Community Support Awards Program delivers more than $1.8 million in funding to 52 nonprofits.
Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman today announced this year’s Community Support Grant Program awards, totaling $1,863,000 in funding. The grants will go to 52 nonprofit organizations for fiscal 2022.
“This year has shown us the value of the community-based nonprofit organizations that work so hard to uplift our most vulnerable residents,” said County Executive Steuart Pittman. “Increasing the size of this grant program is a cost-effective and wise investment of public funds that will engage more of our residents, grow our nonprofit sector, and provide services that enrich the lives of our people. I want to thank the Arundel Community Development Services and our interagency review panel for the rigor with which they assessed applications and the assistance that they provide to help applicants through the process. We look forward to watching these organizations thrive and serve our communities.”
This year, nonprofit organizations receiving Community Support Grants met a COVID-19 safety net need, and/or suffered from a COVID-19-related loss of income or revenue. Awards were prioritized to those organizations that were also promoting the County’s key human service priorities, including providing services to underserved populations, addressing the health and well-being of communities, and/or promoting equity and inclusion.
According to a County press release:
Grant applications are reviewed by an interagency team of County Health and Human Service leaders. The award process and administration of the grants is managed by Arundel Community Development Services, Inc. (ACDS), the County’s nonprofit housing and community development administrator.
“ACDS received 70 applications this year, totaling $2.69 million in requests, and we were able to fund 52 of those, compared to just 26 last fiscal year,” ACDS Executive Director Kathleen Koch said. “We look forward to working with our community development partners to ensure these investments can have a lasting and positive community impact.”
A sampling of Community Support Grant Awards include funding to support:
Mental health and substance abuse prevention in the Asian American community by My Life Foundation, Inc.,
Purchase of two-way radios by Anne Arundel – Annapolis Community Emergency Response Team (AAACert) for public safety initiatives and logistics at vaccination events and emergency food assistance distributions throughout the county,
General operating funds for the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park to make up for lost revenue due to COVID-19,
Case managers at Maryland Re-Entry Resource Center to assist Anne Arundel residents exiting incarceration to obtain employment, housing and other services,
STEM after-school program at South River High School for South River, Annapolis High School and Central Middle School students, and
Technical assistance for businesses that struggled during COVID-19 as part of Greater Baybrook Alliance’s Getting Back to Business program.
For more information about ACDS, visit https://acdsinc.org/.
