Archive

The cover story of Baltimore magazine’s February issue, titled “She’s Got Next,” profiles “30 women who are shaping Baltimore’s future,” and includes several OSI-Baltimore grantees and partners. The cover features Nykidra Robinson, the CEO of Black Girls Vote, an OSI grantee and partner on Party at the Mailbox and the Blueprint for Baltimore projects. Among […]

Today at 1pm, the State Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing for Senate Bill 299, which expands on Baltimore City’s Elijah Cummings Healing City Act, which mandated trauma-informed care training for employees of city agencies, to apply to state agencies as well. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jill Carter (D-41), establishes “the Commission on Trauma-Informed […]

Yesterday, Mayor Brandon Scott announced that he would join the national organization, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, and create a Steering Committee to explore a process of “launching a guaranteed income pilot to increase economic security among low-income residents.” To co-chair the Steering Committee, Mayor Scott named OSI-Baltimore Director Danielle Torain and Joe Jones, President […]

This morning, the Baltimore City Board of Estimates approved an updated plan to distribute $400 prepaid cards to up to 15,000 Baltimore City residents hardest hit by COVID-19 and the economic impact. OSI and the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success (MOCFS) are leading the initiative in partnership with 13 community-based organizations who serve […]

On Monday, 2016 OSI Community Fellow Debbie Ramsey and her granddaughter Ghadir Smallwood appeared on the NBC game show The Wall. Debbie started Unified Efforts, an out-of-school program aimed at reducing summer learning loss, as part of her Fellowship. Debbie and Ghadir, who also volunteers with Unified Efforts, appeared on the show to kick off […]

In a big win for Baltimore City schools this week, the Maryland House of Delegates voted to override the governor’s 2020 veto of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the historic education equity legislation that includes recommendations from the Kirwan Commission Report. For the last several years, OSI’s Education and Youth Development program, along with grantees […]

This morning, Mayor Brandon Scott released his Transition Report, which includes specific recommendations in 10 focus areas, including Public Health and Public Safety, Education and Youth Recreation, and Business, Workforce, and Neighborhood Development. The Transition Team was led by a nine-member Steering Committee, including OSI-Baltimore Director Danielle Torain, OSI Advisory Board member Alicia Wilson, and […]

In a press conference in front of City Hall on Wednesday, Baltimore City School student activists celebrated their victory after Comcast acceded to their demand that the company increase the speed of its low-cost Internet Essentials. The advocacy effort was led by Baltimore City School students from Students Organizing a Multicultural Open Society (SOMOS). Kimberly […]

On Tuesday, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott gave testimony in a Maryland State Senate Finance Committee hearing on Senate Bill 279, which would create a pilot to establish six Overdose Prevention Sites (OPS), where people can use drugs in a medically supervised environment to prevent overdose, around the state. “It is imperative that we consider harm […]