Congressman Kweisi Mfume has submitted funding requests for important community projects in the 7th Congressional District of Maryland to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations (“Appropriations Committee”).
Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee and U.S. House of Representatives (the “U.S. House”), each Member may request funding for up to 15 projects in their community for fiscal year 2023 – although only a handful may actually be funded. Projects are restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive funding. Additional information on the reforms governing Community Project Funding is available here.
In compliance with U.S. House Rules and Appropriations Committee requirements, Congressman Mfume has certified that he, his spouse, and his immediate family have no financial interest in any of the projects he has requested.
Projects Requested
Congressman Mfume is requesting funding through the appropriations process for the following projects to help Maryland’s 7th Congressional District:
Project Sponsor: Afro Charities
Project Name: Historic Upton Mansion
Project Location: 811 West Lanvale Street, Baltimore, MD 21217
Requested Amount: $2,000,000
Project Description: This project supports the renovation of the Historic Upton Mansion in Old West Baltimore to house the AFRO American Newspapers archive, its flagship offices, and the Afro Charities community outreach headquarters. The Upton Mansion has been vacant since 2006 despite its historic significance. This project will activate the building, carriage house and provide needed community engagement services as well as jobs. The AFRO American Newspaper is the oldest, continuously operating African American newspaper in the country and home to an archive of more than 4 million images, video, and historic documents which will be available for public use. The activation of this space has already proven to be catalytic as the homes directly across the street were competitively bid for redevelopment by the City and are under construction. The Historic Upton Mansion rehabilitation will bring an annual economic impact of $120,000 in spending to the area and will serve as a community anchor for media, African American archival history, and education outreach as well as an international resource for over 4 million unique artifacts documenting African-American life. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Arena Players Incorporated
Project Name: Arena Players Incorporated Capital Improvement 2022-2023
Project Location: 801 McCulloh Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
Requested Amount: $4,000,000
Project Description: Arena Players Incorporated, the oldest African American community theater in the country, initiated a Capital Campaign in 2018. This project would include comprehensive renovations and upgrades to the organization’s current three-story home, which is a cherished pillar not only within the Baltimore community, but beloved by the national and international community. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: The National Great Blacks In Wax Museum, Inc.
Project Name: Capital Renovation and Facility Infrastructure Upgrade
Project Location: 1601-03 E North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21213
Requested Amount: $2,008,580
Project Description: Located in the Oliver Community of East Baltimore and situated along the East North Avenue corridor, The National Great Blacks In Wax Museum continuously strives to overcome the challenges of its location among vacant and abandoned buildings. This project addresses necessary capital infrastructure rehabilitation, upgrades and improvements to the current facility that need immediate attention. As one of the most visible and viable African American tourist attractions in Baltimore City and the State of Maryland, there must be new building and landscape solutions implemented to improve the safety and visual impact of the museum facility. Immediate funding support will present several opportunities, both locally and nationally. Primarily, the Museum will be able to evolve and continue to have significant and far-reaching impact on the economic and cultural revitalization of a distressed and disinvested urban district in East Baltimore. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training
Project Name: Community Expansion Project
Project Location: 301 N. High St., Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Requested Amount: $3,000,000
Project Description: The purpose of the MCVET’s CEP, is to upgrade facilities and include a cutting-edge commercial kitchen for culinary arts training, a computer lab to facilitate “in-demand” Information Technology trainings, state-partnered and licensed Community Health Worker trainings, a high-tech automotive training facility, and a host of classrooms geared towards providing hands-on, collaborative support. MCVETs offers vocational training to veterans and residents of the community who have been unable to further their education due to mental illness, homelessness, and poverty. MCVET’s CEP program will produce skilled residents that will receive industry recognized certifications in targeted careers that would raise their opportunities and give them a true chance at increasing their earning power. Graduation from these programs will allow Marylanders to step into “living wage” jobs with skills that will last a lifetime, and help tackle the homelessness that veterans and the residents of the community face, which is critically necessary for the 7th Congressional District and the State of Maryland. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Gwynns Falls Business and Homeowners Association
Project Name: Gwynns Falls Mighty Park
Project Location: 3025, 3033, 3041, 3047, & 3049 Stafford Street, and 507 Wellesley Street, Baltimore, MD 21223
Requested Amount: $535,000
