U.S. Route 40, the multi-modal transportation uses, employment opportunities, and downtown services.
Project Location: Aberdeen, MD
Amount Included: $4,000,000

Project Name: Baltimore Greenway Trail Network – Critical Corridor Advancements
Applicant: City of Baltimore, Department of Transportation
Description of Proposal: Federal funds would be used to complete the Eastern Segment of the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network. This segment benefits from significant preliminary investment and is the most critical corridor to completing the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network. The Eastern Segments are in negotiations between Baltimore City and the property owners for acquisition for future trail use. Advancing these vital segments will ensure the Greenway leverages all available resources to serve the residents of Baltimore via a connected urban trail network.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $2,500,000

Project Name: Eager Park Infrastructure Improvements
Applicant: East Baltimore Development, Inc. (EBDI)
Description of Proposal: East Baltimore Development, Inc. is engaged in a multi-year revitalization project in the historic Middle East Neighborhood, now known as Eager Park. Federal funds will support infrastructure work at the Henderson-Hopkins Community School and commercial, retail, and residential development sites in the southeastern section of the EBDI project area including Eager Park. This work is necessary to develop new space for commercial tenants and a grocery store in what is now a food desert. Federal funds will be used to repair and upgrade public roadways, curbs and sidewalks; update streetscaping, lighting, and storm drainage systems; replace water mains and service lines; other infrastructure-related repairs and enhancements; and engineering design.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $2,300,000

Project Name: Egg Shaped Digesters Rehabilitation
Applicant: City of Baltimore
Description: Federal funds will be used to rehabilitate the interior and exterior of the Egg Shaped Digester tanks at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plan. Improvements will help the digesters operate more efficiently, address treatment concerns, and minimize contaminants from entering nearby waterways.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $3,452,972

Project Name: Resiliency Roadmap to Mitigate Flooding in Turner Station, MD
Applicant: Baltimore County, Maryland
Description: Turner Station is a historically-underserved community in Baltimore County at risk of flooding in high-precipitation events due to low elevation and poor drainage. Federal funds will be used to conduct extensive modeling of future flooding scenarios under various storm intensities and work with the community to develop a Resiliency Roadmap of stormwater management projects and other mitigation efforts to adapt in advance of future flooding.
Project Location: Baltimore County, MD
Amount Included: $1,482,900

Project Name: South Entrance Trail – T-7107
Applicant: Howard County Government
Description of Proposal: Howard County’s Patuxent Branch Trail is currently disconnected from the Downtown Columbia multi-use pathway project. Federal funding would connect the existing Patuxent Branch Trail with future development opportunities and provide a car-free connection from Downtown Columbia to Savage, Maryland.
Project Location: Ellicott City, MD
Amount Included: $3,000,000

Project Name: Sparrows Point/Broening Interchange Planning
Applicant: Baltimore County Government
Description of Proposal: Federal funds will allow for the initial planning of a full interchange near Tradepoint Atlantic and I-695 to assist in the increasing industrial expansion and related traffic. The Sparrows Point interchange would maximize the potential redevelopment activities at Tradepoint Atlantic, move trucks off the toll plaza, and reduce truck traffic impacting residential communities on Dundalk Avenue and Holabird Avenue. Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) has completed a point-to-point study for this project location.
Project Location: Baltimore County, MD
Amount Included: $1,000,000

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Project Name: Baltimore Community Lending Small Business Development & Resource Center
Applicant: Baltimore Community Lending, Inc.
Description: Baltimore Community Lending has served the Baltimore community since 1989 with flexible financial resources. Funds will be used to acquire a facility to house their Small Business Development and Resource Center to serve as an accessible facility for community meetings, skill trainings, and other educational activities. The Center will provide co-working and business incubation space as well as legal services and support on accounting, procurement, insurance, and other technical assistance to develop start-up businesses.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,000,000

Project Name: Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network at the Maryland Institute College of Art
Applicant: Maryland Institute College of Art
Description: MICA’s Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network (BCAN) supports artists, designers, creatives, and cultural entrepreneurs as they develop the businesses that fuel Maryland’s creative economy – a sector that added over $10 billion in economic impacts in our state in 2020 and sustained nearly 70,000 jobs. Funds will be used to expand BCAN’s Scale your Passion, Creative Coaching, and mobile programming to provide mentorship, technical assistance, incubation space, and coaching to entrepreneurs seeking to launch new ventures. Since the program’s creation in 2017, BCAN alumni have opened retail establishments, secured partnerships with national retailers, and even been featured in Oprah’s Holiday Gift Guide.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,000,000

