Five groups awarded $14.6M to beautify historically disinvested Baltimore neighborhoods

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced a multi-million dollar program Monday that would hire residents to clean and maintain public spaces in the city's historically disinvested neighborhoods.

Called the Clean Corps Initiative, the program would fund community and citywide organizations working to address blight in up to 16 neighborhoods. Those hired as part of the initiative will earn $15 an hour. 

The Mayor's Office is investing $14.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to run the program for a two-and-a-half-year period. The announcement marks the mayor's latest investment from the city's $641 million ARPA funding allotment. 

"Every Baltimorean deserves to live in a clean, thriving community," Scott said in a statement "We must take bold, yet measurable steps to immediately abate vacant lots, dispose of trash and debris and empty public trash cans throughout our communities - especially those communities that have been historically overlooked and underserved."

The mayor's office said the selected Clean Corps grantees are:

• Bon Secours Baltimore Community Works, Inc. will work with the residents of the Boyd-Booth, Penrose, Fayette Street Outreach, Carrollton Ridge, and Franklin Square neighborhoods. 
• Broadway East Community Development Corporation will work with the residents of the Broadway East and East Baltimore-Midway neighborhoods
• Civic Works, Inc. will work with the residents in the Coldstream, Homestead and Montebello (CHM), Darley Park and Four by Four neighborhoods. 
• Park Heights Renaissance, Inc. will work with the residents of the Arlington and Greenspring neighborhoods. 
• The Lazarus Rite, Inc. will work with the residents of Harlem Park, Penn-North, Sandtown-Winchester, Upton, and Druid Heights neighborhoods.

The city's Department of Planning is working with several city agencies, including the Department of Public Works and the Mayor's Office of Employment Development to support the program. 

DPW Director Jason Mitchell, who oversaw a similar program in Oakland, California, said in a statement he is excited for the partnership.

"My hope is that this program will encourage residents to renew their love and commitment to improve the overall cleanliness of our community," Mitchell said. "A cleaner, greener, more beautiful Baltimore is a city-wide effort and will take full participation from all of our community members, partners, residents and stakeholders to achieve it."

The program is part of the "Ensuring Clean and Healthy Communities" pillar of the mayor's action plan released last year.