#FUNDRAISING: Register for Maryland Governor’s Grants Conference
As the calendar year unfolds and the fiscal year 2013-2014 appears over the horizon, so too does registration begin for the Maryland Governor’s Grants Conference. This year’s conference will be held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus on Thursday, February 21st. The one-day conference − sponsored by such organizations as the National Grant Management Association, the Grant Professionals Association, and Deloitte − offers plenary talks by leaders in the grant-providing and grant-winning fields, as well as breakout sessions allowing networking and specific assistance for your organization’s needs.
| Category Advocacy, Civics, Conference/Congress, Cross-Post, Event, Events, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, Local/Maryland, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Politics, Public Relations, Resource | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#CIVICS: Nonprofits Should Watch Their Politics On Their Social Networks
As the now-famous comic writer Andy Borowitz has posted on Twitter: “Only a billion more lies until the election.” Not only is it easy to get swept up in the horse-trading, haranguing and name-calling during an election, it’s what you’re supposed to do. We live and thrive in a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” (with the Borowitz addendum: “…which are now called ‘corporations’”). We are supposed to be involved in politics because we are called to be engaged citizens. And some of the most engaged citizens work for charities and nonprofits.
But be careful: your nonprofit’s outreach should remain nonpartisan if you want to keep that nonprofit status.
| Category Blogs, Cause Marketing, Civics, Communications, Community, How-to, Local/Maryland, National/International, Nonprofit, Politics, Public Media, Social Media, Social Networks, Technology for Nonprofits | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Enviro: Time To Plan Your Proposal For The 2012 Baltimore Green Week!
The fine folks at Baltimore Green Works have been putting on Baltimore Green Week for the past eight years, and they are calling for submissions for those individuals and organizations ready to make the ninth one the best yet.
The form required to propose your project, product, booth, or happening is available online, and is due on December 14th. The winning proposals will be announced in mid-January. GreenWeek 2012 will be April 21-28 at Druid Hill Park in northwest Baltimore. Green Week is part of BGW’s ongoing EcoFest.
If you are in need of some guidance, inspiration, or feedback, BGW is sponsoring a Q&A Meeting for 27 September at 6:pm at 2002 Clipper Park Road, 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21211. The meeting is open to anyone even considering submitting a proposal, though GBW asks for an RSVP either to [email protected] or with a call to 410-952-0334.
But if you are not part of a greening organization or company, you can still take part as volunteers for any of the seven days are always wanted.
Check out BGW’s site if you are unfamiliar with it, and mark your calendars for these upcoming events. Finally, to give yourself the good and tasty nourishment needed for this level of community action, look for your local (MD) farmer’s market and support local farmers for the rest of the summer and fall.
| Category Advocacy, Communications, Community, Diet, eNewsletter, Environment, Events, Greening, Health, Local/Maryland, Nonprofit, Urban Farming | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Fundraising: Susan Emfinger, Development Guru, Joins the MKCREATIVE Blog as Contributor
Susan Emfinger
When the folks @MKCREATIVE first asked me to contribute to the MKC Blog, I wondered what I might have to share that would be of value to the blog’s readers, many of whom are in the non-profit (charity) sector. After all, the University sector is, in so many ways, very different from the non-profit or charity sector. Or at least, many people seem to think this is the case.
Then, all of a sudden, and with increasing, visceral clarity, I remembered: I had started my fundraising career in the charity sector, and it was in the charity sector that I had really developed my deep, abiding passion for fundraising (Flashbacks to organizing runs and walks, door-to-door campaigns and sponsorship fundraising across a very rural, four-county geographic area, smack dab in the middle of Michigan, come rain, shine or, as was often the case, snow, sleet and hail. Driving a Ford Festiva, a car which, for those who are of the younger set, a mere 4-cylinders strong, and about the size of a mini-Cooper. The last feat being perhaps the most significant, given the fact that I am nearly 6 feet tall. And… don’t forget the sand for the tires, the boots and the snow shovel in the trunk!) (more…)
| Category Development, Donor Acquisition, Education: General, Fundraising, Grants and Funding, Local/Maryland, Major Gifts, Nonprofit | | Comments Off
Written by: Susan Emfinger
Finance: Tales of New York & Baltimore Budget Shortfalls
Much news has been published concerning the debate over the federal budget for the rest of FY2011 (through October), but the city budgets are the ones that have the most impact for most citizens. While Congresspeople pretend to debate over whether or not Death Panels are in the health-care reform act, urban dwellers want to know if trash will be picked up or if the local public school will have teachers come September.
