On September 12, 2020, the 236th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland passed Resolution 2020-06, committing to creating a $1,000,000 seed fund for reparations. Our diocese is taking next steps to infuse money into programs that are building up Black communities and helping to repair the breach caused by systemic racism in Maryland and in the United States.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2026 RECIPIENTS
The Rev. Samuel Green Sr. Foundation
Guided by principles of education, economic development, history, and environmental justice and sustainability, the Foundation works to correct the exclusion of African American history around Maryland’s natural resources in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, thereby promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. This grant will fund a Trail Guide and Environmental Stewardship Initiative focused specifically on descendants of enslaved African Americans in the Broadneck Peninsula Community who were denied the fruits of their labor, dispossessing them of access, wealth, leadership, and agency. This initiative seeks to restore African American representation in environmental and conservation leadership and seeks to repair land as well as economic and social exclusion. The goal of this initiative is to implement a 12-month reparative justice project to train and compensate ten African American youths and adults from descendant communities to serve as tour guides and environmental stewards for the Mulberry Hill/Browns Woods Rivers and Trails project, as well as share the history of seven descendant communities along the Broadneck Peninsula. Through structured training, guided tours, environmental literacy programming, and stewardship engagement, the project models reparations-in-action, restoring both ecological systems and economic opportunity for African American descendant communities along the Broadneck Peninsula, transforming a restored landscape into a living classroom, workforce pipeline, and cultural interpretation space.
Robert W. Jonson Community Center
The Robert W. Johnson Community Center (RWJCC), named after a Tuskegee Airman who dedicated his life to education, coaching, and community service, began as the North Street School in the historic Jonathan Street community of Hagerstown , Maryland, the only school available to African American citizens in Washington County. When a new school was built in 1947, the building became a YMCA serving the African American community and functioned as a central, community-controlled space for youth development, recreation, and neighborhood gathering. In 1959, a pool was added and became the only pool in Hagerstown where African Americans could swim. For generations, the pool and facility provided safe recreation, swim access, and community programming for families in the Jonathan Street neighborhood. The community center and its pool fell into disrepair due to disinvestment and deferred maintenance, and the pool eventually closed. As part of an effort to revitalize the community center and its pool, the RWJCC plans to launch a Jonathan Street Aquatics Workforce and Swim Safety Initiative and restore access to swim safety and water instruction in a neighborhood that has historically been excluded from public recreation and employment systems. The Jonathan Street Aquatics Workforce and Swim Safety Initiative will recruit, train, certify, and place Black teens and adults from the Jonathan Street community into paid aquatics positions. Participants will complete nationally recognized certifications and will be eligible for paid shifts upon completion. Trainees will then support swim safety outreach and beginner instruction for neighborhood youths and families. This grant will serve black residents of the Jonathan Street neighborhood, and priority will be given to residents who face financial barriers to certification and training. Graduates will be scheduled into paid shifts at the SWJCC upon pool reopening and may also be referred to partner facilities for additional shifts to strengthen employment stability.
Intersection of Change
Intersection of Change (IOC) is located along historic Pennsylvania Avenue, once known as the Harlem of Baltimore, and is included in the Black Arts District (BAD), the nation’s first district dedicated to Black arts and culture. It was created in response to decades of disinvestment, limited access to safe and affordable arts programming, and the need for creative outlets that support personal growth, community pride, and neighborhood revitalization. It consists of three initiatives (Martha’s Place, Jubilee Arts, and Strength to Love II) that work together to support individuals seeking recovery, economic mobility, and creative expression. Martha’s Place provides long-term recovery housing and supportive services for women overcoming substance abuse and homelessness. Jubilee Arts offers accessible multigenerational arts education and cultural events. Strength to Love II operates a 1.5-acre urban farm that includes 14 high tunnels and a greenhouse offering workforce development and employment to youth and returning citizens, and addresses community food apartheid issues through increased access to healthy foods to community residents. This grant will fund the further development of programming within these three initiatives.
The Youth In Business/YIB program will cultivate the entrepreneurial leadership skills of high school-aged youth by providing hands-on experience operating an art-based business and fostering long-term economic independence. The Art@Work program will support a community-driven beautification program by establishing a five-week artist apprenticeship program that will employ Baltimore City youth to create murals in their communities. Youths will participate in the 250th Anniversary Celebration of the United States of America by producing two murals under the title: Art@Work: “America at 250 – A Mural Celebrating Baltimore’s Past, Present, and Future”, a powerful community response to injustice and inequality, centering youth voices and honoring the arts legacy of historic Pennsylvania Avenue. The program weaves together design thinking, workforce development, economic development, community organizing, and creative expression. And the Urban Youth in Agriculture Program (UYAP), an environmental education and workforce development program focused on urban agriculture, will provide youths with direct, hands-on exposure to food systems, environmental stewardship, and the realities of food insecurity experienced within their own neighborhoods. Participants learn both the technical “how” of farming and the broader “why” behind urban agriculture as a strategy for addressing decades of disinvestment, environmental injustice, and health disparities. Through collaborative team structures, youth develop accountability, leadership, and peer mentorship while building skills in planting, harvesting, record-keeping, customer service, marketing, and cooperative business practices. This grant will support youths in cultivating healthier communities, advancing food equity, and growing the next generation of leaders committed to justice, sustainability, and community wellness.
Manumission House, Inc.
Manumission House is a Baltimore-based nonprofit organization founded to repair the enduring harm caused by mass incarceration, racialized housing discrimination, and disrupted access to higher education experienced by Black individuals returning from incarceration. Upon release, formerly incarcerated individuals regularly encounter systemic housing exclusion rooted in legal and informal discrimination. Manumission House seeks to address this barrier to post-incarceration stability by establishing education-centered housing for formerly incarcerated students hoping to pursue higher education. The organization will provide stable, fully furnished housing paired with comprehensive wraparound supports that prioritize academic success, personal development, and long-term independence. Services will include transportation assistance, employment readiness programming, financial literacy education, academic advising, tutoring, FAFSA and financial aid navigation, and technology and school supplies. Manumission House serves formerly incarcerated black college students who are enrolled in or are pursuing higher education in Baltimore City, and will extend limited educational and reentry support to members of the broader community. Manumission House seeks to restore what has historically and systematically been denied to Black communities: stability, educational opportunity, and pathways to economic mobility. By centering those most impacted by incarceration, the organization advances community repair and works toward generational transformation in Baltimore’s Black communities. This grant will fund the launch of Manumission House’s Transformative Housing & Education Support Program to house and support 11-14 formerly incarcerated individuals (residents) and will offer educational and reentry support to 35-50 non-residents.
Our awardees pictured with the Rev. Angela Furlong, co-chair of the Reparations Grants Committee; the Rt. Rev. Carrie Schofield-Broadbent, XV Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland; Justin Rose, co-chair of the Reparations Grants Committee; and the Rev. Chris McCloud, Canon to the Ordinary for Administration.
