When I joined OSI-Baltimore in January 2020, I had no idea that my first year with the organization would be as challenging—nor, ultimately, as rewarding and transformative—as it wound up being.
In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic and racial reckonings of the year lifted up existing inequities and tensions and encouraged more intentional, comprehensive thinking about how to address them. In our year-end newsletter, we described some of the many ways OSI-Baltimore pivoted to meet this crucial moment, including our involvement in public-private partnerships like the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Program, Baltimore Health Corps, and Healing City Baltimore.
We also supported campaigns to decrease the Baltimore City police department budget by $100 million over two years, to reform Maryland’s criminal code to reduce its disparate impact on marginalized communities (the People’s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland), and to establish a community-led grantmaking initiative to advance community-based solutions, collaboration, and racial justice (B’more Invested).
Of course, this is just a sampling of the wide range of efforts OSI has supported, along with our many partners. In these pages, you’ll find a comprehensive listing of OSI-Baltimore’s grantmaking in 2020, along with a list of OSI donors who helped us underwrite this work.
We look forward to continuing the momentum that we and our partners have established toward a more just and liberated future for all Baltimoreans.
In Solidarity,
Danielle Torain