Baltimore and New York cities are two close to our hearts at MKCREATIVE, and both are working to cover budget shortfalls without gutting services needed to keep them running smoothly. The scales of problems between these cities are different, as are the politics that surround them. How are they faring?
| Category Banking & Finance, Civics, Community, Local/Maryland, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Politics | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Event: Growing Season Kicks Off With GreenFest in Howard County
Though we are still being teased by a spring that has not quite broken the last of winter (at least not in the Chesapeake Bay region), we have entered the early days of the growing season and green festivals throughout the region. MKCREATIVE will be highlighting regional festivals through the spring, summer, and early fall of 2011, and we encourage our readers to contact us at [email protected] with information about such events in your area.
The season gets under way in Howard County – between Baltimore and Washington DC – with its free “GreenFest,” this Saturday, April 2nd from 10:00am to 4:00pm on the campus of Howard County Community College. Though the festival was launched by the county’s administration in 2007 as a hastily-developed local workshop to tie in with Earth Day, it has steadily grown under the care of co-chair Lindsay DeMarzo, Environmental Planner and Sustainability Projects Manager for the Howard County government, into a full-fledged festival in just four years. She took time away from the busy run-up to the festival to speak with us.
| Category Conference/Congress, Environment, Events, Greening, Interview, Local/Maryland, Measurement, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Social Media: Newspaper Abandons Newsprint. Uses Facebook Instead.
Much has been in the news about the role of social media to spark and sustain the revolutions going across the north African/Arabian region. A small irony amidst the bloodshed and tragedy of a tyrant killing his own people is that most Libyans had to revert to overseas 1990s dialup to wield the power of 2010s social media.
Once connected – IF one could connect – Facebook became as much a means to disseminate news to the larger world as it was to reach out to like-minded local activists. In fact, over the last year or so Facebook’s programmers have been developing tools to clarify and simplify the ways Facebook can become a news source. How as FB developed itself to act as a medium to disseminate real news?
| Category Communications, eNewsletter, Facebook, Geo-Location, Local/Maryland, News and Current Affairs, Publications, Social Media, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
The Midterms Are Here! The Midterms Are Here!
Image via Wikipedia
News sources, pundits, entertaining commentators, irritating commentators, restoration rallies, and $3.5 billion in spending have all been leading up to this day. You’ve probably made up your mind and/or cast your votes, or you will be doing both in the next few hours. We want to join in the chorus to Get Out The Vote, and MKCREATIVE recently tweeted the latest video/Facebook/political/future-past parody mashup by MoveOn.org’s CNNBC ‘network’ (Disclaimer: the resulting video implicates you in the fate of nation in 2050 and is not bipartisan). But we realize that we’re likely preaching to the choir. What to do between casting your vote and hearing the analysts telling you what your vote means?
| Category iDevice, Local/Maryland, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Politics, Reviews, Technology, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Media Pundits Scramble To Explain ‘Rally To Restore Sanity/Fear’
Image via Wikipedia
A good deal of e-ink has been posted on the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear this past Saturday, much of it impressed by its size yet unsure what it was for. How it might (not) sway voters leading up to tomorrow’s midterms also has been a running theme in today’s 24-hour news cycle. Our posting today is a brief and small compendium of the conversation about the event. What we hope to see is long-term involvement with issues, any issues.
| Category Community, Conference/Congress, Local/Maryland, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Politics | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Foreclosures Slowly Start Moving Again, Though Distrust Remains
A week or so ago, Bank of America announced it would put a hold on its foreclosure proceedings while it reviewed the processes that moved the foreclosure claims past lawyers, whose signatures were required. Other financial institutes followed suit. The decision came in the midst of growing fears that the foreclosures on tens of thousands of homes had taken place without real human oversight of the paper trail legally required for the process. Today Bank of America announced it would return to the process in at least 23 states, confident that their materials in those states were being properly vetted. How have politicians and neighborhood associations responded to the hold and release?
