Youth

Youth Path Funding Priorities

Kids display their birdhouses


After-School and Enrichment Opportunities

  • Fund high quality in- and out-of-school programs for children, youth, and their families in the most vulnerable areas of Baltimore City and Baltimore County that allow them to develop skills in the areas of academics, arts, and athletics (Funding is limited to small organizations with budgets of $500,000 or less);
  • Create opportunities for children and youth to cultivate civic responsibility and engagement in their communities;
  • Ensure that adults serving youth are well-trained, competent and caring.

Out of School Youth

  • Provide opportunities for out-of-school youth and adjudicated youth to re-enter the community and re-connect with school.

Early Childhood Education

Promote a comprehensive system of early learning opportunities ensuring that
children up to the age of five enter school ready to learn, including:

  • Access for all children, birth through age five, to quality early care and education programs in which staff and volunteers are appropriately trained in promoting and understanding school readiness;
  • Support for parents/guardians of young children to succeed in their role as their child’s first teacher;
  • Broad understanding by all Baltimore citizens of the value of quality early care and education as a means to achieve school readiness;
  • Effective transition practices within Baltimore City schools and the school system to help families and schools be more prepared to ensure school success for all children.

Advocacy and Civic Engagement

  • Encourage students, parents, and community members to speak out on issues related to children and youth;
  • Sustain and enhance public funding for child and youth development.

College Access and Workforce Entry

  • Connect young people with college preparatory activities, college retention programs and workforce entry opportunities

Explore this section:

Youngsters in Patterson Park get a workout in the neighborhood’s youth soccer league.
One Step Up scholars Sherrone Ricks and Jeane’ Baker celebrate with donors Jonnie-Kay McLean and Norman Morrison.
A Baltimore City student soaks up the sun at North Bay Adventure Camp.
Enjoying the lake at Druid Hill Park. Photo by Middleton Evans.
Dreams do come true: Our Playground at Stadium Place, rebuilt by determined volunteers and generous donors after the original was destroyed by arson. The work was supported by a fund at BCF. 

BCF’s efforts through the Diversity Path will work to rebuild Baltimore’s black middle class.

Baltimore’s vibrant arts and cultural scene boasts innovative projects like the Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern Music Series, which combines classical instruments, jarring visual components and DJ-style electronics into informal performances of works by modern composers. Photo by Robert McIver Photography.
Cyclists atop Federal Hill take in views of the city skyline and bustling Inner Harbor. Photo by Middleton Evans.
Collecting butterflies in the field for a nature study.
In the spring of 2009, an army of dedicated volunteers worked to rebuild Our Playground at Stadium Place, which had been destroyed by arson in September 2008. Photo by Kristine Buls.
Enjoying one of the simple pleasures of summer at a neighborhood camp.
BCF’s Human Services Path emphasizes health, aging, and family economic security.
Neighbors team up to beautify and reclaim a vacant lot.
Most Middle Grades Partnership scholars qualify for the city’s competitive high schools.
Rapid and reliable public transportation for our region is a central goal of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, a fund of BCF. Photo by P.A. Greene.
Children beat the heat in the waters of the Walter Sondheim Fountain at the Inner Harbor. Contributions to construct the memorial were collected through a special project fund at BCF. Photo by Will Kirk, courtesy of Homewood Photography.
Students at Great Kids Farm learn about local food production, from “seed to fork.”
Baltimore’s successful One Plus One recycling program has engaged residents in making the city cleaner and greener.
Baltimore City students and farm manager Greg Strella (far right) with the summer harvest at Great Kids Farm.
Students at Baltimore’s Friendship Academy of Engineering and Technology, one of many public charter schools helping to transform public education in our city. Photo by Stephen Jones, courtesy of Baltimore City Public Schools.
BCF’s Promoting Baltimore Path works to ensure that Baltimore continues to retain and attract citizens and businesses.
Experience-Corps Baltimore places older adult volunteers in struggling city elementary schools to serve as classroom aides, mentors, and tutors. Photograph by Michael Ciesielski, courtesy of Greater Homewood Community Corporation, Inc.

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