Posted on November 14, 2010

OSI-Baltimore Announces 2010 Class of Community Fellows

The Open Society Institute-Baltimore has selected seven social entrepreneurs and innovators working to assist and revitalize the underserved communities in the city as 2010 Baltimore Community Fellows.

The fellows will each receive an eighteen-month, $48,750 grant to work on self-created projects designed to improve neighborhoods and youth outcomes in Baltimore. This year's cohort includes a farmer working to establish a community gardening collective and community market; a comedian who encourages girls at risk of pregnancy and dropping out of school to study their heritage and reclaim a sense of identity and pride; a middle school teacher who engages with "urban hip-hop Sesame Street troupes" to teach students how to avoid violence, risky behaviors, and substance abuse; and a skateboarder who will partner with local schools to offer youth a safe place to skateboard while learning leadership and advocacy skills.

Other projects selected for a grant include a community arts group dedicated to developing youth leadership and building a safer, more vibrant neighborhood; a project to provide legal help to low-income victims of creditor abuse; and an expansion of a project that connects juveniles charged as adults in the Baltimore City Detention Center with graduate students in psychology who counsel them and offer guidance before and after the juvenile offenders' trials.

"Our new Community Fellows are dynamic and committed social activists, each with an innovative vision for bringing opportunity and greater justice to Baltimore's neighborhoods so that all residents can participate fully in community life," said OSI-Baltimore director Diana Morris. "Working across issues and neighborhoods, these fellows are bringing hope, new approaches, resources, and advocacy skills to residents throughout the city, mobilizing them to take action to meet their own needs and to revitalize Baltimore communities."