| Category Affordable Housing, Banking & Finance, Local/Maryland, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Politics | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Maryland Schools Strive To Green Their Lunches
Last week on the blog “Audacious Ideas” (sponsored by the Soros-funded Open Society Institute of Baltimore that the MKCREATIVE blog featured earlier this month) Jill Wrigley wrote about establishing “a garden in every school.” Her ambition is to establish gardens that become fields of learning such cognitive skills as science (chemistry, biology), math (areas, fractions, scales of measurement), art (design, colors), and of course, nutrition.
| Category Community, Greening, Local/Maryland, News and Current Affairs, Urban Farming | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Philanthropy: Baltimore’s Long Tradition Of Civic Philanthropy Unbroken By Great Recession
Baltimore likes to call itself the 'City of Firsts,' which has given it a proud heritage of innovation, civic uplift, and educational creativity. The city has struggled, like so many others on the eastern seaboard and in the upper midwest, with declining industrialization and population shifts to exurbs and to the Sun Belt. And yet, perhaps for the same reasons that such cities have endured such flight, Baltimore has not been ravaged by the housing bubble and Wall Street bailout that have so gravely weakened the economy generally and boom towns in places like Florida and Nevada specifically. One of the striking things about Baltimore, in good times and bad, is its long and deep tradition of civic philanthropy that goes back into nineteenth-century industrialism and continues in twenty-first century online and knowledge-based communities. We would like to celebrate that tradition today.The Peabody Library
Though not a native of the area, George Peabody spent a good deal of his business life in Baltimore, and he showed his appreciation by giving some of his largest philanthropic grants (in money, properties, and educational resources). In his book “All The Money In The World” (Random House, 2007) has this to say about George Peabody: “Even before the Carnegies and Rockefellers became philanthropic legends, there was George Peabody, considered to be the father of modern philanthropy.” Peabody made his wealth in dry goods and cotton at the turn of the nineteenth century, then used that capital to finance railroads in the US and Britain in the middle of that century. He gave the buildings, library, and resources to found the Peabody Library and Musical Institute at Johns Hopkins University, for example. And he sought to improve housing for the working classes around the harbor, whose labor he needed for his overseas shipping interests.
A generation later Johns Hopkins used his fortune made in groceries and dry goods, and then (like Peabody) with the railroads to ensure the foundation of a university that bears his name. His Quaker roots instilled in him a philanthropy based on religious morality, a foundation his father gave him by doing such things as freeing his slaves and asking Johns and his siblings to help work the family farm until debts could be paid.
That tradition of philanthropy in and to Baltimore by the titans of finance carries on today, with the likes of George Soros, about whom we reported earlier this week. Soros’s donations to the Open Society Institute in Baltimore have been in the many millions of dollars and are likely to continue beyond his lifetime. But while the big-splash – nay, gargantuan-splash – donations get the lion’s share of attention, Baltimore has a strong new tradition of micro-donations and giving circles that do not get the attention they deserve.
Paul Sturm recently shined a spotlight on the modern spin to the tradition for BMoreMedia.com:
If manufacturing is the muscle that historically propelled Baltimore’s economy, with higher education providing the brains, then the nonprofit sector –particularly the neighborhood and community-based organizations often operating on a shoestring — has earned its place as the city’s heart and soul. Baltimore and its surrounding region are blessed with an abundance of organizations that make a difference every day in the quality of community living.
Over 10,000 non-profit organizations are registered in the greater Baltimore region, and they employ over 85,500 people, who in turn help tens of thousands with a multiplier effect that is the envy of Austan Goolsbee. Sturm spoke with those who work in the educational, housing, greening, lending/finance, and conflict-resolution sectors, and they all stress not just the breadth of benefits such organizations bring to the city, but the fact that such mega-philanthropic organizations like the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Open Society Institute are based in Baltimore, which act as magnets for other such organizations.
The most recent development, though, is the ‘giving circle’ type of organization that draws like-minded, but not wealthy, micro-philanthropists to pool their contributions and use social media to broaden their reach at almost no cost. Lionel Foster at UrbaniteBaltimore.com ran a story on The Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle at the end of 2007, which is part of a movement that really picked up steam at the turn of the millennium.
