On Monday, OSI joined the Baltimore City Health Department and other organizations to observe International Overdose Awareness at the YNOT Lot at Charles St. and North Ave. Health Department staff arrayed 914 small purple flags on the grass, representing people who died of overdose in Baltimore City in 2019. OSI displayed the Overdose Awareness Day […]
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OSI YouthWorks Summer Intern Weighs in on Schools Reopening
Monday, August 31, 2020My name is Maya, and I am a senior at Baltimore City College. I will be most impacted by the decisions made about reopening schools, so I want to share how I feel about it. First, I believe it is foolish to open schools during a pandemic. When you think about schools—and I mean any […]
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OSI-Baltimore to support 23 organizations working to protect Maryland’s most vulnerable populations
Monday, August 31, 2020BALTIMORE—Open Society Institute-Baltimore is investing $772,000 to support 23 organizations working with Marylanders who use drugs, are incarcerated, or were recently released from incarceration, and thus at increased risks of contracting COVID-19, suffering a fatal overdose, or being re-incarcerated. OSI chose grant recipients based on applications submitted in response to a request for proposals published […]
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OSI Fellow Ana Temple Rodney named one of Maryland’s 100 Sheros
Wednesday, August 26, 2020The Maryland Commission for Women named 2019 OSI-Baltimore Community Fellow Ana Temple Rodney one of “Maryland’s 100 Sheros” during a conference commemorating the the women’s suffrage movement today. Rodney had a health crisis while navigating the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after the birth of her son in 2014 and subsequently started a healing circle […]
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OSI, Baltimore City mark Overdose Awareness Day
Wednesday, August 26, 2020This Monday, August 31st is International #OverdoseAwarenessDay and OSI, the Baltimore City Health Department, and other local organizations will be hosting events to raise awareness throughout the next week. On Thursday at 11am the Health Department will host a conversation with Westside YO! on youth and opioids. On Friday at 10:30am, Scott Nolen, director of […]
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New England Journal of Medicine highlights treatment van outside Baltimore jail
Monday, August 24, 2020This month in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Justin Berk wrote about his experiences treating patients in the Projects Connections at Reentry (PCARE) van, which is parked (illegally, Dr. Berk notes) outside of the Baltimore City Jail every day. OSI provides support for the Behavioral Health Leadership Institute to run the project, […]
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Opinion: Maryland Blocks Its Most Marginalized Citizens From Voting
Sunday, August 23, 2020By Nicole Hanson Since its emergence earlier this year, COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of life, and the 2020 elections are no exception. Maryland’s primary elections were postponed from April 28 to June 2 and an entire election was conducted almost solely via mail-in ballots in an effort to reduce human contact and the further spread of [...] -
Register now for People’s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland regional webinars
Thursday, August 20, 2020The OSI-supported People’s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland has been working to make policy recommendations to change various laws that unnecessarily criminalize a wide range of behavior. There are five workgroups: drug police, sex work, homelessness, poverty, and youth. The Commission encourages all Marylanders to complete this *brief* survey to give some feedback on what kind of […]
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A Good Place to Start — Low-Threshold Buprenorphine Initiation
Thursday, August 20, 2020By Justin Berk In Baltimore, a van was repurposed as a mobile health unit to address the city’s opioid-overdose crisis. Clinicians prescribe buprenorphine to people recently released from incarceration, setting a low threshold for treatment initiation. Read Full Article -
OSI’s Karen Webber talks about philanthropy and healing with Zeke Cohen, Wes Moore, Dr. Melissa Buckley
Thursday, August 13, 2020Last night, Karen Webber, director of OSI’s Education and Youth Development program, joined the Truth and Healing Conversation series, hosted by Councilman Zeke Cohen and Coppin State University Professor Dr. Melissa Buckley. The topic of the episode, also featuring author and Robin Hood Foundation CEO Wes Moore, was “Investing in Change: The Role of Philanthropy.” […]
