About
The Emmanuel Church community views outreach, through service, neighborhood engagement and giving, to be a core enactment of our faith. There are many existing opportunities to serve.
Additionally, Emmanuel’s lay and clergy leadership seek to facilitate our members' efforts to expand the horizon of our good work. We are always open to new ideas to support, whether through volunteering or our grant program.
2024 grant Applications closed
The application window for 2024 grants is now closed. Thank you to everyone who applied. The Outreach Committee will review all materials submitted and hopes to make award announcements in early May.
2023 OUTREACH GRANT AWARDS
The Outreach Committee recently awarded grants to ten local organizations working in the City of Baltimore. Grantees are required to have 501(c)(3) status and to be based in Baltimore City.
Recipients for the 2023 program year are:
ArtsCentric
ArtsCentric creates performance opportunities for young Black artists, including a summer institute for youth. ArtsCentric’s mission and model is providing entertainment that is color-conscious, community-oriented, educational and enriching.
Emmanuel’s grant helps fund their summer institute.
Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women
The Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women embodies leadership, girl power, college readiness, high expectations and a strong support network. Through academics and social emotional learning, BLSYW students are taught to develop a strong sense of self, sisterhood, compassion, and good decision-making.
BLSYW is a college preparatory school with an emphasis on leadership and academic excellence and enrichment in a single sex environment. Its program demonstrates a strong commitment to math, science and technology – fields where women are underrepresented and where Maryland needs to cultivate a strong knowledge base and workforce – as well as to the arts and humanities which teach students to appreciate and engage critically the world that they will lead.
The grant funds uniforms for students and relief for families who experience financial challenges likely to interfere with attendance, such as rent, food, and transportation.
Baltimore Outreach Services
BOS serves homeless women and their children 24/7 - 365 days a year and is one of only three shelter programs in Baltimore City to meet the specialized needs of this vulnerable population. The women and children BOS serve has few resources and many barriers to success.
These barriers include a mental health diagnosis (53%), substance abuse (20%), criminal backgrounds (22%), and low rates of high school graduation or GED (56%), some reporting only finishing 8th grade. The women BOS primarily support are young (18-35 years old) African American women (93%) who are mothers. The shelter at BOS has 30 beds with 4 cribs that are used for infants. The average length of stay is five – six months.
The grant defrays the cost of case management, job training, children’s education programs, and access to permanent housing. Volunteers are currently needed for food preparation on weekends, help wrapping Christmas gifts, and donations of materials for welcome bags to new residents (towels, washcloths, soap, toothpaste, lotion, &c.)
Brown Memorial Tutoring
Brown Memorial Tutoring partners with Baltimore City schools providing 41 tutors for 70-80 children. Four of those tutors are members of Emmanuel who have participated in the program for over a decade. The program serves the zip code 21217 in which 54% of the residents live below the poverty line. They believe every child’s success is celebrated, no matter how small or large. They want their students to experience the increased confidence and sense of pride that comes with achievement.
Emmanuel’s grant serves to defray the cost of tutor training materials as well as the student yearbook and end of year celebration. Each year every student in the program receives six new books individually selected for the child’s interest and ability. Volunteers are needed for tutoring.
The Clagget Center believes in the power of changing lives through their camp and conference centers and time spent in a nurturing and loving community. Their mission is to provide hospitality that keeps these life-changing experiences welcoming for guests and staff members of every race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and background. Claggett aspires that all people experience welcoming and life-giving opportunities so that everyone might leave with lifted hearts and a deeper sense of God’s unconditional love.
In 2023, the Claggett Center was awarded $5000 from the Emmanuel Outreach Grant to be used toward camper scholarships and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Staff funding. This award covered the scholarships of 4 campers as well as providing funding for 2 senior counselors and 2 junior counselors to receive increased compensation. This funding allows Claggett to decrease barriers to participation for people from traditionally marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds in camp staff and counselor roles, and helps them to build a camp staff team that more accurately represents the beautifully diverse population of campers served.
