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BALTIMORE—Open Society Institute-Baltimore is investing $772,000 to support 23 organizations working with Marylanders who use drugs, are incarcerated, or were recently released from incarceration, and thus at increased risks of contracting COVID-19, suffering a fatal overdose, or being re-incarcerated. OSI chose grant recipients based on applications submitted in response to a request for proposals published […]

The Maryland Commission for Women named 2019 OSI-Baltimore Community Fellow Ana Temple Rodney one of “Maryland’s 100 Sheros” during a conference commemorating the the women’s suffrage movement today. Rodney had a health crisis while navigating the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after the birth of her son in 2014 and subsequently started a healing circle […]

This Monday, August 31st is International #OverdoseAwarenessDay and OSI, the Baltimore City Health Department, and other local organizations will be hosting events to raise awareness throughout the next week. On Thursday at 11am the Health Department will host a conversation with Westside YO! on youth and opioids. On Friday at 10:30am, Scott Nolen, director of […]

This month in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Justin Berk wrote about his experiences treating patients in the Projects Connections at Reentry (PCARE) van, which is parked (illegally, Dr. Berk notes) outside of the Baltimore City Jail every day. OSI provides support for the Behavioral Health Leadership Institute to run the project, […]

The OSI-supported People’s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland has been working to make policy recommendations to change various laws that unnecessarily criminalize a wide range of behavior. There are five workgroups: drug police, sex work, homelessness, poverty, and youth. The Commission encourages all Marylanders to complete this *brief* survey to give some feedback on what kind of […]

Last night, Karen Webber, director of OSI’s Education and Youth Development program, joined the Truth and Healing Conversation series, hosted by Councilman Zeke Cohen and Coppin State University Professor Dr. Melissa Buckley. The topic of the episode, also featuring author and Robin Hood Foundation CEO Wes Moore, was “Investing in Change: The Role of Philanthropy.” […]

On Thursday, Kendra Marsh, Chair of the Youth Committee of the Peoples’ Commission to Decriminalize Maryland testified at a meeting of the House of Delegates’ Workgroup to Address Police Reform and Accountability in Maryland, chaired by Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary. “I believe this is a moment in which we can tear down the power of police […]

On Wednesday, August 12, Karen Webber, director of OSI’s Education and Youth Development program, and Wes Moore, author and CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, join Councilman Zeke Cohen’s “Truth and Healing” conversation series, hosted by and Healing City Baltimore. This topic for this, the seventh episode in the series, is “Investing in Change: The […]

OSI-Baltimore board member Alicia Wilson is featured on the latest episode of Center Maryland’s podcast, The Conference Call with Damian O’Doherty, talking about her experiences as a community advocate, the lifelong influence of her mentor, and her work as the “connective tissue” between the Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Wilson, the Vice […]

Yesterday, the People’s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland held its first statewide public meeting, bringing together advocates and community members from around the state to discuss strategies to achieve the Commission’s mission, “to reduce the disparate impact of the justice system on youth and adults who have been historically targeted and marginalized by local and state […]