This January, the Foundation was thrilled to launch a new cohort of grantees for the Howard County Racial Equity Collaborative. Over the next several years, participating organizations – which were selected through a competitive grants process – will gather monthly for intensive racial equity training, coaching and organizational development to help them better advance equity and fight systemic racism in Howard County. They will also collaborate on a joint equity-related policy campaign and build power to advance racial equity issues that matter to them and their communities. The new collaborative members and their equity goals are:
- Bridges to Housing Stability. Their focus is to increase affordable housing and end homelessness in Howard County.
- Columbia Housing Center: Their focus is to fight housing segregation and school segregation, as well as to promote affordable housing.
- Springboard Community Services: Their focus is to raise awareness about the impacts of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on students of color, and to promote affordable housing for people of color.
- United Way of Central Maryland: Their focus is to advance equity in affordable childcare, affordable housing and transportation, as well as strengthen their own equity practices within the organization and its grantmaking.
Hear more from each of these grantees in this video about who they are, what racial equity means to them, and what they hope to learn through participating in the collaborative.
The Horizon Foundation is excited to work with all of these grantees and to help advance equity in their chosen areas of housing, childcare and transportation – all important social determinants of health.
Wondering how things went with our previous cohort of the equity collaborative? Check out this case study about how the African American Community Roundtable, Association of Community Services, Equity4HC, HopeWorks and the Howard County Chinese School worked together to successfully advocate for changes to Howard County Public School System’s Policy 1080 in order to tackle barriers to educational equity.