HOPE (Helping Oppressed People Excel)
H.O.P.E. — Helping Oppressed People Excel — empowers men and women to make the transition from incarceration to community successfully and permanently. The program helps connect returning loved-ones with practical matters to remove barriers associated with reentry — such as resources for job and GED training; managing case-worker and other appointments; and developing new coping skills, accountability, life laws, and strong relationships to help deal with the stresses of life outside jail or prison, as well as deeper hurt and trauma. H.O.P.E. participants are guided by peer mentors, are connected to needed resources, are provided with bus passes, and are invited to mentoring and support dinners.
Emmanuel’s grant provides funding for bus transportation and rent assistance.
No Boundaries
Since 2008, the No Boundaries Coalition has brought Central West Baltimore together to address racial and economic segregation by breaking down barriers and fostering commUNITY. The work of the coalition began with the first Boundary Block Party, organized by neighbors from either side of Eutaw Place, a historic neighborhood and racial dividing line. Out of the success of the first several Boundary Block Parties, new connections were formed. In 2010, neighborhood leaders from across Central West Baltimore met for a lasagna dinner at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church on Fremont Street. They discussed a larger vision of organizing, advocacy, and capacity building together as a commUNITY. The No Boundaries Coalition was born. Since then, the No Boundaries Coalition has organized peace rallies, launched a produce market, advocated for equitable school construction and funding, provided leadership development, commissioned public art projects, hosted block parties, conducted walking tours and listening campaigns, and more. One of the No Boundaries Coalition’s most important contributions has been in police accountability.
Emmanuel’s grant provides meals for events to encourage participation. Volunteers are needed to support phone canvassing.
PREPARE
PREPARE: Prepare for Parole and Reentry is a Maryland based nonprofit with a mission of empowering people to make their best case for parole and develop strong reentry plans. Developed out of Second Chance for Women (founded by Maryjoel Davis), the program supports candidates for parole — particularly women — by providing educational services, materials about and support through the parole process, assistance in preparing and presenting a reentry plan to the Parole Commission, peer mentoring upon release, and ongoing, sustained support as candidates reenter society post-incarceration.
Emmanuel’s grant supports the program’s regular functioning. Volunteers are needed to serve as parole advocates.
Samaritan Community
Samaritan Community provides assistance to meet the needs of families and individuals who are in crisis and wish to improve their lives. Its program is rooted in respect, hope, and healing.
Samaritan Community is a small organization with a BIG impact. Its Food Pantry, Clothing & Household Goods "Shop", Individual & Group Counseling, Case Management, Emergency Financial Assistance, and Enrichment Programs enable its members to face both short-term crises and long-term challenges.
By forming connections and a community within Samaritan Community, its members are empowered to transform and strengthen their lives. Ultimately, these stronger individuals and families help create a stronger community in Baltimore and beyond.
Emmanuel’s grant aids their transitional housing program. Volunteers are needed for Whole Foods donation pickup, food delivery to clients, speakers on life enrichment and hobby/skill building, and clothing shop organization.
The Pride Center of Maryland is the state's primary source for guidance, education, cultural competency, and services to improve quality of life, especially for LGBTQ+/SGL (same-gender-loving) youth, adults, elders, and allies of all backgrounds, ethnicities, perspectives, genders, sexualities, and cultures.
Through youth development, mental health, violence prevention, support services, and trauma-informed care programs, PCOM advocates for equity, justice, and safe access to well-being and protection while building bridges and understanding between diverse communities.
Emmanuel’s grant supports their pride parade drive towards their annual budget.
St. Lukes Camp Imagination
St. Luke’s Camp Imagination is a program of St. Luke’s Youth Center (SLYC), is a two-week summer day camp for 40 campers aged 7-17 and facilitates dance, music, poetry, and reading skills.
Emmanuel’s grant supports payroll costs for the five staff members. Volunteers are welcomed to read to children or to host games and crafts.