The rapid growth of giving circles—most were founded since 2000—may be due to the fact that they allow different combinations of cultures, institutions, and motivations to complement each other. In many instances, giving circles are one of many charitable investment tools offered by a local community foundation. Charitable foundations take their cues from nineteenth-century industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, who was among the first to found one: They have a board of directors and manage large sums of money, which they distribute in the form of grants. Private foundations do not solicit funds themselves; instead, they distribute money on behalf of a person, family, or corporation. Community foundations are trusted with the cash and assets, donated within a person’s lifetime or as part of the estate, of multiple donors to fund projects within a particular geographic area.
Such circles raise thousands, not millions, of dollars, but they can target that money in a wonderfully efficient manner. Moreover, they bring people together who might not otherwise interact, which strengthens the social fabric of the city and keeps people involved in the long-term issues that concern everyone.
Baltimore’s strong tradition of philanthropy is 150 years young, and it has evolved as the city’s inhabitants and their challenges have evolved. Though the image of Baltimore has been tarnished by drugs and crime (real and as relayed by shows like “The Wire”) over the last generation or so, the foundations for regeneration are strong and the renaissance of the city is being driven by activists with deep and not-so-deep pockets. But they all seem to share a first heart-and-soul desire to keep it Charm City.
| Category Affordable Housing, Banking & Finance, Community, Grants and Funding, Greening, Local/Maryland, Nonprofit, Revitalization | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
George Soros Enjoys Close Ties With Charm City
George Soros has made billions – yes Billions- of charitable donations over the years, and he has most recently given over $100 million to Human Rights Watch (HRW) in an effort to encourage its autonomous status. His wealth comes mostly from his work as a co-founder of the Quantum [Hedge] Fund through the 1980s, but he is perhaps best known for “breaking the Bank of England” in mid-September 1997, when his fund saw the overvaluation of the British Pound when the government was wavering about how to integrate with the forthcoming Euro.
His rise came after a horrific childhood in Nazi-occupied Hungary, where his family masked their Jewish heritage well enough that he even became a ‘runner’ for the Nazi-backed government as it rounded up Jewish leaders (Soros states in his biographies that he delivered the government’s affidavits and warned the recipients of what awaited them). The then emigrated to Britain and the US, where he was quick to see key investments and even key weaknesses in the economy. He has lived in the Chesapeake Bay region since the mid-1970s, and many of his philanthropic endeavors have been based in the Baltimore-Washington DC region. How have those billions been put to use in the area?
| Category Banking & Finance, Community, Local/Maryland, News and Current Affairs, Politics, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Baltimore Continues To Revitalize Inner Harbor With Residential Park
The revitalization of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor began in fits and starts as early as the late 1950s by Mayor Thomas J. D’Alesandro, Jr. Though technically a ‘harbor,’ the specific area known as the Inner Harbor was always too shallow for ocean-bound vessels, oven those built in the early nineteenth century. The Inner Harbor thus served as a rump of warehouses and cheap housing for laborers who had to travel a couple of miles east to get to the docks holding the big cargo ships. Almost as soon as the last medium-sized ships stopped coming into the eastern/inner harbor in the late 1950s, work went into finding other uses for the space. The first round of improvements mostly consisted of tearing things down and creating open spaces that could be used when necessary, but hardly grounds (no pun intended) for economic vitality. Rebuilding came in the 1980s, with a focus on tourism and attractions (the National Aquarium, Harbor Place Hotels, a myriad of restaurants, and the Maryland Science Center. Most of this rebuilding was along the eastern rim of the shallow harbor, but housing took a bit longer to enjoy a similar renaissance.
| Category Community, Greening, Local/Maryland, News and Current Affairs, Revitalization | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Possible New Role For Pollution Credits: Lowering Runoff Into The Chesapeake Bay
The idea for a carbon tax to create a carbon credit market seems politically a dead letter in the current economic crisis, but the idea that credits could be traded for those who are able to achieve stated limits on pollution still might have some influence. A micro-economy has been suggested for the Chesapeake Bay region, with pollutant run-off being the currency that might be traded. The Foundation Center gives us access to a report on how such an exchange might be developed, how it might improve conditions in the bay, and perhaps how it could be used successfully to deal with other pollutants.