Project Name: TEDCO Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneurs
Recipient Name: Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO)
Project Purpose: The Maryland Technology Development Corporation’s new Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneurs is a partnership with Maryland’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to determine these entrepreneurs’ needs at the intersection of research, tech transfer, and education. This program reflects the SBA priority to increase access for women entrepreneurs to resources in socially and economically disadvantaged communities. Funds will be used to expand the pilot program to five full cohorts in separate geographic regions across the state, prepare course materials for program participants, and provide program services.
Project Location: Statewide
Amount Included: $418,000

Project Name: The HAVEN
Applicant: L.A.M.B., Inc., CDC
Description of Proposal: The HAVEN project will provide healthy food alternatives for residents living in a food desert, office space for conducting job training and internship opportunities, job training opportunities, and food pantry space for our continued food distributions. Funds will be used to erect a four-story food eatery and office space project that will serve more than 500 community residences, local businesses, and the District Court House, located in the North Avenue area of East Baltimore City.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $250,000

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Project Name: Druid House Transitional Housing Program
Applicant: Druid Heights CDC
Description of Proposal: The Druid House Transitional Housing Program assists single parents experiencing homelessness in developing more independent living skills and stability, as they move toward a more permanent living situation. Residents receive services, including counseling and assistance in finding employment, as well as a monthly food pantry and transportation. These funds will be used for the rehabilitation of 13 apartment units located within the Druid Heights urban renewal community.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $750,000

Project Name: JCS Community Living Group Home Renovations
Applicant: Jewish Community Services (JCS)
Description of Proposal: JCS provides a lifetime commitment of care, support, and guidance for people with disabilities in Maryland through 24-hour supervision, staffing, nursing, and other supportive services to 29 low and moderate income, developmentally disabled residents who live in one of nine Alternative Living units (ALU) in the Baltimore area. These federal funds will allow JCS to complete necessary renovations and accessibility modifications that will allow the residents to continue to live safely and remove barriers to mobility within the homes.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $760,000

Project Name: McElderry Park Affordable Homeownership Project
Applicant: Southeast Community Development Corporation
Description of Proposal: Since 2000, homeownership has declined in McElderry Park by almost 40% as landlords bought up properties for rentals. The pandemic subsequently sparked a home buying boom, making it more difficult for low-income buyers to compete for affordable homes. The Southeast CDC will use these federal funds to acquire vacant and distressed homes, then rehab and resell them at affordable prices to low-to-moderate-income homebuyers. Homebuyers will also have access to financial counseling and affordable loan products.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $600,000

Project Name: Rosa's House
Applicant: L.A.M.B., Inc., CDC
Description of Proposal: This project will serve as a safe sanctuary for families, women, and children who have survived domestic violence and abuse. Funds will be used to build an emergency housing facility for 50-70 families, including 100 beds, playrooms for the children, community space, and a kitchen and dining area. Rosa’s House will also assist residents in finding permanent housing and other services and will provide individual and family counseling and healthcare services.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $250,000

Project Name: Southern Views Multi-Family Workforce Housing Project
Applicant: Mary Harvin Community Development Corporation
Description of Proposal: The Workforce Housing Project is part of the East Baltimore Revitalization Project, which aims to transform the neighborhood and encourage residents to stay long-term. Federal funds will be used to support construction of housing units for the Mary Harvin Transformation Center trainees, recent graduates, and their families, giving them a safe and stable home as they develop their skills and find new careers.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $3,259,000

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Project Name: Baltimore Pumphouse
Applicant: American Communities Trust, Inc.
Description of Proposal: Built 125 years ago, the Baltimore Pumphouse was the water pumping station for East Baltimore. Today it is a multi-phased project to bring retail and restaurants back to a distressed area for the first time in 50 years. The project includes five historical buildings. These federal funds will be used to complete renovation of the Historic Garage, Stables and Historic Machine Shop, which will house a manufacturing facility, catering business, and restaurant, as well as opportunities for job training and classes.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $3,200,000

