2021 Grantee News Release

Hoffberger Family Philanthropies is proud to announce $550,000 in 2021 General Grant Awards to nine Baltimore organizations focused on improving economic mobility and addressing children’s mental health & trauma. These grants are the first awards made in collaboration with our Community Advisory Board, comprised of 12 low- to moderate-income residents and nonprofit professionals. Community members offered invaluable insight into local needs and the organizations working to address those needs. 2021 also marks the first year Hoffberger has tracked diversity of program, executive, and board leadership of applicants and grantees. Congratulations to all awardees! We’re looking forward to working and learning together

Caroline Friess Center – $50,000

The Caroline Center was established by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1996 as an organization with a holistic, empowering approach to job training that models a way for women to work with one another. With the foundation’s support, Caroline Center will recruit and enroll 130+ women in its training programs over the next 12 months and engage with 100 graduates through its advanced certification program.

Center for Urban Families (CFUF) – $100,000

The Center for Urban Families’ core mission is to strengthen urban communities by helping fathers and families achieve stability and economic success. Since its founding in 1999, CFUF has specialized in addressing the needs of Baltimore’s most hard-to-reach populations, including the formerly incarcerated, those with a prior history of substance use disorder, low-income individuals, and non-custodial fathers. With foundation support, CFUF will hire additional ALL IN case managers to support members in creating personal goals and taking action.

KEYS Empowers (KEYS) – $50,000

KEYS Empowers promotes equity in access to emotional, psychological, and developmental support while addressing the social and cultural stigma around mental health for the community they serve. With foundation support, KEYS intends to host cohorts of school-identified youth over a 12-month period through their non-traditional approach, but evidence-based, program that helps young people gain the tools to effectively identify and express emotions, ultimately reducing the impact of adverse childhood experiences.

Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) – $50,000

The Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service was created to ensure residents facing economic injustices were able to access essential civil legal services. The foundation will support MVLS’ Workforce Development Project, allowing the organization to continue partnering with and expand to various Baltimore City community workforce development sites.

Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital (MWPH) – $50,000

Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital provides family-focused, integrated care to children with serious, chronic or complex medical needs. The foundation will support MWPH’s new Trauma and Healing Program, which provides mental health screening, assessment, treatment and consultation services to children and adolescents from birth through age 19, and their families who have experienced or may be at-risk for experiencing exposure to trauma.

Roca – $50,000

Established in 1988, Roca’s mission is to be a relentless force in disrupting incarceration, poverty and racism by engaging the young adults, police and systems at the center of urban violence while advancing workforce development. The foundation will support Roca’s efforts to grow and scale its impact in Baltimore, impacting 250-300 of the city’s highest risk young men.

Turnaround Tuesday (TAT) – $100,000

Turnaround Tuesdays, Inc. (TAT) is affiliated with Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), which is a broad-based, non-partisan, interfaith, multiracial community power organization rooted for over 40 years in the city’s neighborhoods and congregations. The foundation support will allow TAT to continue providing its critical services, placing at least 225 people into livable wage jobs over the next 12 months through extensive, ongoing case management services as well as retention services.

Up2Us Sports – $50,000

Up2Us Sports is the first, and only, national service organization to employ the power of sports and the important coach-mentor relationship to help vulnerable youth improve their physical and mental health; develop social, emotional, and cognitive learning skills; and equally as important, play and have fun. With the foundation’s support, Up2Us seeks to shift inequities by leveraging sports and coaching to turn a passion into a career with a pilot program integrating a workforce development fellowship into its existing national service program.

Vehicles for Change – $50,000

Vehicles for Change was established in 1999, and its mission is to empower families with financial challenges to achieve economic and personal independence through car ownership and technical training. The foundation will support this highly successful training program over 12 months impacting 60 individuals, which stands out as it has a recidivism rate of less than 3 percent. Studies show that access to a car enables access to employment, healthcare, shopping and childcare opportunities that are previously out of reach for most low-income individuals and their families.

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About Hoffberger Family Philanthropies: The Hoffberger Family Philanthropies are led by descendants of Charles and Sarah Hoffberger, Jewish immigrants who established Baltimore as their home in the late 19^th century. The Hoffberger Foundation was established in 1941, providing support that strengthens communities, eases barriers to opportunity, and has a positive impact on the well-being of individuals who live in impoverished neighborhoods. The Hoffberger Family Fund was established in 1980 to support the Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. For more information, please visit www.hoffberger.org.