Johns Hopkins University Innovation Fund for Community Safety Grants - Stable Homes, Safe Communities Project

Johns Hopkins University Innovation Fund for Community Safety Grants

Award Amount: $220,000 across three years

Project Name: Stable Homes, Safe Communities

Geographic Scope: Baltimore City (East and Central Baltimore neighborhoods)

Focus Areas:

Housing stability and affordability

Community safety and crime reduction

Homelessness prevention

Assistance for disinvested and marginalized community members

Project Description

The "Stable Homes, Safe Communities" project aims to assist disinvested and marginalized community members secure safe and affordable housing, thereby preserving intergenerational resources, preventing homelessness, and stabilizing communities. Housing stability has been linked to impacting the physical, mental, and economic health and well-being of families and communities.

Key Activities

• Legal Clinics: Up to 12 free legal clinics per year in targeted, low-income neighborhoods in East and Central Baltimore
• Wraparound Services: Community partners provide wraparound social services
• Know Your Rights Presentations: Free legal presentations relevant to stable housing, community safety, and other pressing issues
• Target Outcome: Assist 350 families over three years to attain housing stability

Eligibility

Projects must:
• Seek to improve community safety and reduce crime in Baltimore City
• Target grassroots initiatives
• Address housing stability needs

Recipient Organization Experience

Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland (PBRC) demonstrated:
• Proven track record in delivering effective community-based legal clinics
• Expertise in home tax sale and foreclosure prevention
• Experience with advance and life planning services
• Court-based eviction prevention and debt defense clinics
• Over six years of assisting more than 650 homeowners at risk of tax sale foreclosure (average home ownership of 24 years)

Contact Information

Sharon Goldsmith, Executive Director
• Email: sgoldsmith@probonomd.org
• Phone: 443.703.3048

Organization:
Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland
1500 Union Avenue, Suite 2400
Baltimore, MD 21211
Office: 410.837.9379