Latest news with #BCYF
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Youth Serving Nonprofits Showcase Community Impact through Baltimore Children & Youth Fund's 2025 Community Exhibition
BALTIMORE, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 3, over 250 community members, leaders, and mentors gathered at Baltimore Unity Hall for the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund's (BCYF) second annual Community Exhibition. The evening was a celebration of the impact made by the city's youth serving nonprofits and an inside look into their plans for the future, including the launch of #bcreds. The new online program designed by BCYF specifically for grassroots and community-based organizations offers accessible, high-quality financial learning experiences across all devices. This high-energy event was the culmination of BCYF's 6-month city-wide learning series titled the learning lab, diligently designed to strengthen Baltimore's youth development ecosystem. Each event over the past six months was curated with one intention in mind: to explore innovative models and strategies that align with BCYF's city-wide initiative to build Baltimore's very own Youth Master Plan (YMP). With opening remarks from community leader and partner, Mayor Brandon Scott, attendees were welcomed into an immersive experience highlighting the grantees' accomplishments that would not have been possible without BCYF's financial support and capacity building programs. "This Community Exhibition is what happens when you invest in grassroots leaders and give the space, support, and respect that they need to be successful. Through the learning lab, BCYF has created a dynamic citywide experience with one thousand participants and 60 hours of programming with a focus on equipping youth and adult leaders with the skills, networks and tools to help them grow into better versions of themselves," Mayor Scott explained. "The results speak for themselves. They are building a capacity for these grassroots organizations making them more sustainable, more connected, and even more impactful." While grassroots leaders showcased their masterful storytelling skills upstairs developed through the learning lab, participants also indulged in an immersive gallery walk and live demonstrations for #bcreds downstairs. "Walking through the gallery and seeing just how much output and outcomes these youth serving organizations have been able to make within our community was extremely moving," one attendee recalled. "These organizations are not only protecting our future leaders through their programming, but they are introducing them to things like the arts, STEM, marketing, and yoga that they otherwise would have never experienced. As the community leaders shared their organizations success stories, many of their previous youth participants were in the audience. They shared how they have received scholarships, graduated college debt-free and returned to serve the same community that poured into them during their adolescence." Nonprofit and grassroots organizations were also invited to sign up for #bcreds to strengthen their capacity through short, skills-based learning opportunities focused on real-world topics like financial management, strategic planning, fundraising, and program design. The web-based learning program was thoughtfully designed with retention in mind, ensuring users actively absorb the material rather than simply read through it. The first #bcreds course is now available online, titled Making $ense: Reading Financial Statements for Nonprofits. The course teaches users how to read and analyze financial documents to increase their confidence as their organizations prepare for financial planning and growth opportunities. These self-paced training sessions are free and accessible to anyone serving Baltimore's youth, underscoring BCYF's commitment to not just building programs, but strengthening the organizations behind them. Events like the learning lab and platforms like #bcreds offer a national invitation for communities to rethink how learning, leadership, and community investment go hand in hand—positioning Baltimore as a model for innovation in nonprofit management and youth development. For more information about BCYF and the learning lab, visit For more information about #bcreds, visit About the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund:The effort to create a dedicated fund to support programs for Baltimore's young people was launched in 2015 by then-City Council President Bernard "Jack" C. Young — a response to the unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, an event that sharply illuminated longstanding inequities in public funding in Black communities. Supported by Baltimore City residents' tax dollars, since 2020 BCYF has awarded over $31M to Baltimore programs serving children and youth. View original content: SOURCE Baltimore Children & Youth Fund
CBS News
28-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Baltimore City to invest in youth athletics, summer jobs to reduce violence
Baltimore City's Children and Youth Fund (BCYF) will make several investments into youth athletics programs, summer job programs and Mayor Brandon Scott's youth engagement strategy in an effort to reduce youth violence this summer. According to the mayor's office, the strategy has helped reduce youth violence over the past two summers. The investments aim to continue the positive trend. The BCYF will establish a new youth athletics fund with an initial $500,000 investment to expand access to vendor-provided athletic programming in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS). The youth athletics fund will build on BCPS's launch of middle school sports programming, which has allowed thousands of students to access athletics in schools, and will create a path for more philanthropy to invest in middle school athletics. "We best enrich the lives of Baltimore City students when our community offers more opportunities to learn both inside and outside the classroom," said Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools. BCYF will also allocate $6 million in funds to support YouthWorks , the city's summer employment program. The investment will ensure that 8,500 young people find meaningful employment during the summer. The investment into YouthWorks will provide young people in the city with paid work experiences, professional development and career readiness training through the Mayor's Office of Employment and Development (MOED). The fund will also invest $1.5 million into Mayor Scott's summer youth engagement strategy, which has helped reduce youth victimization and violence. The city will use the funding to provide outreach workers, structured programming and safe spaces for young people during the summer. "This is about investing in our young people holistically - in their futures, their well-being and their safety," Mayor Scott said. "Together, with BCYF, MOED, and Baltimore City Public Schools, we are ensuring that Baltimore's young people have every opportunity to thrive." Baltimore City saw a major reduction in crime in 2024. It was the third year in a row that the city's violent crime rate dropped, according to data from the Baltimore City U.S. Attorney's Office. As of March 3, 2025, homicides and nonfatal shootings were down in the city compared to 2024. Homicides were down 29% and nonfatal shootings were down by 41%, according to Mayor Scott. "While we are on the right path and are continuing to approach public safety the right way, understanding that it is more than just the responsibility of law enforcement and we all have a role to play, the work cannot and should not stop here," the mayor said. "We have a responsibility to expand the strategies and interventions we know are working, continue to be proactive, and deepen our efforts to build a better, safer Baltimore for all," Mayor Scott added. According to the CBS News gun violence tracker , there has been a 20% decrease in the number of gun violence victims over the past five years in Baltimore City, including victims of fatal and non-fatal shootings and any armed encounters. The tracker, which draws on crime data through the end of December 2024, shows that 389 children and teens faced threats of gun violence in Baltimore City in 2024. Data shows there were 499 youth victims of gun violence in 2023, and 389 in 2024, a 22% reduction over one year.
