More Than an Institution: Baltimore Community Foundation

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When 25-year-old Freddie Gray was writhing in agony on the floor of a Baltimore hospital room after suffering a fatal spinal injury while in the custody of police, the city's community foundation did its best to help him.

The Baltimore Community Foundation handed out more than $30 million over the last year to such causes as after-school programs, mental health support, workforce training, and violence intervention, CEOShanaysha Sauls writes on the foundation's website.

But it wasn't just Gray who needed help.

"Too many Baltimoreans are dying every day because of gun violence," Sauls writes.

"Too many of our young people are dying because of the lack of jobs, the lack of access to quality mental health care, the lack of affordable housing."

The foundation, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, has given more than $100 million to Baltimore causes since it was founded by a group of banking and business leaders in 1972, the Baltimore Sun reports.

The world's first community foundation was founded in Ohio in 1914 by a banker and attorney, and community foundations have since spread to other US and Canadian cities.

"Giving by and for the people of Baltimore is giving by and for the people of Baltimore," Sauls writes.

"If you are not

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