Baltimore Community Foundation Honors 11 Grassroots Leaders with 2025 Neighborhood Spotlight Awards
TL;DR
BCF's $5,000 grants provide grassroots leaders with resources to amplify their community impact and gain recognition for their neighborhood transformation work.
The Baltimore Community Foundation awards $5,000 grants to ten grassroots leaders through its Neighborhood Spotlight program, supporting specific community initiatives across Baltimore.
These grants empower local heroes to create safer, healthier neighborhoods through food access, youth programs, housing justice, and community building across Baltimore.
Former NFL player Aaron Maybin now mentors youth through art programs while other winners fight blight, provide meals, and preserve local industrial history.
The Baltimore Community Foundation has announced the winners of its 2025 Neighborhood Spotlight Awards, celebrating grassroots leaders who have driven positive change in their communities. Supported by BCF's 50th Anniversary Neighborhoods grant program, the awards honor unsung heroes working daily to improve neighbors' lives, including block captains, community event coordinators, artists, and advocates for essential resources.
Each Neighborhood Spotlight Award winner receives a $5,000 grant to direct to any Baltimore-area nonprofit organization of their choice and will be recognized at the annual State of BCF event on October 8, 2025. The selection highlights the foundation's commitment to resident leadership as fundamental to neighborhood strength. Dr. Crystal Harden-Lindsey, BCF's Vice President of Community Impact, emphasized that this year's honorees exemplify initiative, intergenerational leadership, and deep commitment to making communities more vibrant and accessible across Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
The 2025 award winners include Bria Evans of Requity, who expanded culinary programs across four Baltimore high schools and led students to cook and deliver more than 3,000 free meals through the We All Eat Wednesdays program, tackling food insecurity while building youth-led initiatives. Arrealia Gavins co-created the Realia Institute, a home-based community hub in McElderry Park providing free tutoring, youth mentoring, parent coaching, and seasonal events like toy drives and family meals.
Janette Graham founded No Struggle, No Success, Inc., supporting over 800 returning citizens through housing, job placement, and case management while advocating for judicial and parole reform. Aaron Maybin, through The Aaron Maybin Foundation and Level Up Leadership Academy, provides hundreds of youth with weekly mentorship, art, and wellness programming, creating safe spaces for healing from trauma linked to violence and poverty.
Nneka N'namdi of Fight Blight Bmore combines housing justice with youth empowerment, helping more than 50 families avoid losing houses to tax sales, clearing over $100,000 in housing-related debt, and running the Hack Hub innovation space. Michael Richardson Sr. of Good Trouble Church organizes weekly worship, harm reduction gatherings, and the Farm to Stoop market, ensuring safety and community in Station North through Red Shed Village ministries.
Inez Robb has advocated for safe housing for over 30 years, leading efforts that reduced childhood lead exposure in Baltimore by 99% and organizing resiliency hubs in Sandtown-Winchester. Carla Schroyer of Community Assistance Network launched CAN Stands Ready after the Key Bridge disaster, serving over 3,000 households and increasing access for non-English speakers through specialized pantry services.
Keith Taylor, founding member of the Sparrows Point and North Point Historical Society, preserves Southeast Baltimore County's industrial legacy through projects like the Beacon of Hope, transforming century-old steel into solar-powered lampposts surrounded by a pollinator garden. Greta Willis runs a weekly food pantry through Pillar Worship Center, providing over 2,000 meals since 2023, organizing Back-to-School festivals for 300+ children, and hosting Stop the Violence cookouts in memory of her son.
The Neighborhood Spotlight Awards are part of BCF's broader commitment to neighborhood-based grantmaking through the 50th Anniversary Neighborhood Grants Fund, established in 2022 to address structural racism and disinvestment. For over 50 years, BCF has invested millions in projects like cleaning and greening, block captain programs, festivals, and youth initiatives to create vibrant, livable communities. More information about the awards and foundation is available at https://bcf.org/spotlight/, while donations to support these efforts can be directed to https://bcf.org/fund/50neig/.
Curated from citybiz