Project Description: Residents of Gwynns Falls, a community in Southwest Baltimore, plan to transform 6 contiguous vacant lots, which were former illegal dumps, into a vibrant new community park. Gwynns Falls is a neighborhood in Southwest Baltimore that has been historically neglected in the development strategy of Baltimore City. When the Gwynns Falls Business and Homeowners Association conducted a listening campaign to identify the needs of the community, the following needs were brought up most frequently: 1) Lack of safe places for children to play; 2) Need for more community events where neighbors can get to know each other and have a shared sense of identity and purpose; 3) Limited access to healthy foods and lifestyles. These three items will all be addressed by the creation of this park. Now is the time to invest in neighborhoods like this and to provide access to the amenities that go along with healthy communities. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Druid Heights Community Development Corporation
Project Name: Maggie Quille Center
Requested Amount: $1,500,000
Project Location: 2140 McCulloh Street, Baltimore, MD 21217
Project Description: The purpose of the project is to assist with the total renovation of the Druid Heights Maggie Quille Center to increase the services and programs within the Druid Heights community. This project will assist with the total renovation of the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation (DHCDC) a local non-profit community center which provides public space for outreach services, housing counseling, housing development, and local programming. The community center is an 8,000 square foot 3 story building that serves as a multipurpose center which includes nine (9) offices, two community spaces, a youth programming center, and a computer lab. The community center also consists of two vacant lots that have been transformed into a playground and outside green space. The project will include improvements to the office space and improvements to the green space to include a transformed youth programming center and improved computer lab. In addition, DHCDC is working to include a health component to the center in order to assist with health and social needs for community residents. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Beloved Community Services Corporation
Project Name: Juanita Jackson Mitchell Legal Center
Project Location: 1239 Druid Hill Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217
Requested Amount: $1,750,000
Project Description: The Juanita Jackson Mitchell Law Center project would restore Ms. Mitchell’s office, where much of the NAACP’s Baltimore Civil Rights division’s most historic legal work was done. It’s also where Attorney Thurgood Marshall prepared his argument for the 1955 Brown vs Board of Education case. This project is a good use of taxpayer funds because it would eliminate the remaining vacant property on the off side of the 1200 Block of Druid Hill Avenue and restore this building to honor the legacy of Attorney Juanita Jackson Mitchell, who was the first African American female to graduate from the University of Maryland Law School. Additionally, this building will provide legal and social services to victims of domestic violence. The restored office will provide office space for legal and social services for victims of violence from the Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) program. The restored office will house legal and social services for victims of domestic violence from the ROAR program. ROAR’s vision is to co-create with survivors a community in which people who experience crime or systemic injustice are empowered to achieve their own sense of justice, healing, and well-being. ROAR’s mission is to engage with individuals and communities in Baltimore City by providing holistic, client-driven services to survivors of crime and influencing efforts to reform system responses to crime. In 2022, ROAR expanded staffing with ARPA funds to include a total of 5 attorneys, 2 paralegal, 2 case managers, 2 therapists, and a part-time nurse. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Center for Urban Families
Project Name: Economic Success with the Center for Urban Families
Project Location: 2201 N. Monroe St., Baltimore, MD 21217
Requested Amount: $750,000
Project Description: This project will provide approximately 806 Baltimore residents, many who are returning citizens and who live in high poverty communities, opportunities to overcome obstacles, develop skills, and earn family-sustaining wages through two Center for Urban Families’ (CFUF) Economic Success job readiness programs: STRIVE and Back to Business (B2B). Upon enrollment in one of these two programs, participants become active CFUF members and are assigned a case manager who will assist members with short-term goal setting and program completion. In addition, members can access vocational and occupational skills trainings that lead to industry-recognized certifications or credentials. Upon the successful completion of a program, members are assigned a CFUF Employment Specialist who match members with one of the many CFUF Employer Partners. STRIVE Baltimore is a three-week training workshop that helps members develop the skills and workplace behaviors to secure and maintain employment. The unique attitudinal approach fosters rapid personal development to transition into employment by incorporating cognitive instructional techniques like role-playing, simulations, individual and team assignments, exercises, seminars, group discussions, videos, and lectures. The STRIVE curriculum covers essential components, including soft-skills training, basic computer literacy, job readiness, career development, customer service, and civics. Back to Business (B2B) is a three-day training workshop designed for those with substantial employment experience, appropriate attitudinal behavior, and a diploma or equivalent. B2B meets the needs of many members who need a refresh of soft skills, but do not need the three-week STRIVE program. Topics include self-awareness and self-discovery, appropriate attire, workplace etiquette and behavior, organizational hierarchy, group dynamics, and effective teamwork. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: East Baltimore Development, Inc.