Project Name: Catholic Charities Intergenerational Center
Applicant: Catholic Charities of Baltimore
Description of Proposal: Funds will be used to rehabilitate a building in Greater Rosemont to serve as an Intergenerational Center and support multiple generations of a family through Head Start classes and other community programming. While federal funds will primarily contribute to renovations to the section of the building that will house a Head Start program serving 120 children, the full project will include a community health clinic, behavioral health services for teens and adults, workforce development services, afterschool tutoring and summer programs, meeting rooms and community spaces, computer labs, a playground and open spaces for families, and two basketball courts.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,750,000

Project Name: Druid Heights Maggie Quille Center
Applicant: Druid Heights CDC
Description of Proposal: The Druid Heights CDC is a resident-driven, community-focused organization focused on development of residential and commercial properties alongside community outreach programs like housing counseling, re-entry programs, afterschool tutoring, and summer camp. Federal funds will be used to renovate the Druid Heights Maggie Quille Center to serve as a multipurpose center with two community spaces, a youth programming center, a computer lab, and nine offices. The community center also includes two vacant lots that have been transformed into a playground and outside green space.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,500,000

Project Name: Forest Park Renaissance
Applicant: WBC Community Development Corporation
Description of Proposal: Federal Funds will be used to acquire and revitalize the former fire station in Forest Park. The building will become the headquarters for the neighborhood associations and WBC CDC, meeting space for the delivery of housing and small business counseling and coaching services, and flex space with meeting rooms, technology lab, copy room, and business incubator suites to support the business district. The plans include the first and second floors with a third floor addition creating a mixed use property that is self-sufficient and serves the community.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $3,000,000

Project Name: Greenmount Park in Johnston Square
Applicant: Rebuild Metro, Inc.
Description of Proposal: The Johnston Square is an underserved neighborhood that is currently the site of the Johnston Square Gateway Project, an effort to build over 200 mixed-income homes and a series of new commercial spaces over the next five years. These federal funds will convert four acres of vacant and dilapidated land into a modernized and sustainable greenspace that will offer high-quality amenities like play spaces, fitness stations, and shade trees to the Johnston Square community and provide a high-quality lit practice field for St. Frances Academy's football team. The park will be designed to serve as a place for Johnston Square families to play and exercise and as a locus of community gatherings, events, and other social activities like farmers markets and festivals for local residents. The project will also serve to connect the neighborhood to the Jones Falls Trail and East Coast Greenway, allowing greater access to Penn Station, Druid Hill Park, and other city amenities.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $500,000

Project Name: Green & Healthy Homes Baltimore Initiative
Applicant: Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, Inc.
Description of Proposal: This project will improve housing conditions and health, energy and racial equity outcomes for 150 low-income families with children and seniors in West Baltimore. GHHBI will address the plight of unhealthy housing in Baltimore, and the United States, by eradicating the root causes of health and racial disparities arising from housing related asthma, lead poisoning, injury and energy inefficiency for the City’s low-income communities of color.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $750,000

Project Name: The Juanita Jackson Mitchell Legal Center
Applicant: Beloved Community Services Corporation
Description of Proposal: Juanita Jackson Mitchell was the first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law and practice law in the state of Maryland. Attorney Jackson Mitchell's law office in Baltimore has long been vacant and was purchased by Beloved Community Services Corporation as part of its efforts to preserve properties of historical significance to the African-American community and restore neighborhoods that have been destroyed by the long-standing practice of redlining and decades of governmental and institutional neglect. ROAR, a project of Mitchell's alma mater, University of Maryland, Baltimore, is a multi-disciplinary center where survivors of crime, violence, and harm can access wraparound legal, case management, and mental health services in one place, which research shows provides the best outcomes for survivors whose needs are myriad and complex. Funds will be used to renovate, restore and maintain the Juanita Jackson Mitchell Legal Center, and to provide initial funding for a satellite office of Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center of the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $1,750,000

Project Name: Liberty Community Development Corporation Food Pantry
Applicant: Liberty Community Development Corporation
Description of Proposal: The Liberty Community Development Corporation operates a food pantry that serves individuals and families experiencing food insecurity in the Randallstown, Gwynn Oak and Windsor Mill areas of Baltimore County. These funds will be used for the planning, design, construction, repair, renovation and reconstruction of the existing food pantry to expand and improve its services.
Project Location: Windsor Mill, MD
Amount Included: $400,000

