BALTIMORE — “Youth are the future coming up to lead, hear their hearts go bum bum bum,” sings Kobe Morrison with Dance & Bmore.
Those lyrics capture the mission of Dance & Bmore, a dance school in Baltimore. Broadway veteran and choreographer CJay Philip works to shine a light on the next generation of rising stars from the city.
“So many people that I meet who are adults say, oh, I used to do that. I used to perform. And I don't think you ever age out of creativity. And so we always tell our young people, you will not age out of any of our programs. You simply age up,” said Philip.
“Children are being pushed to grow up quick and not have a childhood and not have that creativity,” said Terrell Chambers with Dance & Bmore.
From youth theater to music and movement classes for older adults, Dance & Bmore provides opportunities for all ages.
“Baltimore has this stigma of kids being out and about doing things they’re not supposed to do. So art gives them the opportunity to see a better future for them,” said Morrison.
The transformative impact of Dance & Bmore is echoed by Steven Forrester, another participant.
“It brought me out of myself and into the world,” he shares. “For a long time, I was in a shell. This program showed me there’s more outside of the shell I trapped my mind and body into.”
Dance & Bmore is one of 113 organizations that receives direct grants from the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund (BCYF).
“There’s not a lack of organizations doing the work,” says Philip. “But what BCYF is doing is pouring into those organizational leaders and that’s the difference. Sometimes you’re tired and you need a little help.”
“When we leave one space out, when we create a desert of opportunities for young people, it is a scary time. Young people deserve opportunities to explore and grow,” said Alysia Lee, President and CEO of BCYF.
The idea for a youth fund in Baltimore began in 2015 following the unrest in the city after the death of Freddie Gray. In 2020, BCYF was formally established. Lee says the focus is about creating long-term change.
“The vision for the fund is not just to disburse dollars,” Lee explains. “It's not meant just to be an ATM where organizations can get resources. It's meant to be an investment in folks who have been disinvested in over time.
Lee says 80% of the funds from the city is allocated towards awarding grants. But she says it isn’t just about funding these organizations but making sure they are sustainable so young people can count on the programming to continue.
“Yes, the direct grant fund dollars are important, getting dollars into the hands of folks, but those dollars are misspent if we don't also build up the capacity of the organizations and the leaders,” said Lee.
She adds that part of that investment looks like training programs for nonprofit management.
“These are organizations where people have been doing fish fries and using their own salaries to pay for programming for decades, you cannot go from there to a $250,000 grant across five years, which is what BCYF awards to these programs without support, without helping folks to build infrastructure, without helping folks to understand nonprofit Law,” said Lee.
For Philip, BCYF’s grants are a game-changer. “Sometimes we are writing grants, but it's just one year, and just when you catch your stride, you got to reapply for the grant. And so the fact that they're doing three to five years gives you time to vision.”
“Dance & Bmore is doing these things, creating opportunities for youth to self-discover through expression and just to have a joy and sense of community,” said Chambers.