Family League of Baltimore
Making Connections Improving Lives
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
In fulfilling its mission, Family League recognizes this context and requires consideration of the systemic challenges impacting its efforts to improve health and to eliminate the disparities in its mandated areas of accountability. Working in tandem with the inequity is the reality that many of the children and families living in hyper-segregated communities have been marginalized and disempowered, with their voices not always being heard.14 The knowledge of the lived experience of families across the City, but especially in these redlined communities, is critical to both understanding the key issues and fashioning effective and efficient supporting programs and structures to achieve desired outcomes for children, families, and communities. The fulfilling of Family League’s vision and mission would be made more likely by hearing these voices.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
B'More for Healthy Babies
B’more for Healthy Babies (BHB) is a citywide initiative to reduce infant mortality and improve birth outcomes. BHB is by the Baltimore City Health Department, with Family League serving as one of the lead implementing partners. Up until 2009, the year BHB was launched, Baltimore had the fourth-highest infant mortality rate in the U.S. Moreover, there was a significant disparity in infant mortality rates between African American infants and Caucasian infants. BHB uses a life-course approach and works at the policy, service, community, and individual levels to reduce disparities in birth outcomes. Through literature reviews and formative research, eleven high-impact service areas were identified as most likely to improve outcomes.
Food Access
Too many Baltimore children and families lack access to the affordable and nutritious food they need to grow, thrive and succeed. To make sure young people are receiving nourishing meals each day, Family League has focused its nutrition work on reaching children wherever they are: at home, in school, after school and during the summer.
Family League is a sponsor of several federal food programs for children, including an innovative Mobile Meals program for summer meals in underserved neighborhoods. In addition, Family League is a leading partner in the Baltimore Partnership to End Childhood Hunger, an initiative the Mayor's Office convened to engage state and local agencies as well as community leaders, elected officials, and other non-profit organizations in concerted strategies to eradicate childhood hunger and increase participation in federal nutrition assistance programs.
Baltimore Community Schools Strategy
Community Schools are a place and a set of strategic partnerships among a school and other community resources that promote student achievement, positive conditions for learning, and the well-being of families and communities. A quality academic program, while necessary, is not sufficient. Community Schools work to reduce the barriers to success for students and families by layering critical supports into a school building, creating one seamless access point. For example, Community Schools provide high-quality afterschool activities, health check-ups, mental health counseling, financial counseling for parents, and family stabilization services that keep a family intact and prevent children from entering the child welfare system. Community Schools transform a school into a hub of integrated service delivery.
Cherry Hill Community Food Strategy
Cherry Hill is a neighborhood in south Baltimore that qualifies as a Healthy Food Priority Area. Cherry Hill’s location makes it historically isolated from other Baltimore neighborhoods. The Cherry Hill community “was established in the late 1940s [by] the Housing Authority of Baltimore City.” The NAACP, Urban League, and many others protested “placing [African Americans] in Cherry Hill due to unsuitable environmental conditions including: the presence of industrial plants, polluted water, environmental hazards, and the presence of the city incinerator. [This] was also a less than ideal location due to its isolation from other communities and the limited land for future expansion based on the waterfront boundaries.” Despite the protests, Cherry Hill development moved forward. As with many communities in Baltimore, past discriminatory housing practices have resulted in Cherry Hill experiencing inequitable access to resources and opportunities. Such systemic resource gaps have contributed to Cherry Hill being below the city average in average healthy food availability, life expectancy, median household income, and other measures of community health.
Family League’s work with Cherry Hill has exposed us not only to the needs of the community, but more importantly, to the stakeholders working to further the community’s vision for economic self-sufficiency. A critical partner in this work has been the Black Yield Institute (BYI). BYI was invited to the community to partner with residents around responding to identified needs. BYI has organized leaders and stakeholders to address two major issues in Cherry Hill: (1) a lack of community wealth building opportunities, and (2) limited access to healthy, affordable, and culturally-appropriate foods.
