Tell your legislators – don’t cut mental health care!
The state budget contains more than $100 million in cuts to mental health – cuts that will especially harm students who need mental health services more than ever. Unless we act now, mental health services will be drastically cut at every level – from screening and early intervention, to treatment, to crisis services.
Now is NOT the time to cut these life-saving services. Tell the Maryland General Assembly to restore mental health funding today!
Let’s pass the For Our Kids Act!
The “For Our Kids Act” would set a 2-cent-per-ounce tax on soda and other sugary drinks – the single largest source of added sugar in children’s diets today. Sugary drink consumption is a major contributor to childhood diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay and the obesity epidemic in Maryland and beyond. The bill would put money back into communities hardest hit by sugary drink-related diseases by funding healthy school meals for all in K-12 and making childcare more affordable for working families.
Tell the Maryland General Assembly help build a brighter, healthier future for Maryland and vote YES on the For Our Kids Act!
Take action for good cause evictions!
The Maryland legislature is considering legislation to prohibit landlords from evicting tenants without good cause. Currently, Maryland is a “no cause” state, meaning that a landlord does not have to provide any justification for lease non-renewals. This leaves renters in a vulnerable position and under a constant threat of displacement.
Good housing and good health are inextricably linked. We must protect working Maryland families from the unchecked power of corporate landlords to evict them from their homes without good cause.
Take action now to tell the Maryland General Assembly to vote YES on HB 709/SB 651!
Our recent statement on DEI
We are dedicated to creating a future where everyone in Howard County and greater Maryland enjoys the benefits of better health, opportunity and justice. Over the past few weeks in light of recent Presidential Executive Orders, we have been asked by many in our community, including our grantees, if our commitment to our new vision and mission might dissipate given the changing environment. Our response is that we remain steadfast and strategic in our efforts.
Head to our website to read our full statement on the Foundation’s commitment to our mission, vision and the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion.
First Thursday – March 6
Thank you to everyone who has been participating in our First Thursdays community conversations! Please join us on March 6 at 10 a.m. at the Horizon Foundation’s office for a guided conversation and connection with your fellow Howard County residents.
This month, we plan to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion. If you have ideas about topics for future discussions, please share them so they can be added to our First Thursday agendas moving forward!
If you would like to join this discussion, please RSVP to our Policy & Community Engagement Director, Jennifer Holland, by Monday, March 3.
Staff Picks & Resources
Check out what we’re reading, watching & learning
- What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World by Prentis Hemphill
- Have We Missed The Message? with Ta-Nehisi Coates (What Now? with Trevor Noah)
- “Goodbye, Morganza” Follows the Legacy of a Black Family’s Property Loss (The New Yorker)
