Van Hollen, Cardin Secure Nearly $50 Million in Direct Investments for Baltimore Region Community Projects in FY2022 Funding Bill

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) announced that nearly $50 million in direct federal funding for local projects across the Baltimore region was included within the fiscal year 2022 omnibus funding legislation, which the Senators voted to pass Thursday evening. The projects encompass a wide array of local and regional priorities, ranging from public safety to education to infrastructure to economic development to community health. Overall, the Senators secured over $104 million in federal dollars directly for Maryland in the omnibus. The bill now goes to President Biden to be signed into law.

“Bringing direct federal investments to our communities helps spur opportunity, create jobs, and grow our economy. Working together with local leaders across the greater Baltimore area, we have identified these projects that will strengthen our communities by driving job growth, improving public safety, modernizing our infrastructure, bolstering educational and health care resources, and more,” said Senator Van Hollen, a member of the Appropriations Committee. “We look forward to getting these funds across the finish line and delivering these investments to the Baltimore region.” 

“We have worked with local officials and organizations across Baltimore to identify the projects that could benefit from a strong federal partner. Congressionally Directed Spending is one of the best tools to maximize how we use taxpayer dollars in the places it can make a real difference for Maryland and the region,” said Senator Cardin.

Funding secured by the Senators includes:

• Over $7.5 million for public safety initiatives, such as the new Baltimore 9-1-1 Diversion Pilot Program, the Maryland Violence Prevention Coalition, the South Baltimore Peacemaking Project, the Stop the Bleed Program, LifeBridge Health’s Center for Hope Violence Cessation Program, the Living Classroom Foundation/Safe Streets’ Crisis Management and Workforce Development System, and the Baltimore Police Department’s Neighborhood Policing and Community Collaboration Plans as well as their records management and early intervention systems
• $7 million for infrastructure projects, including funds for the sweeping renovation of Baltimore’s Penn Station, new locomotives to be used by MARC, Russell and Monroe Street Ramp Bridge Replacements, and the reconstruction of a main roadway on the campus of Morgan State University
• Over $6 million for economic development and workforce training initiatives, including funds for the Baltimore Development Corporation to support small businesses, the Mary Harvin Center Southern Bridge Workforce Center, Loyola University’s development of the York Road corridor, Vehicles for Change’s Auto Mechanic Training & Placement program, Humanim’s workforce programs including the statewide Direct Support Professional (DSP) Apprenticeship Program, the Greater Baltimore Urban League’s Returning Citizens Workforce Development Program, and the Baltimore Grads to Careers Demonstration Project.
• $1.5 million to support affordable housing, including the Green and Healthy Homes Initiatives’ Baltimore Healthy Housing to Advance Health and Racial Equity Project and Mission First Housing Development Corporation’s Patuxent Commons
• $7.5 million to support our communities’ health care, including for the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center’s New Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, Baltimore City’s Healthcare on the SPOT mobile treatment van, Ashley Addiction Treatment’s substance abuse initiative in Baltimore City, Gaudenzia Park Heights Addiction Rehabilitation Center kitchen renovations,  construction of the Southern Streams Health and Wellness Center, and the Sheppard Pratt Institute’s comprehensive mental health services
• Over $3.5 million for educational initiatives, including for the National Aquarium's Waterfront Campus, the Best Buddies in Maryland Inclusion Project for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, , the redesign of the general education course curriculum at Coppin State University, the Greater Baltimore Urban League’s Saturday Leadership Program, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Integrated Early Learning Center
• Over $9.5 million to support community development, historical, & cultural initiatives, including a Permanent Exhibition and Memorial on the History of Lynching in Maryland at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, the restoration of the P.S. 103 Thurgood Marshall Center, the revitalization of Pennsylvania Avenue Market renovation of the Pikesville Armory, revitalization of the Sandtown Community Center and the Bethel Empowerment and Wellness Center, and construction of the Sparrows Point Park Project.
• Over $6 million for environmental conservation for the continuation of the long-term Baltimore Ecosystem Study and the Section 510 Chesapeake Bay Comprehensive Plan to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay

PUBLIC SAFETY 

Project Name: Baltimore City 9-1-1 Diversion Pilot Program
Project location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: Baltimore City
Amount received: $2,000,000
Description: Funds will be used to expand the City's new 9-1-1 pilot program that refers low-risk calls to behavioral health crisis response assistance instead of police responses, in line with Senator Van Hollen's Community Based Response Act. The City will increase the number of crisis service providers and community partners and add mobile crisis teams. 

Project Name: Maryland Violence Prevention Coalition
Project location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence
Amount received: $367,000
Description: Funds will be used to expand the Maryland Violence Prevention Coalition's work, including assisting community-based organizations with Violence Intervention and Prevention Programs in building and sustaining their local work. The programs are intended to reduce violence and provide support services to survivors. 

Project Name: South Baltimore Peacemaking Project Pilot
Project location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: Roca Baltimore, LLC
Amount received: $400,000
Description: Funds will be used to provide transitional employment, mediation, and family assistance to connect young men at risk of violence to opportunities for sustained employment. 

Project Name: Stop the Bleed Program
Project location: Pikesville, MD
Applicant: State of Maryland
Amount received: $150,000
Description: Funds will provide first responders with state-of-the-art equipment to support training in life-saving techniques in response to trauma situations and natural disasters.

Project Name: Center for Hope Violence Cessation Program
Project location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: LifeBridge Health
Amount received: $600,000
Description: Funds will be used to expand programming in Baltimore for violence interruption, crisis assistance, legal services, shelter for domestic violence survivors, support for victims of crime, and workforce training in order to disrupt the cycle of violence and support children and families in Baltimore City.

Project Name: Community Collaboration
Project location: Baltimore, Maryland
Applicant: Baltimore Police Department

Amount received: $650,000
Description:  In accordance with the Department of Justice’s consent decree, funds will support Baltimore Police participation in community-based policy development, trainings, and evaluations, as well as for the hiring of a community engagement coordinator.

Project Name: Neighborhood Policing Plans
Project location: Baltimore, Maryland
Applicant: Baltimore Police Department
Amount received: $650,000
Description: In accordance with the Department of Justice’s consent decree, funds will allow the Baltimore Police Department to develop distinct Neighborhood Policing Plans to focus on building community trust in policing.

Project Name: Records Management System and Early Intervention System
Project location: Baltimore, Maryland
Applicant: Baltimore Police Department
Amount received: $2,000,000
Description: In accordance with the Department of Justice’s consent decree, funds will enable the Baltimore Police Department to make needed technological upgrades to its nearly 20-year-old Records Management System and acquire an Early Intervention System.

Project Name: Living Classrooms Foundation Crisis Management System
Project location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Applicant: Living Classrooms Foundation
Amount received: $750,000
Description: Funds will help establish a Crisis Management System to work in tandem with the existing Workforce Development System and strengthen the Safe Streets initiative.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Project Name: Baltimore Penn Station Facility Improvements
Project location: Baltimore, MD
Applicant: Maryland Department of Transportation
Amount received: $5,000,000
Description: Funds will be used for sweeping renovations to Baltimore Penn Station in order to improve transportation for residents and visitors. Updates will provide for dedicated bus lanes, new pick up and drop off zones, bike lanes and storage, public plazas and green spaces, and kiosks to provide transit riders with information about community and multimodal connections.

Project Name: Dual Locomotives for Commuter Rail Service in the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel
Project location: Baltimore, MD
Applicant: Maryland Department of Transportation
Amount received: $1,000,000
Description: Funds will be used to purchase up to 12 dual mode electric/diesel locomotives to operate in the new B&P tunnel once its construction is complete. The upgraded locomotives will allow for increased train speeds, more fleet capacity and flexibility, reduced emissions, and improved service reliability, including new and express trips. 

Project Name: Russell and Monroe Street Ramp Bridge Replacements
Project location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: Baltimore City
Amount received: $1,000,000
Description: Funds will be used to accelerate the removal and replacement of two deteriorating bridges that cross CSX rails, lead into the city, and serve as "through truck routes" to carry goods to and from the Carroll Camden Industrial Area and the Port of Baltimore. These bridges are a critical southern gateway into Baltimore City and important transportation nodes for the City's growing entertainment district.

Project Name: Morgan State University Stadium Way Slope Stabilization
Project location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: Baltimore City
Amount received: $50,000
Description: Funds will be used to stabilize and rebuild a main roadway on the campus, which is sinking as the hillside along Herring Run Stream erodes.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Project Name: Baltimore Small Business Technical Assistance Network Infrastructure Support
Project location: Baltimore City
Applicant: Baltimore Development Corporation
Amount received: $1,700,000
Description: These funds will be used to provide technical assistance and support small businesses and community-based organizations in Baltimore City in order to obtain access to capital and sustain their operations.

Project Name: Mary Harvin Center Southern Bridge Workforce Center
Project location: Baltimore City
Applicant: Mary Harvin Transformation Center
Amount received: $1,000,000
Description: Funds will be used to develop a Workforce Development and Career Center in order to provide workforce training and support for those seeking employment in East Baltimore. 

Project Name: Loyola University Maryland: York Road Initiative
Project location: Baltimore City
Applicant: Loyola University-Maryland
Amount received: $675,000
Description: Funding will be used for continued development of the York Road corridor, including building small business capacity and hiring local residents to manage the business corridor, expand healthy food access programming, and work on infrastructure and capital projects to strengthen the commercial district. 

Project Name: Auto Mechanic Training and Placement
Location: Halethorpe, MD (headquarters)
Applicant: Vehicles for Change
Amount received: $1,000,000
Description: Vehicles for Change is a non-profit that helps provide families in need with cars, while conducting workforce training for formerly incarcerated individuals. Funds would support training locations to help individuals with barriers to employment become auto mechanics through a 4-month paid internship. Graduates of the program obtain certifications and full-time employment at local dealerships and independent garages throughout the state.

Project Name: Humanim Workforce Development and Social Enterprise Initiatives
Location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: Humanim, Inc.
Amount received: $500,000
Description: Funds will be used for Humanim's workforce programs, including the statewide Direct Support Professional (DSP) Apprenticeship Program, which operates with partners in government, school systems, and service providers to increase career paths for the unemployed to reach living wage jobs. Funds would also support a partnership with Obran Cooperative to grow the field of DSPs using an employee ownership model. And funds would support City Seeds, Humanim's East Baltimore culinary social enterprise, which has been providing training and employment opportunities for Baltimore residents with barriers to employment since 2016.

Project Name: Returning Citizens Workforce Development Program
Location: Baltimore, MD
Applicant: Greater Baltimore Urban League
Amount received: $800,000
Description: Funds will be used to provide work-ready development/training and social services in Baltimore City and Frederick and Montgomery Counties as part of the Greater Baltimore Urban League's plans for successful employment of citizens returning from the justice system.

Project Name: Baltimore Grads to Careers Demonstration Project Expansion
Project location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Applicant: City of Baltimore, Maryland
Amount received: $500,000
Description: These funds will allow the city to serve an additional 50 disconnected youth who will be eligible for career training programs and provide them with a pathway to enroll in in-demand training programs after graduation of high school.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING 

Project Name: Baltimore Healthy Housing to Advance Health and Racial Equity Project
Project location: Baltimore, MD
Applicant: Green and Healthy Homes Initiative
Amount received: $1,000,000
Description: Funds will be used to improve housing conditions for low-income families with children and seniors in East Baltimore through lead hazard control, asthma trigger reduction, and energy efficiency/weatherization. The Green and Healthy Homes Initiative will hire, train, and accredit up to 12 community residents to perform the work.

Project Name: Patuxent Commons
Project location: Columbia, MD
Applicant: Mission First Housing Development Corporation
Amount received: $500,000
Description: Funds will be used to build and equip a mixed-income, intergenerational 76-unit apartment complex with 25% of units set-aside for adults with disabilities. Construction will generate 150 direct and 140 indirect jobs and the completed complex will provide space for adults with disabilities to live independent lives.

HEALTH CARE

Project Name: Grassroots New Outpatient Mental Health Clinic
Location: Columbia, Maryland
Applicant: Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, Inc.
Amount received: $500,000
Description: Funds will be used to support the Grassroots Outpatient Mental Health Clinic as it expands to offer a wider range of behavioral health services in addition to its current crisis intervention programs and Mobile Crisis Team. The expansion will provide individual and group psychotherapy, psychiatry services, and case management to address patients' unique needs.

Project Name: Healthcare on the SPOT
Location: Baltimore, MD
Applicant: Baltimore City
Amount received: $475,000
Description: Funds would be used to deploy a second mobile treatment van with staff and supplies in Baltimore City to provide medication-assisted treatment for overdose incidents in areas of most urgent need. 

Project Name: Ashley Addiction Treatment Substance Abuse Initiative
Location: Havre de Grace, MD
Applicant: Ashley Addiction Treatment
Amount: $525,000
Description: Funds will be used for a substance use disorder treatment program partnership with faculty at Johns Hopkins University to research the effectiveness of treatments. This partnership would build upon previous Ashley Addiction Treatment efforts in advancing scientific research to identify and implement new and more effective forms of treatment for Maryland residents suffering from opioid and other substance addictions.

Project Name: Gaudenzia Park Heights Kitchen Renovations
Project location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Applicant: Gaudenzia, Inc.
Amount received: $83,000
Description: These funds will support the renovations of the Gaudenzia Park Heights kitchens to better serve more than 175 daily residents of Gaudenzia’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation services in Baltimore City.

Project Name: Southern Streams Health and Wellness Center at Mary Harvin CDC
Project location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Applicant: Mary Harvin Transformation Center CDC
Amount received: $5,000,000
Description: Once fully constructed, this 120,000-square-foot facility will provide community-based health care in a medically underserved community and treat a myriad of health disparities.

Project Name: Sheppard Pratt Institute for Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics
Project location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Applicant: Sheppard Pratt
Amount received: $917,000
Description: This project would enable Sheppard Pratt to continue leading efforts to better treat and provide access to comprehensive mental health services, including for at-risk communities. 

