OSI-Baltimore Gives $1.5 Million to Provide Recession Relief in the Form of Job Training and Skills-Building for Baltimore's Hardest to Employ
BALTIMORE—The Open Society Institute-Baltimore is awarding $1.5 million to four local nonprofits to help low-income residents who face major barriers to employment. The gift will leverage an additional $1.5 million in state and federal funds, bringing $3 million to the state of Maryland.
The grants aim to strengthen communities by providing job training and placement for individuals with past criminal convictions. The $1.5 million will enable 141 individuals with criminal histories to be trained for jobs with career paths, such as nursing and geriatrics, advanced Microsoft Office certification, lead abatement and mold remediation, weatherization retrofitting, construction, culinary arts, construction and mechanical engineering. In addition, employers will be offered incentives—a wage subsidy for up to six months—to hire those who complete the training programs.
“People with prior convictions have an extremely difficult time re-entering the workforce. During a recession, the odds are stacked even higher against them,” said Diana Morris, director of OSI-Baltimore. “These grants will help people who are working hard to get their lives on track. And local employers will benefit from a trained and highly motivated workforce.”
This funding is part of a $6 million grant awarded to OSI-Baltimore by the Open Society Institute’s Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation, an initiative created by George Soros in response to the recession. The fund helps leverage state and federal monies nationwide to strengthen the social safety net and expand economic opportunities for low-income people.
The grants require each group to secure a one-to-one match. Most of the matching funds are coming from public dollars and will bring substantial additional, new investment to Baltimore.
“Public-private partnerships are good for local businesses, communities and the economy,” said Brenda Donald, secretary of the Department of Human Resources (DHR). “OSI-Baltimore’s grants, which the state will match, are an example of how private dollars can leverage public resources to support our most vulnerable citizens.”
Last fall, OSI-Baltimore awarded the first round of grants for nine Baltimore organizations and one city agency—with a special emphasis on job training, drug addiction treatment, dental care for the homeless and other urgent needs.
George Soros founded OSI-Baltimore in 1998 and since then has invested more than $60 million, the largest single investment an individual has made in Baltimore to help those suffering from poverty and discrimination. This $6 million Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation grant is separate from a challenge Mr. Soros issued in 2006 when he said he would give $10 million more to OSI-Baltimore if local donors contributed an additional $20 million. To date, OSI-Baltimore has raised more than $14 million toward that goal, and the fundraising continues. All of the $20 million raised from the Baltimore community will go directly to OSI-Baltimore’s core program areas.
Grants will be awarded to:
Center for Urban Families—$435,000 over two years to provide job training and paid internships in a variety of trades to people with past convictions and drug dependence. The participants will receive job readiness and skills training in such areas as nursing and geriatrics, advanced Microsoft Office certification, lead abatement and mold remediation, culinary arts, and construction and mechanical engineering. The Center will offer case management services and will also pay wage subsidies to employers for up to six months.
Civic Works, Inc.—$532,000 to provide job training and paid internships to people with prior criminal records. Participants will be trained as environmental field technicians and abatement workers, as well as energy retrofit installers. All participants who successfully complete the program will be placed in entry-level green jobs. Civic Works will offer wage subsidies for up to six months.
Group Ministries, Inc.—$215,000 to provide job training and paid internships in the building trades to people with past criminal convictions. Group Ministries will train participants to achieve journeyman status as plumbers, electricians or carpenters. The program will include a combination of classroom and on-the-job instruction, qualifying participants to be state-recognized apprentices. Group Ministries will offer employers a wage subsidy for up to six months.
Job Opportunities Task Force, Inc.—$317,500 to provide job training and paid internships in the building trades to individuals with prior criminal records. Participants will learn job readiness, math and skills development in electrical, plumbing and carpentry. The Job Opportunities Task Force will subsidize up to six months’ wages for employers who agree to hire graduates of the program.
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OSI-Baltimore was started in 1998 by philanthropist George Soros as a laboratory to better understand and solve the most intractable problems facing urban America. OSI-Baltimore is a private operating foundation that focuses its work exclusively on the root causes of three intertwined problems–drug addiction, an over-reliance on incarceration and the obstacles that keep youth from succeeding inside and outside of the classroom. OSI-Baltimore also sponsors the Baltimore Community Fellows, now over 100 members strong, who work to create opportunity and bring justice to people in the city’s most underserved neighborhoods.