Program Areas

The Maryland Opportunity Compact uses private sector resources to seed effective strategies that improve lives and reduce the need for last resort public expenditures on efforts such as foster care, juvenile detention, and prison. More

High levels of substance abuse and related crime in Baltimore City are causing a significant deterioration in the quality of life in communities throughout the City. Baltimore City has one of the worst addiction rates in the nation. An estimated 10 percent of city residents or 60,000 people are in need of treatment for drug addiction. Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems funds 7,200 treatment slots which serve 23,000 people annually -- approximately 38 percent of those in need. In recognition that drug addiction is a complex disorder that touches every aspect of an individual’s life and one that can have a devastating impact not only on the individual but on the community as a whole, the Foundation seeks to increase access to substance abuse treatment and supportive services such as housing and job training for the uninsured and drug addicted individuals residing in Baltimore City. The Foundation works to increase the impact and effectiveness of treatment services through cutting edge research and support of innovative service models designed to reach underserved populations.

The Foundation supports programs and initiatives that increase public safety and reduce recidivism with a special focus on initiatives that address the barriers facing the returning ex-offender. A particular emphasis is placed on initiatives that provide transitional housing and the necessary wraparound services to support a successful return to the community.

Areas of interest include:

substance abuse treatment, prevention, and research
support services
prisoner reentry
criminal justice system reform
crime prevention
juvenile justice

Operating as self-help therapeutic communities for homeless men who have histories of chronic substance abuse, two Baltimore Station facilities provide long-term supportive transitional services.

Criminal Justice and Addictions Highlights

Baltimore Station, Inc.
The Baltimore Station, Inc. operates two unique transitional stations for homeless men recovering from addiction. Using innovative strategies to restore quality of life and productivity to the homeless, job training, employment counseling, medical and legal assistance are provided in a safe and supportive environment. These men are given encouragement that promotes their ability to regain self-sufficiency and become a valuable part of society again.

Episcopal Community Services of Maryland/Jericho Reentry Program

Since 2006 Episcopal Community Services of Maryland has implemented the Jericho Reentry Program. This initiative provides case management job placement, training and life skills to 200 ex-offenders being released back into the community. The Abell Foundation has supported transitional housing stipends for participants while engaged in the Jericho Reentry Program.

Gaudenzia Long-term Residential Treatment Facility
Gaudenzia is a long-term residential treatment facility which serves addicted adult men and addicted adult women and their children, and has the medical capacity to serve addicted individuals with HIV/AIDS and those with concurrent mental health disorders.

Expanding their services from emergency services to the Spiritual Recovery Program, a long-term structured residential recovery program, the Helping Up Mission has recently made significant renovations to raise the quality of life for more men in the program.

Helping Up Mission
Helping Up Mission currently owns the entire 1000 block of East Baltimore Street and is using this space to “Build a Community of Hope” for over 300 homeless addicts who want to recover from the despair and pain of poverty and addiction.

Recovery in Community
The Abell Foundation committed $2 million to implement Recovery In Community, a drug treatment initiative that includes a street outreach component, comprehensive case management and follow-up services designed to rehabilitate, find employment, and bring stability to the participant’s lives.

Safe and Sound Campaign for Children/Public Safety Compact

The Abell Foundation awarded a two-year grant to Safe and Sound Campaign for Children's Public Safety Compact that provides expanded drug reatment in the community and community-based case management/reentry services once an ex-offender has been released on parole. The Public Safety Compact model features three tiers of services: in prison, pre-release and community-based. By providing appropriate wraparound services to help prevent relapse or recividism, the Compact may prove to be an effective strategy leading to savings for reinvestment in ongoing support resulting in successful reentries.

Women's Housing Coalition
Founded in 1979, the Women’s Housing Coalition (WHC) has been at the forefront in the development of housing options and services to low-income and homeless women. It opened the first Transitional Housing Program (THP) for women in Baltimore City in 1982 and has been providing comprehensive counseling and case-management services to the homeless and low-income women in its THP program for more than 20 years. Seventy-five percent of the women who have participated in this program have successfully completed it, and have returned to independent living in the community.