Johns Hopkins Neighborhood Fund, $1 million and counting

The Johns Hopkins Neighborhood Fund recently passed the milestone of awarding $1 million to local nonprofit organizations.

Part of the university's United Way of Central Maryland campaign, the Neighborhood Fund supports nonprofit organizations that serve communities located near a Johns Hopkins campus and that are associated with Johns Hopkins through institutional, employee, retiree, or student involvement.

Pledge designations provide one-year grants to local organizations trying to build stronger communities. Since the fund's inception in 2007, 101 programs have received grants to target such needs as community revitalization, education, employment, health, and public safety.

A committee representing a cross section of Johns Hopkins employees reviews the proposals and awards grants of up to $15,000.

In the most recent funding cycle, 22 programs received grants totaling $253,220. Among the recipients were the Better Waverly Community Organization, whose program coordinator works with more than 30 volunteers to provide afterschool art and music education to 70 children; the Helping Up Mission, which will purchase food for men participating in a spiritual recovery program to overcome addiction and re-establish healthy relationships, work ethic, and patterns of thinking; and the International Rescue Committee, which will purchase materials and provide an interpreter for workshops so that pregnant refugee women have a healthy birth experience.

United Way pledges designated to the Neighborhood Fund strengthen the relationship between Johns Hopkins and the community, and help create stronger neighborhoods.

The Johns Hopkins United Way of Central Maryland 2013 campaign will launch in October.