| Category Climate Change, Greening, Local/Maryland, Politics, Revitalization | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Baltimore Finding Ways To Urban Renewal That Do Not Adversely Dislocate
In so many ways Baltimore spent much of the second half of the twentieth century as a city that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory: A vibrant industrial and trading city with a notable financial sector as well (in the decade after World War II), a city of some 2 million people who enjoyed the second most extensive trolley-car network in the US, a city with a pennant-winning baseball team (Yes, it was that long ago…). But by the late 1960s, the city was riven with racial violence, ‘white flight,’ and the secretly organized dismantling of much of its public transport for the sake of union jobs in a GM plant (now greatly reduced and outside the city). Needless, to say, the Orioles remain comfortably buried in the cellar of the AL East. Fortunately, he most recent efforts to revitalize the city, with the overwhelming input of Johns Hopkins University (disclaimer: the blogger is a graduate of said institution), are drawing support, ever-growing funds, and even praise — all of which deserve our attention.
| Category Affordable Housing, Grants and Funding, Local/Maryland, News and Current Affairs, Politics, Revitalization | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
‘Resilient Baltimore’ Probably Needs Resilient Housing Market
Up in Baltimore City from 22% to 35%
Economists, reporters, politicians, and bloggers have all proclaimed and/or wondered if The Great Recession is over. Our blog has followed some of these statistics and claims at the national level, but today we want to look specifically at the situation in Baltimore and its housing market.
Many (weak) signs suggest bottoms have been found in a number of markets, and perhaps its human nature for us to seek out and accept the good news. As we have previously reported, the mid-Atlantic did not enjoy a stunning housing bubble, and thus did not endure a painful popping of that bubble. According to CNN Money, “In the Maryland and Virginia suburbs around Washington, the restrictions on building are among the most onerous in the entire nation. As a result, only a trickle of new housing is coming on the market, despite the good economy and strong job growth in the Washington area.” So-far-so-good…
| Category Affordable Housing, Community, Local/Maryland, Politics, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Baltimore’s ‘Parks And People’ Plans Organizing Efforts for Block Projects
We wanted to remind you of an informative and important meeting sponsored by Baltimore‘s Parks and People Foundation this May 13th. We tweeted the event a day or so ago, but it is worth a posting here as well. The Parks and People Foundation has been hosting a series of meetings and workshops entitled ‘Community Greens Workshop Series’ meant to get folks engaged at the local and neighborhood level to restore and upkeep green areas and small parks. The meeting on the thirteenth concerns the efforts needed to make such engagement practical and profitable for the community. It is being held at Monroe Street United Methodist Church
400 S. Monroe St., Baltimore City .
Want to do more in your neighborhood but don’t know where to begin? Learn tips for organizing your block project, generating volunteers, and building leadership. Come with questions! Please RSVP to Sarah at 410-448-5662 x128
The keynote speaker is Ellen Burke, Partner at City Life Historic Properties, LLC. She is also Vice President for the Baltimore Community Developers Association and honored as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women in business and philanthropic concerns. She will be discussing some of the tools of communication and community organizing.
She will be joined by Kate Herrod, Director of Community Greens, who will be discussing the value of such projects as alley gating and greening. Baltimore City has a hidden treasure of small green spaces and urban micro-parks (my term). These tend to be off the city administration’s radar (especially during a recession), but are a life-affirming quality in their neighborhoods. Ms. Herrod will offer advice on keeping them green and the community engaged in their upkeep.
