Congressman Kweisi Mfume has submitted funding requests for important community projects in the 7th Congressional District of Maryland to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations (“Appropriations Committee”).
Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee and U.S. House of Representatives (the “U.S. House”), each Member may request funding for up to 15 projects in their community for fiscal year 2026 – although only a handful may actually be funded. Projects are restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive funding. Additional information on the reforms governing Community Project Funding is available here.
In compliance with U.S. House Rules and Appropriations Committee requirements, Congressman Mfume has certified that he, his spouse, and his immediate family have no financial interest in any of the projects he has requested. Selected fiscal year 2026 Community Project Funding requests are listed alphabetically by the project sponsor’s name.
Project Sponsor: City of Baltimore
Project Name: 911 Diversion Expansion
Project Location: 2700 Rayner Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, 21216
Requested Amount: $1,184,000
Project Description: The $1,184,000 funding will be used to support the expansion of Baltimore’s 911 diversion program to include non-behavioral health call types. Baltimore’s 911 Behavioral Health Diversion program, housed within the city’s emergency response network and implemented in partnership with the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore City Fire Department, Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore, and Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc., currently focuses specifically on suicidal ideation and threat calls, with plans to add other behavioral health call types. Since its launch as a pilot in June 2021, the diversion program has resolved more than 600 calls and activated over 187 mobile crisis team responses. Expansion beyond behavioral health to include a wider range of non-violent, non-criminal calls is key toward further reducing dependency on police and empowering professional community responders who are trained to meet residents’ needs. Many 911 calls do not involve crimes, violence, or urgent medical needs. Such calls, which are often not best suited for police/fire/EMS response, are potentially appropriate for diversion to alternative responders equipped to most effectively resolve immediate issues as well as provide connections to needed services for ongoing support. By reducing unnecessary law enforcement encounters, 911 diversion improves police-community relations while increasing patrol officers’ capacity to deter and solve crimes. Baltimore City’s existing behavioral health diversion program provides a successful blueprint for expansion, with applicable intake and dispatch protocols already in place. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: Maryland Economic Development Corporation
Project Name: Baltimore Harbor Public Facility Improvements
Project Location: 201 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202
Requested Amount: $4,000,000
Project Description: The funding requested will support the renovation and reconstruction of Pier One on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor (the “Phase I Pier”) to the Baltimore Harbor Public Facility Improvements project. The project supports activities as authorized under 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(2) including the planning, design, construction, repair, renovation reconstruction, and site improvements of the public promenade which guarantees the publics access to Baltimore's waterfront, and surrounding area generally known as Inner Harbor Park. The Project is essential to the ongoing vitality of downtown Baltimore, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and the State of Maryland. Pier One is home to the Historic Ships in Baltimore Museum and the USS Constellation, the last all-sail ship commissioned by the Navy, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1963. The USS Constellation is the only remaining sloop-of-war from the Civil War according to the U.S. Park Service. Pier One has reached the end of its useful life and requires reconstruction in order to continue providing visitor access to the USS Constellation, and the Inner Harbor waterfront more generally. Designs enabling Phase I Pier construction activities are anticipated to be complete in 2026 with an anticipated commencement of construction of in 2027. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: Roca, Inc.
Project Name: Building Skills to Support Community Safety
Project Location: 880 Park Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, 21201
Requested Amount: $1,032,551
Project Description: The $1,032,551 in funding would allow Roca to support communities plagued by violence in two ways. First, they work with young people, teaching life-saving emotional regulation skills. And second, they work with police, probation, and parole officers to address challenges that often result from working in high-pressure, violent environments. Rewire CBT is a skill-based approach to cognitive behavioral theory (not therapy) designed to help young people at the center of urban violence learn and practice the life-saving skills they need to change their negative behaviors and increasingly make healthier choices. Rewire is designed to be implemented by the individuals in highest contact with the most at-risk young people including streetworkers, youth workers, community outreach workers, and systems-based workers like probation officers and case managers. At its core, Rewire is about helping young people build critical skills for increased emotional regulation and choice, and to be able to use these skills well beyond their engagement with Roca or any program. Roca also created an abbreviated version of Rewire, known as Rewire4, to support the needs of police and correctional officers. Evidence suggests that Rewire4 improves emotional regulation in officers, especially in crisis or stressful situations, helping them both in their work and in their own lives. Of the 451 young men Roca Baltimore served in 2024, 98% demonstrated positive cognitive or behavioral outcomes and 92% had no incarcerations for new charges. Based on a study conducted by Abt Global in 2024, the three-year incarceration rate for young men enrolled in our Baltimore site between 2019 and 2021 was 19% lower than their peers in the community. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: National Center of Institutions and Alternatives Inc.
