MOED’s Youth Opportunity program receives 
Weinberg Foundation grant
Successful YO! Baltimore program to receive two-year $1.5 million grant to continue linking out-of-school youth to employment and education opportunities

Baltimore, MD - The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc. has awarded Baltimore City’s Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) a $1.5 million grant to support its Youth Opportunity (YO! Baltimore) program. The grant will cover a two-year period from September 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009.

Commenting on the grant to support YO! Baltimore, Trustee and Vice President Donn Weinberg remarked, “This is a comprehensive, youth-development strategy for out-of-school youth that goes beyond jobs and education. YO! Baltimore is focused on youth development, good citizenship, physical and mental health, and social development. The Weinberg Foundation Trustees are proud that we are able to support this critically important effort supporting youth in our hometown.”

YO! Baltimore serves 1,000 out-of-school young people between the ages of 16 and 24. Established in 2000 with a significant one-time federal grant, YO! Baltimore uses a systemic youth development model to place disconnected out-of-school youth on a path to economic self-sufficiency.

“Baltimore City is very grateful to the Weinberg Foundation for its generous support of the Youth Opportunity program,” said Sheila Dixon, Mayor, Baltimore City. “It is essential that government works with the philanthropic community to create strong partnerships like this so that all of Baltimore’s citizens benefit.”

Now that the federal funding has expired, the Weinberg Foundation’s grant will complement Baltimore City’s funding and allow this vital program to continue for two more years by increasing and expanding the menu of job training and literacy services.

“We are proud of the impact YO! Baltimore is making on the lives of so many of Baltimore’s youth,” said MOED Director Karen Sitnick. “The Weinberg Foundation deserves credit for its foresight in recognizing that this investment will truly help to turn young lives around by providing education and employment opportunities and preparing them with the necessary skills to be productive citizens.”