Grant Recipients
Grant Recipients 2003 – 2026
$1,033,118 to 120 non-profit organizations
2026 Grant Recipients
16 Grants Totaling $66,100
The following is a description of each of the 2026 grants.
ALL4LOVE – $2,500
Roses and Sunflowers Etiquette Program
Founded in 2022, ALL4LOVE Inc. has quickly grown into the largest youth-serving nonprofit in Dorchester County, Maryland. Through three core programs—Next Gen Mentoring, Roses & Sunflowers Etiquette and Leadership Program, and Flag Football League—ALL4LOVE helps young people develop the skills, confidence, and character needed to thrive. Many county youth face economic hardship, family instability, and limited enrichment opportunities, often resulting in low self-confidence, social anxiety, and underdeveloped interpersonal skills. Roses & Sunflowers addresses these needs by connecting middle school girls from Maces Lane, North Dorchester, and South Dorchester Middle Schools with positive female role models and structured personal development experiences. Meeting weekly October through May, participants are guided through the ABCs of personal development—Appearance, Behavior, and Communication—covering etiquette, self-awareness, confidence, and leadership. The program culminates in an annual cotillion ball where participants demonstrate the poise and growth they’ve developed throughout the year. This grant will ensure all participants, regardless of financial circumstances, can fully take part in this milestone celebration.
AWAKEN RECOVERY FOUNDATION – $7,500
Empowering Women in Recovery
Founded in 2019, Awaken Recovery Foundation (ARF) was created to meet the urgent need for safe, supportive recovery housing for Mid-Shore women from all walks of life. Certified by the Maryland Certification of Recovery Residences (MCORR), ARF operates multiple peer-run homes that provide not just shelter, but a healing community where women in recovery can rebuild their lives, establish healthy relationships, and sustain long-term recovery. Their peer-led model empowers women to become mentors, apprentices, and leaders, creating a cycle of hope. ARF’s programs address economic empowerment, health and wellness, peer support and leadership, creative and emotional healing, and transportation. This grant will expand programs that directly confront the barriers women in recovery face: poor health, stigma, unstable employment, and housing. In particular, the grant will help expand the Wise Mind Nutrition platform, which offers app-based coaching, group workshops, and individualized health education to improve wellness and prevent relapse.
CHESTER VALLEY MINISTERS ASSOCIATION – $8,000
Good Neighbor Fund
Chester Valley Ministers Association (CVMA), active since the mid-1980s, is an interfaith network of individuals and community organizations working to improve lives across Kent and northern Queen Anne’s Counties. In partnership with the Samaritan Group, CVMA administers emergency financial assistance to residents in crisis referred by the Kent County Department of Social Services. Through the Good Neighbor Fund, aid is available once per 12-month period and covers essential needs including food, shelter, clothing, medicine co-pays, utilities, short-term housing, and transportation. Funds will provide rental assistance and utility payments to stabilize housing, and up to one week of motel shelter for those without a permanent home. For families facing eviction or homelessness, funds will help offset childcare costs. For those struggling with healthcare expenses, funds will cover medication co-pays and, for the uninsured, sliding-scale clinic fees. This grant will be directed to mothers and children in need.
COMMUNITY MEDIATION UPPER SHORE – $2,500
Parenting Together: Making Collaborative Plans
Community Mediation Upper Shore (CMUS) builds and delivers community-based conflict resolution and peacebuilding services to residents of Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties at no cost. Our vision is sustainable peace and resilience, a community where everyone has the strategies, skills, and support to resolve conflict constructively. Mediation is a voluntary and confidential process for collaborative conversations. It helps families navigate difficult conversations through a clear five-step process. Mediators begin by (1) explaining the mediation process, then (2) listen, reflect, and ask questions to understand each family’s situation. Next, they (3) collaborate with parents to identify the topics they want to address, and (4) brainstorm solutions by drawing on the values and concerns parents have expressed, ensuring any plan genuinely reflects their needs. Finally, mediators (5) draft written agreements in plain language or on court forms, as appropriate. This grant will fund ongoing training and materials for mediators and the families they serve.
COMPASS REGIONAL HOSPICE – $4,500
Children’s Grief Services – Schools/Camp New Dawn
Compass is a fully licensed, independent, nonprofit organization certified by Medicare and the State of Maryland, and accredited by the Joint Commission. In operation since 1985, Compass is a regional provider of hospice, palliative, and grief services in Caroline, Kent, and Queen Anne’s counties. Through its Hope & Healing Center, Compass provides a wide variety of grief support services free of charge or at a nominal fee, including school-based counseling and Camp New Dawn, an annual summer camp for children and families who have experienced loss. The need for youth grief counseling in the community is critical. Mental health support remains chronically overlooked and underfunded. In 2024, Compass provided school-based grief services to 137 local students across K-12, over 60% of whom were female. School-based counseling is a specialized approach that helps students process grief, connect with peers, learn coping strategies, and maintain a sense of connectedness within their school community. Camp New Dawn campers engage in group discussions and creative activities alongside peers who share similar experiences, building resilience and healthy coping skills. This grant supports the costs associated with school-based counseling and Camp New Dawn.
CRITCHLOW ADKIN CHILDREN’S CENTERS – $2,700
Challenge Island: STEAM for Preschool Girls
Critchlow Adkins Children’s Centers (CACC) is licensed and accredited by the Maryland State Department of Education. In operation for 55 years, it provides affordable childcare for children ages 2–12 in a nurturing and enriching environment at five sites in Talbot County. Affordable childcare promotes family stability and helps close the achievement gap between low-income children and their peers. CACC understands that the earliest years of a child’s life lay the foundation for who they will become—how they think, learn, and see themselves in the world. Yet national data shows girls’ confidence and participation in STEAM learning begins declining as early as elementary school. “Challenge Island” — a nationally recognized enrichment program — blends creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork through themed, play-based adventures using everyday materials to introduce math, science, and art concepts. CACC will extend this program into preschool classrooms—focusing on girls—to spark early confidence and curiosity in STEAM. This grant will enable Challenge Island to reach 45 preschool girls annually, many from families with limited access to enrichment opportunities.
FOR ALL SEASONS – $4,000
Table of Hope: Feeding Connection and Building Resilience
Founded in 1986, For All Seasons (FAS) is a community-based Behavioral Health and Rape Crisis Center with a mission to provide therapy, advocacy, education, and psychiatric care in a safe environment that nurtures wellness—and is the region’s largest outpatient behavioral health provider and the only Rape Crisis Center serving the five Mid-Shore counties. FAS provides more than 100,000 services annually to thousands of women, children, and men, serving as a lifeline to survivors of rape, sexual assault, human trafficking, and trauma at seven offices across the five-county region. The Table of Hope project will respond to the growing emotional and economic strain facing Mid-Shore women and girls. Each gathering will bring together 15 pairs of women and girls for an evening of connection. One event will take place in each of three counties, Dorchester, Kent, and Talbot. Participants will share a healthy, prepared meal and receive a grocery gift card to help meet immediate food needs. While they eat, FAS trainers will guide a conversation-based session focused on gratitude, connection, and self-care, drawing on the science of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) that shows how daily acts of connection build resilience within families. Follow-up emails will provide ongoing resources linking them to For All Seasons’ services and educational materials from the Center for Learning, extending the impact beyond the event itself. This grant will help underwrite the Table of Hope gatherings.
GIRL SCOUTS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY – $2,000
Adult Volunteer Leadership Summit
The Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council (GSCB) builds girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. Programming is grounded in four pillars — STEM, Outdoors, Life Skills, and Entrepreneurship — with special emphasis on mental wellness, diversity and inclusion, and leadership development. GSCB supports more than 3,000 adult volunteers who deliver programs to more than 4,000 girls in grades K-12 across the Delmarva Peninsula. These volunteers are the foundation of Girl Scouts — mentors who lead troops, plan activities, and ensure girls have access to life-changing experiences. Research confirms the mutual benefit: 90% of troop leaders report making a difference in girls’ lives, 83% gain renewed purpose, and 74% become more involved in their communities. Yet many volunteers — particularly in rural areas — lack access to formal leadership training due to travel barriers and limited resources. GSCB’s Adult Volunteer Leadership Summit addresses this gap. The weekend-long professional development conference will bring together approximately 200 female volunteer leaders at Camp Todd in Denton, featuring immersive workshops, networking, and a council overview designed to strengthen confidence, leadership, and community. This grant will help underwrite operational support including rentals, materials, meals, and logistics.
GIRLS ON THE RUN OF THE GREATER CHESAPEAKE – $3,500
Increasing Positive After-School Programming
Girls on the Run of the Greater Chesapeake (GOTRGC) uses a research-based, physical activity curriculum to address the social and emotional needs of girls in grades 3-8, teaching life skills including positive self-talk, managing emotions effectively, conflict resolution, goal setting, and gratitude. Social-emotional learning (SEL) has been shown to provide short- and long-term benefits to children such as positive social behavior, reduced emotional stress, fewer behavioral problems, and improved academic outcomes. GOTRGC reaches 2,500 girls across 13 Maryland counties, including 10 schools in 5 Mid-Shore counties. Held each spring and fall, GOTRGC underscores the vital connection between physical and emotional health, empowering adolescent girls to build lasting healthy physical habits. The program culminates in a community service project and a celebratory, non-competitive 5K event—providing the framework for confidence through accomplishment. On the Mid-Shore, 70% of participants require financial aid. This grant will underwrite registration fees for those girls to attend.
HORIZONS OF THE KENT AND QUEEN ANNE’S – $5,000
Making Summer Learning More Equitable
Horizons of Kent and Queen Anne’s is a tuition-free academic and enrichment program serving under-resourced PreK–8th grade students at three sites—The Gunston School, The Kent School, and Washington College—in Kent and Queen Anne’s counties. Its mission is to advance educational equity and prevent summer learning loss for students who lack access to out-of-school academic support and enrichment. Horizons students grow up in low-income, rural neighborhoods, attend Title I schools, and face obstacles that can trap them in a cycle of poverty. In a region where transportation is a significant barrier, Horizons provides free daily round-trip transportation to each site—making attendance possible for families who would otherwise have no way to participate. Once enrolled, students are encouraged to return each year through 8th grade, gaining the equivalent of one additional year of learning over nine summers. Professional teachers deliver a project-based, hands-on curriculum focused on the whole child. Mornings begin with breakfast, social-emotional lessons, and two hours of academic instruction in reading and math. Afternoons bring enrichment activities including riding therapy, swimming, sailing, cooking and nutrition lessons, chess, and field trips. This grant will help underwrite transportation costs.
PINE STRET COMMITTEE – $2,500
Girls Summer Enrichment Program: Expanding Horizons
The Empowerment Center is a nonprofit, multi-use community center in the Pine Street Historic District in Cambridge offering educational, social, and recreational activities for the entire community. It serves children from Dorchester County’s most under-resourced families, where girls in particular face significant barriers to educational and personal success and are performing below grade level in reading and mathematics. These girls benefit greatly from targeted academic interventions that help them maintain and improve their performance, build confidence, and cultivate a love of learning. The Summer Enrichment Program runs nine weeks for 45 boys and girls, four days a week, eight hours a day. It provides a safe, nurturing place, breakfast, lunch, and a snack, tutoring to maintain or improve academic levels, and the opportunity to expand experiences. Many of the students have never traveled outside Dorchester County or experienced cultural institutions such as museums, theaters, or science centers. To address this, the program will include several field trips during the summer. This grant will defray the girls’ portion of field trip expenses, providing exposure to new environments that empower them to envision and pursue brighter futures for themselves and their community.
TALBOT INTERFAITH SHELTER – $5,000
Bridge to Stability: Child Care Access Program
Talbot Interfaith Shelter (TIS) is dedicated to addressing homelessness on Maryland’s Mid-Shore by providing Shelter, Stability, Support, and a path to Success for families and individuals in need. Serving 60–70 individuals, including 20–25 children, each year, TIS empowers guests to achieve self-sufficiency by addressing barriers including unemployment, health challenges, and trauma through case management, financial education, healthcare access, and counseling. The S4 Program guides participants through structured milestones toward financial stability, sustainable housing, and lasting independence. Homelessness among families is a growing crisis, with an increasing number of parents, primarily single mothers, and their children relying on shelters as they work toward stable housing. Through the S4 Program, TIS will secure no-cost, professionally staffed childcare for children living in its shelter and transitional housing, freeing parents to focus on work and personal development while their children receive consistent care and support. This grant will help close a critical service gap, empowering homeless families to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness.
TALBOT MENTORS – $3,000
Afterschool Tutoring Program
Talbot Mentors (TM) connects disadvantaged and at-risk youth, ages 6 to 21, with caring adult community members for long-term, one-on-one mentoring relationships. A majority of mentees are racial minorities, of whom nearly 60% qualify for free or reduced school meals, and live in Maryland’s Qualified Opportunity Zones where systemic inequities have historically limited opportunity. In 2020, Talbot Mentors merged with Mid-Shore Scholars, a nonprofit helping first-generation students navigate the path from high school to higher education. In partnership with Washington College, trained college students travel to Easton twice a week to provide in-person tutoring in English and Language Arts, Math, Science, and Spanish, serving mentees and Scholars at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Tutors are compensated competitively based on subject expertise and receive formal training from both institutions. Each student receives up to four hours of individualized instruction per week.
Results are measurable: improved GPAs, stronger academic confidence, and meaningful progress closing COVID-era learning gaps. This grant will support tutoring expenses for the 2026-2027 school year.
TIDES OF GRACE – $5,000
Glow Up Boutique
Tides of Grace, based in Centreville, began as a small grassroots effort collecting clothing and essential items for local families and has expanded into a year-round outreach organization providing both emergency resources and celebratory experiences to an average of 400 individuals each month across Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline, and Kent Counties. Many youth and families face financial barriers that prevent them from fully participating in milestone experiences such as prom, homecoming, or formal community events. The cost of formalwear—often hundreds of dollars for a dress or suit, shoes, and accessories—places these experiences far out of reach for many families already struggling to meet basic needs such as food, housing, and transportation. The Glow Up Boutique was created to remove these barriers by offering a free, boutique-style shopping experience where anyone can select a formal dress or suit—no questions asked. The boutique features hundreds of name-brand items in all sizes, matching shoes and accessories, private dressing rooms, sparkling cider, desserts, and a photo area for when participants “say yes to the dress” or suit. The Glow Up Boutique ensures that no young person has to miss life’s special moments because of their circumstances, allowing them to feel valued, confident, and celebrated. Grant funds will underwrite staging costs associated with the event.
TILGHMAN AREA YOUTH ASSOCIATION – $4,400
Girls Who Give: Building Leadership and Community through Service
The Tilghman Area Youth Association (TAYA) mission is to enrich the lives of Tilghman youth by connecting them to each other, their families, and their community. Tilghman After School Kids (TASK) provides structured afterschool enrichment opportunities that focus on academics, arts, athletics, STEM, and social-emotional skill building. While TASK serves all youth, girls in the community face distinct social and emotional challenges. At Tilghman Elementary School, over 60% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and economic stress can impact girls’ mental health, academic focus, and self-esteem, making targeted support especially important. TASK’s 9-week enrichment program, “Girls Who Give”, seeks to address these issues by empowering girls to discover their voices, build self-confidence, and see themselves as leaders who make a difference. The class will focus on leadership, empathy, and self-expression. Girls will explore themes such as teamwork, goal setting, communication, and giving back. The program will culminate in a group-led community service project, to foster ownership, creativity, and civic pride. Grant funds will underwrite participant fees, staff stipends, guest speakers, and program supplies, ensuring no girl is excluded due to cost.
YMCA OF THE CHESAPEAKE – $4,000
Strong & Steady: Women’s Parkinson’s at the YMCA
The YMCA of the Chesapeake is a nonprofit, cause-driven organization dedicated to strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Since 1857, the Y has been a trusted partner in addressing the most pressing needs across the Shore, including Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties. As part of its mission, the Y is deeply committed to helping people live their healthiest lives and reach their full potential in mind, body, and spirit, recognizing that health is shaped by interconnected social, environmental, and biological factors. One area where this commitment is especially vital is in supporting individuals living with Parkinson’s disease — a focus that has afforded Mid-Shore women safe, effective, and evidence-based programs tailored to their needs. The Y currently offers Parkinson’s programming at the Easton, Kent, and Queen Anne’s locations, with Caroline and Dorchester residents served at the Talbot and Queen Anne’s locations. Classes include Rock Steady Boxing, Pedaling for Parkinson’s, and Aqua PD, all offered completely free of charge, with no YMCA membership required. Women currently comprise 30% of program participants. This grant will support program costs, enabling the YMCA to expand its Parkinson’s programming and serve more women across the region.
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