Project Name: Career Empowerment for Second-Chance Baltimore Citizens
Project Location: 310 South Eden Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21231
Requested Amount: $500,000
Project Description: The $500,000 in funding will provide training, wraparound services, employment counseling and retention support for 50 Baltimore residents, preventing recidivism by preparing formerly incarcerated people for vocational careers, with skills training, industry certifications and employment. The Vocational Training Center (VTC) offers transformational opportunities to unemployed and under-employed residents of Baltimore City each year, many of whom are returning citizens. During the 17-week course, participants train in their choice of three high-demand fields: Automotive Mechanics, Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and HVAC/R, gaining marketable skills and earning nationally recognized certifications. Vocational skills training, combined with the VTC’s comprehensive barrier mitigation services, opens a door for participants to unlock their potential. The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the District Court Re-Entry Project are important VTC partners in ensuring the success of our re-entry participants. Increased opportunities for gainful employment are key for reducing crime, poverty and recidivism in Baltimore City. With an average starting wage of $20 per hour, VTC alumni move from dependency on public assistance to knowing the dignity of self-reliance. The VTC demonstrates a substantial return on investment with immediate impact: Funding 50 program participants, with a 75% employment rate, will create $3,120,000 in new taxable wages per year, and with it, an economic boost for the District. By addressing barriers and providing robust support, the VTC helps returning citizens foster a sense of purpose. With skills and credentials in hand, they can secure meaningful work, build a hopeful future and strengthen their communities. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: Center for Hope Inc.
Project Name: Center for Hope Expansion of Trauma and Victim Services
Project Location: 5400 Preakness Way, Baltimore, Maryland, 21215
Requested Amount: $800,000
Project Description: The Center for Hope houses a network of violence intervention and prevention programs in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, including crisis intervention, counseling, case management, advocacy and support services, forensic interviews and medical exams, mediation, safety planning, emergency shelter, and hospital bed-side visits. The $800,000 funding will enable Center for Hope personnel to assess capacity and scale up its triage team, build a Baltimore-wide referral network, and coordinate a centralized intake and referral system. More specifically, this project will support the collective efforts of health systems in the Baltimore region to address the needs of their patients by: 1. Launching a 24-hour answer line to centralize intake and streamline a referral process for both internal programs and external resources located within partner organizations; 2. Expanding the Center for Hope training and outreach team to continuously build the Baltimore-wide referral network; and 3. Expanding the Center for Hope program evaluation team, to ensure the effectiveness of service delivery. As demand increases for programs to address trauma induced by violence, mental health concerns, and healthy coping mechanisms within all of health care in Baltimore, Center for Hope is uniquely positioned to meet the personal safety needs of the community by offering assistance with transportation, housing, utilities, and food insecurity needs. With programs focused on intimate partner violence, child abuse and exploitation, elder justice, human trafficking, and community gun violence, Center for Hope helps over 7,000 clients annually. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: B-360 Baltimore Inc.
