Archive

Over the last couple weeks, WYPR’s On the Record with Sheilah Kast has continued its series of interviews with the new cohort of OSI-Baltimore Community Fellows. On December 26th, host Sheilah Kast interviewed Eric Sorrell and Christopher Johnson. Listen to the full episode here. Sorrell will establish Fernway Outdoors, using outdoor adventures to encourage young people to […]

This week, NBC Nightly News featured longtime OSI-Baltimore partner Holistic Life Foundation (HLF) and its successful efforts to bring mindfulness and meditation to Baltimore City Schools, helping to address trauma and reduce suspensions and school absences. The second part of the story focused on ways that HLF is reaching beyond Baltimore, bringing its practices to […]

On Friday and Monday, Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition (BHRC) and Open Society Institute-Baltimore led Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, members of the Baltimore City Council and Maryland General Assembly, and other city and state public officials on tours of OnPoint overdose prevention centers (OPCs) in New York City. OnPoint operates the first two legally authorized OPCs […]

Alicia Wilson, a longtime member of OSI-Baltimore’s Advisory Board, announced that she will leave her role as vice president for economic development and community partnerships at Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System for a new role as managing director of JPMorgan Chase’s North American regional philanthropy team. According to the Maryland Daily Record, Wilson […]

This week, WBAL reporter Deborah Weiner visited Southwest Baltimore’s Hampstead Hill Academy to see how restorative practices have helped students communicate with each other, staff, and their families. OSI-Baltimore has supported the integration of restorative practices in Baltimore City Public Schools for many years and, in 2020, published a report of the initial impacts of […]

OSI grantee CLLCTIVLY posted video of a conversation, hosted by former Baltimore Ravens receiver Torrey Smith, with Baltimore Changemakers, including OSI Community Fellows Bree Jones, founder of Parity, and Brittany Young, founder of B-360, as part of the recent We Give Black festival. CLLCTIVLY, a grantee in OSI’s emerging Economic Justice portfolio, isdedicated to social change, […]

On Thursday, the OSI Community Fellows Network hosted a reception to welcome the 2022 cohort of OSI Community Fellows at Clay Pots, a Southwest Baltimore a nonprofit community hub and coffeehouse founded by 2009 OSI Community Fellow Dwayne Hess. Community Fellows Shawn James (2003) and Deborah Ramsey (2016) introduced the Fellows and the their projects […]

Members of Maryland’s Congressional delegation announced a $900,000 Federal grant to two Baltimore-based organizations founded by OSI-Baltimore Community Fellows that support Black women returning from incarceration and into the workforce. PIVOT, a workforce reentry program founded by 2019 OSI Fellow Emily Thompson and led by Executive Director Veronica Jackson, connects formerly incarcerated Black women with […]

This week, state health officials reported that opioid-related deaths in Maryland have decreased over the past year, even as such deaths continue to rise nationally. The decrease is reflected in the state’s Opioid Dashboard, which shows that in the 12-month period ending in June 2022, there were 11.4% fewer fatal overdoses in Maryland compared to […]

PBS News Hour featured 2020 OSI-Baltimore Community Fellow Troy Staton, founder of More Than a Shop, which brings a wide range of health services and other resources to barber shops and beauty salons, in its “Brief But Spectacular” segment. Watch it below or read the transcript here.