Project Name: EBDI Phase 2B Infrastructure Project
Project Location: 2100 Ashland Avenue and 998 N. Chester Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
Requested Amount: $2,300,000
Project Description: This project, conducted in East Baltimore, includes repairing and upgrading public roadways, curbs and sidewalks; updating streetscaping, lighting and storm drainage systems; replacing water mains and service lines; other infrastructure-related repairs and enhancements; engineering design; and construction inspection fees. Phase 2B will have a multidimensional impact by first catalyzing more development, which will make the project area more attractive to developers with capacity, new residents and commercial tenants, and a much-needed grocer. The project is located in a food desert which makes it difficult for low-income and elderly residents to gain access to fresh, healthy foods. The infrastructure planned will surround the parcel EBDI plans to locate a grocery store. EBDI is working in collaboration with the City, the Baltimore Digital Equity Coalition and community residents to leverage all resources towards this important need. EBDI estimates that Eager Park currently serves about 7,500-10,000 individuals per year. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Morning Star Baptist Church Five Star Program – The Star Community Family Life Center
Project Name: The Star Community Family Life Center
Project Location: 1600 Whitehead Court, Woodlawn, Maryland 21207
Requested Amount: $2,300,000
Project Description: This project will renovate a 33k square ft. former body shop into a vibrant multi-use community space known as The Star Community Family Life Center (FLC). The new and expanded site will provide space for a variety of multi-generational programs and services. These include an inspirational Youth 360 Program which is modeled after the Boys and Girls Club and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics); supportive and innovative physical and mental health counseling and services offered to youth and adults; recreational space for activities and open-friendly walking and recreation; meeting and training space for seminars, classes and all aspects of workforce development. Our strategic location is easily accessible and enables us to provide a variety of support services to thousands of residents of all ages and demographics. We continue to build partnerships with local educational institutions, businesses, and governments to provide pathways for workforce skills assessments, job fairs and training. In doing so, we will enhance individual and community stability that will yield greater economic development and address the needs of low and moderate-income individuals and families. We are committed to our proven multi-prong approach to support Woodlawn as a sustainable community. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts and Entertainment District
Project Name: Sanaa Center Project
Project Location: 1925-1945 Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21217
Requested Amount: $2,000,000
Project Description: This project will fund the construction of the Sanaa Center, a newly-constructed 1 story building with a mezzanine, totaling 12,800 square feet plus 5,000 square feet of mezzanine. This will be a standalone building with offices, art-making spaces, indoor and outdoor performance spaces, as well as art incubation services. According to a state-wide report from FY2018, events and new businesses in the 25 Maryland Arts & Entertainment Districts collectively supported more than $1 billion in Maryland's state GDP, approximately $72.1 million in state and local tax revenues, and 9,987 jobs that paid more than $320 million in wages. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Park West Health System
Project Name: Park West Health System Capital Expansion Project for Integrated Behavioral Health
Project Location: 3319 West Belvedere Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215
Requested Amount: $2,000,000
Project Description: This project seeks to integrate new behavioral health programming and to physically expand and renovate the Park West Belvedere location of the Park West Health System. Built in 1950 as a Jewish Fraternity Social Club, this building is outdated by current government codes and standards and has proven to be insufficient for meeting the wellness needs of today’s at-risk-populations. The project includes a 15,245 square foot addition and a 10,175 square foot renovation of the 2nd and 3rd floors. This building will house new and expanded behavioral health programs, expand the delivery of current health wellness services, consolidate disjointed departments, address structural and ADA compliance issues, and improve the building’s exterior surfaces. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, Inc.
