News You Can Use

Grant Funds Available for Neighborhood Events

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts recently announced that the Comcast BELIEVE in Your Neighborhood Program grant applications are available.  The grant awards provides funding up to $1,000 to community and neighborhood associations for events.
such as parades, festivals, block parties, fund raisers, concerts, and other special activities.

Friday, February 2, 2007 is the application deadline for events being held through June 2007.  The next deadline is Friday, June 1, 2007 for events being held July through December, 2007.  All applicants must be non-profit organizations.  Associations may request funds for one event per year. Based on response, grants may be limited to first-time applicants or one-time events only.  For groups or events funded in prior years, consideration will be given based on need, previous success or other factors.
           

To get an application visit www.PROMOTIONandARTS.COM or to receive an application in the mail, please call 410-752-8632.

Help to Prevent Foreclosure 
           
In the fall of 2006, the City of Baltimore, non-profit groups, private foundations and lenders established an unprecedented three-year Homeownership Preservation Initiative to greatly reduce the number of home foreclosures in the city. A key aspect of the assistance program directs homeowners, who are having difficulty paying their mortgage, to call 311, the City’s One Call Center.  The foreclosure prevention initiative is sponsored by the newly formed Baltimore Homeownership Preservation Coalition.

Coalition leaders emphasized that foreclosure affects the entire city, hurting the families who lose their homes, the neighborhoods, the mortgage lenders, and the city as a whole because it drives down the value of properties.

When reaching the One Call Center, the caller will be connected to trained non-profit counselors available 24 hours a day to receive assistance and information.  The counselors are trained to set up a plan of action designed to fit each individual homeowner’s financial need. The call-in service is sponsored by the national non-profit Home Ownership Preservation Foundation.  Threatened homeowners will also be referred by the One Call Center to the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, a leading housing support organization in Baltimore.  The St. Ambrose Housing Center is significantly expanding its foreclosure prevention counseling and outreach efforts as part of the Homeownership Preservation Initiative.

Who should call the foreclosure prevention hotline?

• Homeowners struggling with too much debt
• Homeowners living from paycheck to paycheck with no financial cushion
• Homeowners who worry that their mortgage is more than they can afford
• Homeowners who are considering bankruptcy
• Homeowners who have dealt with major life changes in the last year, i.e. disability, divorce, death, lay-off, etc.
• Homeowners who are receiving past due notices or foreclosure documentation from their mortgage company

Baltimore City Health Department Works to Eliminate Lead Poisoning

In January 2007, the Baltimore City Health Department will begin offering home visits to low-income pregnant women to assess for household lead hazards as part of a strategy to eliminate childhood lead poisoning by 2010.  Previously, the Health Department staff visited homes only after a child had been poisoned.  Under the new plan, if a lead risk is found during the home visit, the program will refer eligible parents to legal and financial resources.
           
In Baltimore City, you have the right to rent an apartment free from lead hazards.  Lead abatement assistance and a list of certified contractors are available.  All children between the ages of one and two years old should have their blood tested for lead.

Consider the following to determine if you are at risk for lead poisoning.  Do you or a member of your household:

• work in construction, auto repair, or plumbing?
• live or spend time in an old house that is being renovated?
• use medicine or make-up made with khol or azarcon?
• make stained glass, pottery, or jewelry?
• ever eat paint chips?
• serve food in leaded crystal or pottery?

7th Annual Baltimore City 4-H Youth Expo

On Friday, May 11, 2007, the 7th Annual Baltimore City 4-H Youth Expo will be held at the War Memorial Building from 11:00 am-7:00 pm. The event is a citywide effort that showcases the talents and skills of youth between the ages of 5 and 18. Youth will participate in competitive and non-competitive activities in the areas of entrepreneurship, expressive arts, sciences, theatre arts, athletics, healthy lifestyles, baked goods, clothing construction, horticulture, service learning, and leadership development.

4-H is currnetly the largest youth development organization in the United States. Over 8 million participants from 50 states have been reached, with membership from another 80 countries. 4-H enables youth to have fun and meet new people, while learning new life skills, building self-confidence, learning responsibility, and setting and achieving goals. In Baltimore City, 4-H heavily concentrates on empowering youth to create positive change within their communities.

18th Annual Billie Holiday Vocal Competition

Baltimore's 18th Annual Billie Holiday Vocal Competition is searching for the next singing sensation! The event pays homage to jazz vocal icon Billie Holiday by giving a unique opportunity to talented individuals. New this year, the winner will appear on Sunday, July 22, 2007 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on the stage of the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The competition is open to contestants in Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and Fairfax, Loudon and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia and Adams, Chester, Franklin, and Lancaster counties in Southern Pennsylvania. Applicants should submit the completed application, a $25 application fee, their resume, and a cassette tape or CD of no more than three of their own renditions of jazz favorites including one song previously recorded by Billie Holiday by Friday, April 27, 2007. Materials may be mailed to Baltimore's Billie Holiday Vocal Competition, Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, 7 East Redwood Street, Suite 500, Baltimore, MD 21202. The selected semi-finalists compete for top honors at the 26th Annual Artscape on Saturday, July 21. Admission to the show is free and open to the public. Baltimore's Billie Holiday Vocal Competition is presented by Mayor Sheila Dixon and produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

For more information about Baltimore's Billie Holiday Vocal Competition and to download an application, visit www.artscape.org. To inquire about the audition process or to receive an application by mail, call the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts at 410-752-8632.

Apply Now for Artscape's "The Play's the Thing..."

The Play's the Thing..., Artscape's theater showcase, is seeking all types of performances including one act plays, excerpts of plays, condensed plays, childrens theater, drama, comedy and improvisation. Performers and theater companies in Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C. and Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia as well as Adams, Chester, Franklin, and Lancaster counties in Southern Pennsylvania are eligible to apply. Selected performances receive honorarium of up to $1000 for production and a time slot to perform on one of the three days of the festival at the Baltimore Theater Project at 45 West Preston Street. The festival is free and open to the public. Artscape takes place Friday, July 20 and Saturday, July 21 from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday, July 22 from noon to 8 p.m. centered on the 1200 block of Mount Royal Avenue. Artscape, the mid-Atlantic's celebration of the arts, is presented by Mayor Sheila Dixon and produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.

For more information or to download the application, visit www.artscape.org or call 410-752-8632.

Baltimore Book Festival Celebrates 12 Years of the Written Word

Mark your calendars for the 12th annual Baltimore Book Festival in 2007, the mid-Atlantic's premier celebration of the literary arts. The festival takes place in historic Mount Vernon place located in the 600 block of North Charles Street, on Friday, September 28 from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday September 29 and Sunday, September 30 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. The festival is produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotionn and the Arts.

The Baltimore Book Festival features both nationally known and local authors, poetry readings, children's activities, cookbook demonstrations, live music and more than 100 exhibitors and book sellers. Literary Arts is a major part of our city's history and the Baltimore Book Festival celebrates Baltimore's creative and literary culture. Highlights include an assortment of new activities at the Creative Cafe, Literary Salon, Karibu Books Stage, Children's Bookstore Stage, Food For Thought Stage, CityLit Stage and the Baltimore Theatre Alliance Readers' Theatre Tent.

For an application and more information about the Baltimore Book Festival, call 1-877-BALTIMORE or visit www.baltimorebookfestival.com.