The community-driven planning process has revealed a need for a grocery store, intergenerational cooking and nutrition classes, and an expansion of the existing community garden. BYI and Cherry Hill leaders have been convening stakeholders to explore the transition of Cherry Hill to an agrihood. Agrihoods are “single-family, multi-family or mixed-use communities built with a working farm as a focus.” More than an urban farm, an agrihood is a neighborhood developed with the specific goal of providing instant, easy access to agriculture for everyone who lives there. Agriculture becomes a driver for many of the systems in an agrihood.
Where we work
External reviews

Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our bold goal is to be powered by and in partnership with community, to address inequities in education, health, and economic opportunity through an antiracist lens; to ensure that positive outcomes can be a reality for all Baltimoreans.
Our mission is to work collaboratively to support data-informed, community-driven solutions that align resources to dismantle the systemic barriers which limit the possibilities for children, families and communities.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
As the local management board for the Baltimore City, we are uniquely positioned to bring together a range of community-based organizations, philanthropies, and government agencies across Baltimore. We are guided by our residents' input into locally determined needs that allow us to provide a variety of services such as afterschool and summer programs, meal sites during the school year and summer time, and our Community Schools. We deploy three cross-cutting strategies: (1) We strengthening organizations through financial support, technical assistance, and capacity building; (2) We lead collaborations by bringing together and connecting the most respected advocates to help build an unbreakable safety net; and (3) We influence systems by using data to inform policies and decision making, and support solutions that work.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Family League has a 31 year track record as a funder, capacity builder, and thought partner in Baltimore. Our talented staff members work every day to ensure our community has the necessary resources to thrive. Staff have expertise in myriad topics, including organizational and financial management, strategic planning, data analysis, and equity, and in a host of programmatic arenas, such as youth development and food access. We also have a Board of Directors that represents various sectors within the Baltimore community. These partnerships enable us to tackle the city's complex problems from every angle.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Family League of Baltimore granted upwards of $13 million to more than 60 organizations for 141 projects in 2015, to help fulfill our mission of creating lasting outcomes for children and youth. Examples of our impact include:
* Facilitating the establishment of more than 56 community schools serving over 25,000 students and families. These schools support better attendance and achievement.
* Funding home visiting and other pre-natal programs that helped lower the city's infant mortality rate to the lowest in a decade.
* Co-sponsoring the At-Risk, After-School Snack program, with over 2 million snacks and suppers served to children lacking food security.
* Providing 2,100 hours of professional development and technical assistance to enhance small community-based organizations' capacity and outcomes.
* Family League is committed to partnering with young people to participate in the review and selection process for our small-grant awards program, which supports community-based organizations that offer programming for youth. We are working with community schools and others to identify, recruit, and train youths to review applications and select programs for these awards. About 20 youths between the ages of 15 and 21 participate.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Family League of Baltimore works collaboratively to support data-informed, community-driven solutions that align resources to dismantle the systemic barriers which limit the possibilities for children, families, and communities. We are an intermediary that provide support in the form of grant funding, technical assistance and professional development. This is done with the aim of aiding direct service providers to build their capacity in pursuit of serving families with pregnant women in need of intensive home visits (4X month). These families and children are connected to a medical home and encouraged to comply with a prenatal schedule.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Community meetings/Town halls,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We reallocated resources to provide incorporate substantive and impactful strategies expressed by community in what is needed to address current systemic barriers.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
The request for feedback has left us to be more vulnerable to community, which as a gatekeeping organization is where we should be.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Family League of Baltimore
Board of directorsas of 07/03/2022
Rev. Dr. Terris King
Grace Enterprises
Term: 2018 -
Barry Solomon
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Terris King
Liberty Grace Church of God
Alvin Hathaway
Union Baptist Church
Nancy Blackwell
Accenture
Nicole Earle
Fulton Bank
Andrew Dolloph
Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
Ramsey Harris
PNC Bank
Joshua Sharfstein
Johns Hopkins University - Bloomberg School of Public Health
Lynn Mumma
Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore
Faith Leach
Mayor's Office of Children & Success
Tina Hike-Hubbard
Baltimore City Public Schools
Mary Beth Haller
Baltimore City Health Department
Brandi Stocksdale
Baltimore City Department Social Services
Scott Beal
Maryland Department of Juvenile Services
Demaune Millard
Family League of Baltimore
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/25/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.