Baltimore Living
Best Nonprofit Organization
Living Classrooms Foundation
Published: September 21, 2011
In an age when governments at all levels are hurting for revenues and cutting programs and services, others must pick up the necessary slack. Quietly but effectively, Living Classrooms Foundation has been doing exactly that in Baltimore for years. From its origins more than a quarter-century ago, when it built and operated a single boat, the Lady Maryland, to educate and train at-risk youngsters, it has grown into a job-training, educational, neighborhood-revitalization, and maritime-tourism powerhouse. According to its own economic-impact analysis, the foundation “generates nearly $120 million in annual output in Maryland each year and supports over 1,820 full-time jobs.” Its programs provide crucial relief to the city’s overburdened, resource-starved public-schools and recreation-center systems; help usher ex-offenders into fruitful lives; work to prevent violence before it happens; train youngsters and young adults for life-sustaining careers; work to renovate and restore ailing buildings in deteriorated neighborhoods; maintain Baltimore’s maritime heritage; and bolster the dynamism of the city’s crucial tourism sector. It has stepped in where government has had to withdraw, and its continued success is likely to become even more necessary as Baltimore’s hard times persist in the years to come.
To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.
Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.
