BALTIMORE — Sometimes those who help others need a little help themselves, that's where the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund (BCYF) step in. Offering grants to nonprofits that improve the lives of younger people.
It's an organization that was started following the killing of Freddie Gray.
"The community came together and said what can we do to come together to make sure young people have the support they need to be able to thrive and be leaders here in Baltimore,” said Alysia Lee who is the BCYF President.
80% of the city voted in support and that's when the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund was created.
"So we're using tax dollars and rolling them and putting them into the hands of Black and brown leaders of grass roots organizations throughout Baltimore,” said Lee.
These are smaller organizations that are looking to make a difference in younger people's lives.
"It's about elevating the youth development sector,” said Lee. “Doing things like cooking classes or stem or chess, marching band, youth interrupters folks training young people to be interrupters of violence in their communities.”
Over the last three years, BCYF has invested $23 million into over 100 organizations throughout the city.
One of the nonprofits chosen this year is Ballet After Dark that provides resources for girls ages eight to 24 that have been impacted by a variety of traumas.
"Not just sexual violence, but we also had youth who have been impacted by homelessness, we have youth who have been impacted by food insecurity. So if you consider yourself a youth that has been impacted by trauma, then we're here for you,” said Tyde Edwards, Founding Director of Ballet After Dark.
Stemming all the way from dance therapy and ballet to swimming martial arts therapy and gardening.
"We've created to expose them to activities and trainings that they may have not considered to be healing before,” said Edwards.
They received $100,000 from BCYF. She said the program grew larger than they could have anticipated, so the funding is being used to hire more staff and continue spreading to other neighborhoods.
Now, BCYF is looking for the next round of nonprofits to fund in the city.
"We need help to find these people who are working in these powerful local, hyper local ways with young people. So we need everyone in the city to be on alert and send them to BCYF,” said Lee.
The fund will invest $250,000 into 12 new organizations each over the span of five years. Applications open up February 1.
Head to here for more information about grassroots organizations or the application process.