Project Name: Community Led Diversion Through Workforce and Skills Training
Project Location: 301 Light Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: This $1,000,000 in funding will support the diversion of Baltimore City participants with current and pending offenses of ages 18-34 into programming to gain soft and transferable skills in areas like welding, soldiering, machine learning, mechanics and electricians for in demand career opportunities. B-360 will reduce the rate of violent offenders, improve public safety and increase economic mobility. For school age youth, B-360 provides academic support, tutoring, mentoring, site visits/internships with industry partners and overall enrichment to propel positive and healthy lifestyles negative of violence. Additionally B-360's partnership with the Department of Juvenile Services will allow the organization to serve as "credible messengers" to justice involved youth who want or need alternatives to incarceration. The city has seen record decline in community violence/homicides, which the Mayor attributes to community organizations providing programming like B-360. Baltimore is on the rise with over 120,000 in demand STEM careers that do not require a 4 year degree that will move communities out of poverty and into wealth; many of those careers are in skills labor. B-360 meets people where they are, and engages youth by teaching STEM in terms of dirt bikes, like the physics behind popping a wheelie, the mechanics of filing your dirt bike, the manufacturing and 3D printing of dirt bike pieces, welding of parts, soldering, and more. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: Baltimore Police Department
Project Name: Computer Aided Dispatch Replacement
Project Location: 601 East Fayette Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202
Requested Amount: $3,700,000
Project Description: The $3,700,000 in funds will be used towards the replacement of the City’s aging Computer-Aided Dispatch System that is nearly twenty years old. This system is used by fire, police, and other city agencies to prioritize and record calls as an emergency or non-emergency incident. The computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system for Baltimore City is utilized by Baltimore Police Department (BPD) and Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) dispatchers; as well as 911 specialists, the Baltimore City Police Telephone Report Unit (TRU) and the Department of Public Works (DPW). Additionally, this system supports identifying the status and location of responders in the field, potential hazardous locations, and partnering with external agencies or resources to effectively support public safety responses to needs of constituents. However, the current CAD system for Baltimore City is outdated, which has created obstacles with launching Next Generation 911 applications and daily operations for all entities using the system. CAD Enhancements are no longer being developed by the manufacturer and the manufacturer plans to announce a schedule for discontinuing the software, foreshadowing future disruptions in daily operations and interoperability. In FY2024, Baltimore City Information and Technology migrated from the current analog infrastructure to a digital internet protocol-based infrastructure. This migration project goal is to provide a foundation to comply with the standards for Next Generation 911 (NG911). It is imperative and critical by technology standards that the current CAD environment is replaced to comply with NG911 standards. The current developmental status of the project to replace the CAD software is in the planning and preparation phase. The needs assessment has been completed and the request for proposals is complete and ready to initiate through the procurement process when funds are secured. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: City of Baltimore
Project Name: Group Violence Reduction Strategy Expansion
Project Location: 100 North Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202
Requested Amount: $1,184,000
Project Description: The $1,184,000 in funding will support the Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) Expansion, an evidence-based initiative designed to reduce gun violence. GVRS is a partnership of community, local, state and federal partners, and service providers that is managed by the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. The City of Baltimore previously piloted the strategy in the Western District and the requested funding will help support the expansion of strategy services across the City. The strategy works by in identifying and engaging directly with those in violent social networks (hereafter groups) most intimately involved in gun violence, and leveraging an intentional collaboration between law enforcement, social services, and community members, who collectively co-sign and deliver an anti-violence message to stop the shooting, offer resources to help break away from groups, and hold accountable those who refuse to disengage in a life of violence. Successful implementations of GVRS in the United States have resulted in a 30 – 60 percent reduction in homicides. Recent data collected by the University of Pennsylvania’s Crime and Justice Policy lab (CJP), for example, notes a ~25% reduction in gun violence during the 1st 18 months of GVRS implementation in the piloted Western District; the equivalent of effecting the lives of 60 community members. When implemented with fidelity, GVRS can achieve what few other strategies can: reducing homicides and non-fatal shootings, while simultaneously minimizing the criminal justice footprint and empowering communities in the co- production of public safety. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: Johns Hopkins University
Project Name: JHU Safe Storage
Project Location: 1101 East 33rd Street, Suite B301, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218
Requested Amount: $245,000
Project Description: The $245,000 in funding would support a Johns Hopkins University effort, in partnership with the University of Maryland Baltimore and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, to distribute devices to ensure the safe storage of firearms in Baltimore City. Through federally-funded research, Johns Hopkins has developed best practices in screening and distributing secure devices to patients in the Johns Hopkins Health System with access to firearms to ensure injury and accident are avoided. Currently, the research and distribution occurs at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview, and Johns Hopkins Children's Center, with the potential for more clinical sites. Firearms were the leading cause of death of children ages 1-17 in the most recent CDC data. The Center for Gun Violence Solutions notes that more than half of all U.S. gun owners store their firearms unlocked, including 55% of gun owners with children in their home. By safely storing firearms, it can reduce gun injuries and deaths: research has demonstrated a decrease risk for suicide among adolescents, in addition to prevent guns from being stolen and used by someone else in a crime. An estimated 82% of adolescent firearm suicides involve a gun belonging to a family member and 80% of school shooters under 18 access a firearm from their own home or that of a relative or friend. By promoting and enabling safe storage of firearms, Johns Hopkins encourages responsible ownership and protecting children. Baltimore City makes up 9% of the state’s population, but 41% of all gun homicides occurred in the City – this is a disproportionate impact on Baltimore’s citizens and the employees, families, and neighbors of Johns Hopkins. While safe storage will not stop all of these tragic occurrences, it can continue to decrease the homicide and suicide rate. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: PIVOT, Inc.
Project Name: PIVOT Women’s Reentry & Workforce Development Program
Project Location: 901 North Milton Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205
Requested Amount: $500,000
Project Description: The $500,000 in funding will support PIVOT, Inc. and their efforts to support women returning from incarceration and their children. PIVOT connects women impacted by the criminal justice system with the comprehensive services needed to reclaim their lives, rejoin their families and reinvigorate their communities. PIVOT is the only program of its kind in Maryland, providing gender-specific pre-release services, mother/child reentry housing, a 9-week women's reentry and workforce development program and ongoing alumni support. While the average recidivism rate in Baltimore is over 80%, the recidivism rate for the women who complete PIVOT's program is less than 5%. PIVOT’s training and wraparound services consist of 100+ hours of group learning covering topics from life skills to job readiness, computer literacy, physical, mental, financial wellness and more, and 30+ hours of individual case management, therapy and career counseling. PIVOT rents transitional properties where women can live with their children upon release for up to 12 months while completing the PIVOT program and starting employment. Once a woman is ready, PIVOT helps her transition to her own housing with their network of second-chance landlords. PIVOT also partners with more than 60 organizations across Baltimore support women with every possible need upon returning home. PIVOT staff arrange transportation from institutions to safe housing, assist with employment opportunities, provide onsite childcare and parenting classes, and more. Alumni receive formal support for three years following graduation, including case management, therapy, monthly alumni workshops, celebrations, and other support as needed. In Maryland, approximately 20,000 children have an incarcerated parent. By supporting mothers, PIVOT takes a significant step towards preventing future justice involvement for their children. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: City of Baltimore
Project Name: Storm Sewer H&H Model for Flood Hazard Mitigation
Project Location: 100 North Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202
Requested Amount: $1,184,000
Project Description: The $1,184,000 in funding supports the development of an integrated, dynamic hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) model for the City’s municipal separate storm sewer system. The model will enable the City to identify current and potential risks for flooding and to evaluate flood mitigation solutions. As a major port city, Baltimore regularly experiences various types of flooding: in-land (pluvial), riverine (fluvial), and tidal (coastal). Since many of the City’s natural streams were buried in the separate storm sewer system in the early 20th century, many of the flood events occur outside of the regulated floodplain and the impacts are under-reported to the data sources that government agencies typically use to assess flood impacts. A City-wide H&H model would enable the City to identify flood risks from a variety of causes that may be otherwise under-reported and thus not prioritized. In addition to the H&H model development, an interactive model viewer and dashboard will be created for City agencies and stakeholders to visualize model results in both plan view and through the use of street-view flood renderings. The dashboard will enhance the ability to communicate potential projects and policies, and enable communities to understand the risks associated with extreme rain events and become active co-designers of flood mitigation plans. In 2017, Baltimore City participated in a workshop conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, (NAS) as part of a study requested by FEMA, to gain an initial understanding of the causes and impacts urban flooding in metropolitan areas. The Study (Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States, 2019) found that an established method for analyzing flood hazard is needed. The Baltimore Urban Waters Flood Science and Policy Workshop Action Report (EPA 840-R-21-004, September 2021) found that street flood hazards could be better identified by using the best available modeling resources. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: Tendea Family Inc.
Project Name: Tendea Family’s After School Patrol and Cadet Program
Project Location: 600 North Patterson Park Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205
Requested Amount: $205,000
Project Description: The $205,000 in funding will support the After School Patrol Program and Cadet Program, which is a community facilitated violence prevention and public safety initiative in Baltimore City initiated in response to a reported rise in after school fights, knifings, and shootings in 2023. The After School Patrol Program recruits and trains young boys in conflict resolution, conflict mediation, and restorative practices. Simultaneously, the Cadet Program is a year-round, youth diversion and education program based in Baltimore City’s McElderry Community. The Cadet Program's purpose is to empower and prepare vulnerable youth to be the leaders their community needs by leveraging cultural assets to provide skills based training and mentorship, literary and reading support, financial literacy training, entrepreneurship, trade, college preparation support, public speaking and community outreach training. Since November 2023, Tendea Family has conducted over 50 successful and impactful After School Program initiatives. The After School Patrol currently serves Tench Tilghman Elementary School and Tench Tilghman Middle School, located in the McElderry Park community of East Baltimore. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: Baltimore County, Maryland
Project Name: Turner Station Resiliency
Project Location: Community bounded by Dundalk Avenue (North) Broeing Highway (West) Bear Creek (East) Bear Creek/I-695 (South)
Requested Amount: $4,000,000
Project Description: Turner Station is a vibrant, historic community that has suffered from flooding. In addition to the human cost, this flooding is damaging housing, businesses, roads, sidewalks, and storm drains. This damage weakens the transportation and economic life of the community. This investment will effectively reduce flooding in resident’s homes, streets, and community spaces by constructing a pumping station, underground water storage, upsized storm drains, and street tree plantings. The first phase of this project will be located in the area surrounding the intersection of Sollers Point Road and Oak Street in Turner Station. The project will be a result of the flood mitigation plan that was funded under the Congressional Appropriation Process in 2023. That appropriation was specifically aimed at developing a flood mitigation plan for the community of Turner Station. With the plan being finalized, Baltimore County is ready to design and engineer the practices the plan proposes. That consists of a suite of phased projects that will install tidal flood protections in conjunction with enhanced capacity drainage conveyance systems. Pumping some of the stormwater, long a desiderate and necessity for any functioning solution in Turner Station will necessarily be included in order to render drainage conveyance functional. The plan spells out the priorities of the installations and engineers will develop the technical projects for construction, secure the extensive permitting demanded by the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area location and then proceed to the construction phase. The project was created through continuous interaction with the community. It deploys solutions inspired by and agreed upon by everyone involved. A successful deployment in Turner Station will provide the blueprint to follow in the many communities of the 7th Congressional District and Baltimore County that live along riverine or tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Project Name: UMBC Laboratory for Flood Risk Impact Assessment and Adaptation in Impoverished Maryland Communities
Project Location: 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, Maryland, 21250
Requested Amount: $1,200,000
Project Description: The $1,200,000 in funding will be used to establish the new University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Laboratory for Flood Risk Impact Assessment and Adaptation in Marginalized Maryland Communities and enable them to conduct the initial studies for this project. Coastal communities in Maryland, particularly near shorelines such as Turner Station and Brooklyn, are experiencing increased threats to human lives and livelihoods. In many cases, these hazards are compounded by uneven geographies of housing stemming from a long history of unfair, housing practices such as predatory mortgage lending and predatory ground rent. UMBC will utilize a mixed-methods approach to combine topographically based hydrological analysis and long-term mapping from the American Community Survey with participatory methods and interviews. They will also implement both physical and computer hydrological models to determine the flood risk threat to selected vulnerable coastal communities in Baltimore. UMBC has a newly designed laboratory which has a dual function, designed both for wet chemistry and physical hydrology studies (wet lab portion) as well as for stakeholder meetings with team members and external partners (dry lab portion). The Primary Investigators are well-positioned to lead this project based on their combined 38 years of research experience and alignment with the research topics. This research project builds on the Pls' expertise in flood risk management, urban stormwater systems, watershed ecosystem analysis, participatory and community-engaged research, urban analysis, and economic geography. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)
Project Sponsor: Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT)
Project Name: West Baltimore MARC Station Replacement – Non-Amtrak Funded Station Amenities
Project Location: 401 Smallwood Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21223
Requested Amount: $5,000,000
Project Description: The $5,000,000 in funding provides for an in-kind replacement of the West Baltimore Station on MARC’s Penn Line with high-level, ADA-accessible platforms, and community-driven investments to be covered by the requested funds. The project as currently funded covers major infrastructure improvements, such as a complete replacement of the station itself, new ADA access via elevators and ramps, and covered stairs with platform canopies. However, Amtrak's scope without these requested funds leaves this planned facility lacking in passenger- and community-facing amenities. Community-driven investments to be covered by the requested funds and matching funds from the State of Maryland will include restrooms, indoor waiting areas, real-time coordinated signage, improvement to access routes, and MARC passenger communications systems. These improvements will guarantee a more seamless transit service delivery experience critical to truly addressing the needs of the community. Additionally, the grade separation from the NEC, ADA accessibility improvements, and enhanced lighting and sight lines combine for a safe and secure environment as transit users navigate travel between northbound and southbound platforms. (Link to Member Financial Disclosure Certification and Federal Nexus Statement)