Project Name: Green & Healthy Homes Baltimore Initiative
Project Location: 75 homes in Baltimore City
Requested Amount: $2,000,000
Project Description: This project aligns with Justice40 principles and will improve housing conditions, health, energy, environmental justice, and racial equity outcomes for 75 low-income families, with children and seniors, in West Baltimore. With the exacerbation of existing racial inequities in housing conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthy housing services are in even greater need and high-priority Justice40 targeted activities, that will improve social determinants of health and reduce energy and medical costs dramatically for 75 families and seniors, are critical. To advance racial equity further, the project will also provide significant workforce development training and employment opportunities for 20 low-income, minority Baltimore City residents of the same communities targeted for services. The results and outcomes of this project will not only advance health and energy equity for the families served, but independent evaluation and outcome analysis will create a blueprint and further evidence base for whole house interventions to propel a crucial realignment of our cross-sector housing, energy and healthcare systems to prevention and preventive health versus the current reactive treatment focus. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: Helping Up Mission
Project Name: Permanent Housing on East Baltimore Street
Project Location: 1029 E. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Requested Amount: $1,190,000
Project Description: Helping Up Mission (HUM) seeks to acquire this property for redevelopment and revitalize the blighted property and provide affordable permanent housing for clients seeking to re-enter society as contributing members. The funds requested through this application would be used to support the development of this real property site; specifically, funds would be used for the Pre-Development phase of the project including: site demolition, removal of debris, and provide grading of the site. The purpose of this project is to develop permanent supportive housing in the historic Jonestown community of Baltimore City for the clients of HUM who have at least one year of sobriety from substance use disorder. HUM currently has an average of 125 men at any time who have finished the organization’s year-long recovery program but are not able to find affordable permanent housing in a supportive environment, and continue to reside with HUM in the organization’s congregant living facility. HUM would use the community project funding to redevelop the abandoned 1100 E. Baltimore Street property, also known as the Hendler Development site, eliminating a blight on the community and providing affordable permanent housing for their clients seeking to re-enter society as contributing members. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)
Project Sponsor: CASA
Project Name: Baltimore Center Workforce Development
Project Location: 2706 Pulaski Hwy, Baltimore, Maryland 21224
Requested Amount: $573,073
Project Description: CASA’s Baltimore Center Workforce Development project will screen workers for skills, prepare adults for job interviews, and provide life skills training to support workers in their job search. Through CASA’s on-site training lab and expanded partnership with Baltimore City Community College and Community College of Baltimore County, this project will offer “hard skills” training courses to obtain Certified Nursing Assistant credentials, Community Health Worker certifications, warehouse logistics skills, and building maintenance skills. CASA excels at helping low-income immigrants and Latino workers succeed by matching workers with economic opportunities and providing the support that they need to succeed in the long term. By establishing private-public partnerships, CASA has created and refined a system that provides workers with security and support, and employers with a trained and reliable workforce. Further, CASA has done all of this while ensuring workers are earning living wages – the average hourly wage at CASA’s centers is $15 – and leveraging public and private resources to support worker training and placement, thereby maximizing its partners’ return on investment. CASA’s successful model consists of several key elements, such as Worker Recruitment and Buy-In, Employer Recruitment, Job Placement Services, Vocational Training, Pre-Employment & Life Skills Training, ESOL Classes, Legal Services, Social Services and Referrals, Financial Literacy and Citizenship Services, and Quality Control. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure)