UWCM Donates Nearly $830K In Grants To Support Community Programs

From UWCM: United Way of Central Maryland today announced nearly $830,000 in grants for programming supporting the organization’s goal of improving the lives of Baltimore County residents. United Way’s grants will support the overall mission to help low-income individuals and families in Baltimore County obtain the necessities of a better life: education, housing, employment and health.

Our regional supporters have allowed us to invest in organizations that will help Baltimore County’s struggling residents live a self-sufficient life,” said Regina Aris, chair of United Way of Central Maryland’s Baltimore County partnership board (PB) and deputy director transportation planning for Baltimore Metropolitan Council. “We, the volunteer members of the Baltimore County PB are thrilled to be able to offer our continued support to long-standing partners such as CASA of Baltimore County and House of Ruth Maryland, as well as several others. United Way’s goal is to ensure these investments go directly toward helping struggling county residents get back on their feet.”

The 12 community operating grants totaling $293,086 include:

· Abilities Network, $25,000 to support their education programming.

· Baltimore County Department of Health, $20,000 to assist with their health programs.

· CASA of Baltimore County, $30,000 to support the organization’s health programming.

· Community Assistance Network, $23,086 to help their housing efforts.

· Episcopal Housing Corporation, $25,000 to support their housing programs.

· Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, $20,000 supporting their education initiatives.

· House of Ruth Maryland, $25,000 to help with their health programming.

· Jewish Community Services, $25,000 to assist with their housing efforts.

· Lighthouse, $25,000 to support their health initiatives.

· Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, $30,000 to help their health programming.

· PACT: Helping Children with Special Needs, $15,000 to support their education initiatives.

· Prologue, $30,000 to support their housing programming.

An additional $536,415 is also being invested in United Way’s family stability programming, which will be implemented by United Way in partnership with the following organizations:

· Episcopal Housing Corporation

· Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake

· Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC)

· Job Opportunities Task Force (Baltimore CASH)

· St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore

A multi-faceted approach to supporting the region’s most vulnerable citizens, United Way’s family stability programs work to get struggling families back on track by helping them obtain housing and assisting them in gaining access to food, healthcare, employment and education.

Since its launch in May 2012, United Way’s Family Stability programs across central Maryland have ensured that more than 1,200 families stayed in their homes, or were rapidly rehoused if they had already lost their homes. This also means that 99.7 percent of the children in these families avoided having to change schools.

Earlier this year, United Ways in Maryland released the ALICE® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) report which found that 40 percent of households in Baltimore County can’t afford the state’s high cost of living and don’t earn enough to afford basic necessities.

These new grants will help to continue this important work to provide families the support and resources they need and strengthen communities across central Maryland.

For more information about United Way of Central Maryland’s work, or to join our fight to create meaningful, measurable and lasting change for people throughout our region, visit www.uwcm.org.

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Editor's Note: The headline for this article has been updated to reflect the correct amount of donations.