Project Name: New Shiloh Cultural Arts and Recreation Center
Applicant: New Shiloh Community Development Corporation
Description of Proposal: Funds will be used to support the construction of the New Shiloh Cultural Arts and Recreation Center, which is the 8th and final project in the development plan for New Shiloh Village. The Center will service the Village and Greater Mondawmin area with basketball camps, track and field training, weight and exercise rooms, tutoring programs, and mentoring for local youth. It will also house existing programs, including the Carter Children Center for tutoring, the Mentoring Male Youth Program, Senior Exercise Programs, the YMCA Head Start Program, and health screening provided by Bon Secours Health Care.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $2,000,000

Project Name: The Star Community Family Life Center (FLC)
Applicant: MSBC Five Star Program, Inc.
Description of Proposal: The Star Community Family Life Center will turn a former body shop into a space for a variety of multi-generational programs and services including the Youth 360 Program; supportive physical and mental health counseling and services offered to youth and adults; recreational space for activities; and meeting and training space for seminars, classes and workforce development. Federal funds will support the renovation.
Project Location: Woodlawn, MD
Amount Included: $2,300,000

Project Name: Upton Mansion Research Center for AFRO Archives
Recipient Name: Afro Charities, Inc.
Project Purpose: Congressionally Directed Spending funds can be used to redevelop Baltimore’s historic Upton Mansion as the permanent home and research center for the Afro American Newspapers Archives to increase access to increase access to Black history and serve as an economic and cultural anchor for the area. The AFRO-American Newspaper, based in Baltimore, was founded in 1892 and is the oldest Black business in Maryland and one of the longest-running Black media organizations in the United States. The AFRO Archives include approximately three million photographs, several thousand letters, personal audio recordings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and collected ephemera from a century’s worth of events.
Project Location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Amount Included: $2,000,000

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INITIATIVES

Project Name: The National Great Blacks In Wax Museum, Inc. Renovation
Applicant: The National Great Blacks In Wax Museum, Inc.
Description of Proposal: The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum is one of the most visible African American tourist attractions in Baltimore City and the State of Maryland, offering educational experiences that support community and family learning. As an anchor institution in the Oliver Community of East Baltimore, it attracts more than 125,000 visitors from across the country per year. These funds will be used to make repairs to the exterior of the building and updates to the Main Lobby, auditorium, kitchen, and restrooms; increase accessibility for people with disabilities; and support the exhibitions.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $2,008,580

Project Name: Project Liberty Ship, S.S. John W. Brown for Drydock
Applicant: Project Liberty Ship, S.S. John W. Brown
Description: The S.S. John W. Brown, berthed in Baltimore, educates visitors about the vital role of the wartime American merchant marine, Naval Armed Guard, and shipbuilders – three largely unheralded groups that were instrumental in the Allied victory in World War II. Visitors can participate in training classes and experience living history aboard the authentically restored and sailing S.S. John W. Brown. Federal funding would support drydocking the ship to allow its hull and fixtures to be inspected, preserved, and kept in good operational condition. It will also give U.S. Coast Guard personnel the opportunity to inspect those parts of the ship that are not available when it is waterborne in order to continue safe operations.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $500,000

Project Name: Renovation of Arena Players Incorporated
Applicant: Arena Players Incorporated
Description of Proposal: Located in West Baltimore, Arena Players Incorporated is the oldest continually operating African American Community theatre in the United States. API’s current location is deteriorating and these federal funds will be used for comprehensive upgrades to the main performance space, a complete re-envisioning of the auxiliary spaces on the second and third floors, and immediate attention to the exterior, including ADA accessibility.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $4,000,000

CHESAPEAKE BAY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Project Name: Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities, Healthy Chesapeake Program
Applicant: The Nature Conservancy
Description: Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities, Healthy Chesapeake is an urban forestry health assessment that will increase forest conservation in Baltimore, work closely with the community to identify high-impact planting sites, and offer STEM-based workforce trainings for green jobs. Federal funds will be used for community outreach, science-based workforce development training, data collection and climate model integration, and science communication.
Project Location: Baltimore City, MD
Amount Included: $700,000

Project Name: Solar Panel Installation at Goucher College
Applicant: Goucher College
Description: Funds will be used to support the installation of three acres of photovoltaic solar panels (PVP) across campus grounds and rooftops, which will allow the college to significantly reduce reliance on fossil fuels and reduce its electricity costs by $2 million a year.
Project Location: Baltimore County, MD
Amount Included: $750,000