Once inspired by what you learn at the workshop, or if you are already inspired but can not make it on the 13th, be sure to check out their Calendar of Events and follow the Foundation on Twitter. MKCREATIVE already follows their good works, and we hope to see you at one of their May meetings.
| Category Community, Education: General, Greening, Local/Maryland, Revitalization | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Baltimore Hosting A Number of Homeownership & Greening Events
The approach of Tax Day can cloud memories of other opportunities, so we wanted to post reminders of a number of upcoming events for the greening of Our Fair City. First off, please do not forget the fun we will have at Druid Hill Park this Saturday, 17 April, from 12:pm to 6:pm. EcoFest hosted by the Baltimore GreenWorks and a myriad of local vendors and greening organizations. The weather prognosis looks good for the weekend, and what a great way to wash away memories of sweating over your 1040?
| Category Affordable Housing, Community, Conference/Congress, Education: General, Greening, Local/Maryland, Politics | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Upcoming Greening Events in Baltimore To Highlight Sustainability Successes
On our entry for 25 March we touted some notable greening projects in New York City, including Annie Novak’s rooftop farm. We also noted opportunities for Baltimore’s citizens to get involved in similar projects. Today we follow on with that call-to-action to draw your attention to a couple of festivals and conferences meant to inspire and educate the Baltimore community to strive for environmental and economic sustainability. We also want to offer kudos to Towson University’s students, staff, and faculty who recycled 140 tons of materials in the fourth annual “RecycleMania” competition held among Maryland’s institutions of higher learning. They far exceeded their goal of 120 tons, itself an expansion over the 114 tons recycled last year. And they did so despite those crippling blizzards in February smack dab in the middle of the competition. (Cue sappy music) Of course, Maryland’s citizenry and environment are the big winners, as schools across the state competed in the 10-week competition.
| Category Automobiles, Climate Change, Community, Conference/Congress, Education: General, Greening, Local/Maryland, Nonprofit, Politics, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Baltimore And Its Home-Seekers Want 1Gigabit Network
Gus G. Sentementes, tech guru at The Baltimore Sun, has recently reported on the efforts of the Greater Baltimore Committee (with the help of Under Armour, Inc.) to lure Google to bring its one-gigabyte-per-second network to Charm City. We reported on Google’s announcement and Request for Proposals about six weeks ago, and our fair city is now in the hunt. The MKCREATIVE blog reported on the many pluses of the project, though one of limited population scope. But here’s hoping… The faster network could help home shoppers find the houses of their dreams that nanosecond as well. If they are savvy about how to search…
| Category Affordable Housing, Community, Local/Maryland, Politics, Revitalization, Technology, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
More Seminars Coming Our Way
- Image by new economics foundation via Flickr
We have gotten still more notices about various seminars in the region pertinent to the greening and mission-based sectors of the economy, so we wanted to continue to share the details on some of the news. The Big Picture remains the opportunity to build networks and gain new skills while the economy might be slowing your daily internal projects.
| Category Community, Conference/Congress, Local/Maryland, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Politics, Technology | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Baltimore non-profits bring change for good in bad economy
The Johns Hopkins University Gazette had a recent article about Hopkins students working with local non-profits as they pursue their degrees, which seems a fine introduction to the good work area non-profit and community groups have accomplished over the last number of months. Though the economy overall remains sluggish, non-profits have been able not only to continue their work but also to draw in (even if temporarily) the underemployed who want to better their communities with their extra time. Let us see some of that in action.
| Category Community, Local/Maryland, Nonprofit, Politics | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#PublicPolicy: Baltimore’s Crisis – Is a Sustainable Resurgence Possible in 2010?
The community/public-service website LiveBaltimore.com recently announced a free workshop entitled “Is Now The Right Time to Buy a Home?” The website then had to announce that the tsnownamis of 2010 have forced postponement. Keep an eye on the site, as LiveBaltimore will soon post the rescheduled event. Which begs the question, IS now the right time?
| Category Affordable Housing, Banking & Finance, Community, Local/Maryland, News and Current Affairs | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Recovery Funds for Green Buildings: Nos.10 & 9 in Our Top Ten List
A week or so ago we posted the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) report on the “Top 10 Ways to Use Recovery Funds for Green Building.” The report outlined ways local and state governments, as well as community organizations and socially-conscious businesses could draw upon the Obama Administration’s recovery package. With the federal government ‘closed’ and snuggling under a thick blanket of snow, we thought this the perfect time to study the 10 Ways in greater detail for our clients and readers. [Paul Schafer, cue the music!] (more…)
| Category Climate Change, Community, Grants and Funding, Greening, Local/Maryland, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD