Point Breeze Credit Union Supports City Youth

Point Breeze Credit Union has donated $20,000 to two nonprofit organizations focused on supporting young people in Baltimore City.

Arts Every Day – a driving force in helping City public school students to embrace creativity, art, and culture – will use its $10,000 donation from Point Breeze to support various programs, including its Impact Fund, which makes financial awards to schools for large-scale visual art projects impacting students and the surrounding community, and its 10x10 Exhibit, an avenue for artistic expression which this year is centered on the Baltimore Ceasefire movement.

Bridges, a project of St. Paul School and Gilman School which provides long-term support to motivated Baltimore City youth ages 9-22, plans to underwrite two new students in its program with its $10,000 gift from Point Breeze. Bridges provides students with formal summer and school-year programs, individualized academic assistance, and school placement support.

“Point Breeze has been a long-time supporter of Bridges, providing financial resources to the program and paid summer internships to its high school-aged students,” says Robert Paymer, Executive Director and Director of Bridges at St. Paul’s School. “Bernie McLaughlin [Point Breeze President and CEO] and his wife, Linda, also volunteer time on the weekends to coach and mentor students in the program. Their commitment now spans five years.”

Paymer introduced McLaughlin and Point Breeze to Julia DiBussolo, Executive Director of Arts Every Day, who notes, “Point Breeze immediately got behind two of our projects, and then really inspired and supported our Impact Fund.” Arts Every Day will be announcing monetary grants for large-scale, permanently installed art projects awarded through its Impact Fund in early February.

“At Point Breeze, we pride ourselves in being more than a reliable financial institution. We are a neighbor and community member first, and as such, we are dedicated to helping organizations like Arts Every Day and Bridges,” says McLaughlin.

He continues, “Both of these organizations play a vital role in our community’s well-being and the future of the young people who live here. Their work and the work of others are assuring that today’s students are receiving a well-rounded education that ultimately will help them to graduate from school and pursue fulfilling careers.”

In addition to Arts Every Day and Bridges, Point Breeze currently provides financial and volunteer support for a wide range of organizations throughout the Baltimore area, including Carroll County Hospital’s new Neonatal Couplet Care Program and the Baltimore Humane Society.

About Point Breeze Credit Union

Point Breeze Credit Union is one of Maryland’s largest credit unions, with more than 57,000 members and assets exceeding $770 million. A full-service financial institution that is member-owned and not-for-profit, Point Breeze offers easy, reliable banking through offices in Hunt Valley, Rosedale, Bel Air, Westminster, and Owings Mills, as well as more than 5,600 Shared Branch locations and 30,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide. Membership in Point Breeze is open to individuals who work, worship, or volunteer within 20 miles of a Point Breeze location. Point Breeze is federally insured by NCUA and an Equal Housing Opportunity lender. For more information, visit www.pbcu.com.