T. Rowe Price Foundation offers $2.7 million in grants for city neighborhoods

The T. Rowe Price Foundation will distribute $2.7 million in grants under an ambitious, four-year initiative to boost educational, cultural and financial opportunities for residents of underserved city neighborhoods.

The grants, announced Thursday, more than double the $1.3 million the foundation pledged in 2016 for West Baltimore neighborhoods. That earlier effort, planned in the wake of the April 2015 riots sparked by the death of Freddie Gray of injuries suffered while in police custody, helped make fresh produce more accessible to residents and invested in after-school programs, soup kitchens and financial literacy programs.

For the current round, the Baltimore-based money management firm's philanthropic foundation decided to focus citywide on strengthening the creative economy through art and cultural experiences, better linking city schools with community resources and strengthening households’ financial acumen. The group held hundreds of meetings with community members and leaders and others to determine neighborhoods’ most pressing needs and challenges.

“T. Rowe has been in Baltimore for over 80 years and is committed to the city,” said John Brothers, the foundation’s president. “We see that Baltimore has a lot of beauty, grit and grace. … We can enhance the best assets and knock down the barriers that are preventing Baltimore from realizing its best self.”

Click here to read the full article.

Source: Baltimore Sun