EDUCATION

Project Name: Bringing Back the Bay: Reimagining the National Aquarium's Waterfront Campus
Project location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: The National Aquarium, Inc.
Amount received: $332,000
Description: Funds will be used to develop the Aquarium's new Waterfront Campus and provide a living laboratory with outdoor classrooms and public wetland access. This project will provide STEM learning opportunities for students and a platform for the Aquarium's research while also contributing to the health of the Inner Harbor by increasing urban wetlands.

Project Name: Best Buddies in Maryland Inclusion Project for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Location: Baltimore City, MD (Headquarters)
Applicant: Best Buddies International, Inc.
Amount received: $250,000
Description: Funds would be used to support the Best Buddies in Maryland Inclusion Project to help students with intellectual and developmental disabilities develop peer relationships, carry out student-led inclusive group activities, and provide leadership training to students across Maryland.

Project Name: Program Enhancement through redesign of courses to meet online Quality Assurance
Project location:
Applicant: Coppin State University
Amount received: $1,550,000
Description: Federal funding will allow Coppin State to redesign its 62 general education requirement courses to meet Quality Assurance standards and ensure that students receive a quality education experience regardless of their experience in the classroom or through online programming.

Project Name: Saturday Leadership Program
Location: Baltimore, MD
Applicant: Greater Baltimore Urban League
Amount received: $320,000
Description: Funds would be used to serve Black students from neighborhoods across Baltimore City in the Greater Baltimore Urban League's Saturday Leadership Program. The program, which includes college visits and cultural and STEM-based field trips, is designed to help students confront barriers to education and learn soft skills to keep them on the track to college. 

Project Name: Integrated Learning Center at Kennedy Krieger Institute
Project location: Baltimore City, Maryland
Applicant: Kennedy Krieger Institute
Amount received: $1,250,000
Description: Kennedy Krieger will establish evidence-based early childhood education demonstration sites that improve social/emotional, functional, and behavioral outcomes for children.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, HISTORICAL, & CULTURAL INITIATIVES

Project Name: Permanent Exhibition and Memorial on the History of Lynching in Maryland
Project location: Baltimore City
Applicant: Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture
Amount received: $650,000
Description: These funds will be used to build on the work of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission and construct a permanent exhibit and memorial to both educate about these extrajudicial vigilante killings and honor the memories of those whose lives were taken.

Project Name: Public School 103 Henry Highland Garnett/Justice Thurgood Marshall Center
Project location: Baltimore, Maryland
Applicant: Beloved Community Services Corporation
Amount received: $1,000,000
Description: Funding would assist in the renovation of Baltimore Public School Building 103, the former elementary school of Baltimorean and former Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Project Name: Revitalization of Pennsylvania Avenue Market: Creating a Community Hub of Healthy Food Living
Project location: Baltimore City, MD
Applicant: Baltimore City
Amount received: $2,000,000
Description: Funds will be used by the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation and City Dibs to revitalize the Avenue Market in Upton to provide healthy food access, sustain farmers and farms across the metro area, and help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and provide more jobs.

Project Name: Sandtown Center revitalization
Project location: Baltimore, Maryland
Applicant: Clergy United for the Transformation of Sandtown Community Development Corporation
Amount received: $250,000
Description: This funding will allow for the pre-development and renovation of the Sandtown community center, transforming it into a facility that can provide small business incubation, a community meeting place and retail, health, and business opportunities for residents. 

Project Name Bethel Empowerment and Wellness Center
Project location: Baltimore, Maryland
Applicant: Bethel Empowerment and Wellness Center
Amount received: $251,000
Description: Funds will help finalize renovation of this community hub that connects low-income residents of West Baltimore's Upton community to resources and service providers.

Project Name: Pikesville Armory Renovation
Project location: Baltimore County, Maryland
Applicant: Pikesville Armory Foundation
Amount received: $2,400,000
Description: This funding will complete the first two phases of the design work to bring parks, public open space, community gathering and arts venues to the area. 

Project Name: Sparrows Point Park Project in Baltimore County
Project location: Baltimore County, Maryland
Applicant: Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks 

Amount received: $3,000,000
Description: The funding will allow the County’s 22-acre Sparrows Point Park, located at the site of the historic Bethlehem Steel Mill, to be completed in a single phase. 

CHESAPEAKE BAY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Project Name: Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Project location: Baltimore County, MD
Applicant: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Amount received: $500,000
Description: Funds will be used to continue the long-term Baltimore Ecosystem Study, which compiles data on watershed, ecology, and sociological issues related to the environment across the Baltimore region. This data supports educational and community-based activities and is used by the UMBC's graduate program in Geography and Environmental Systems.

Project Name: Section 510 Chesapeake Bay Comprehensive Plan
Project location: Baltimore, Maryland
Applicant: Army Corps of Engineers
Amount received: $5,750,000
Description: Funds will be used to implement several environmental projects under the Section 510 Chesapeake Bay Comprehensive Plan to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay.