Fall Headlines at Humanim

News . Events . Impact

HEADLINES

In October, we hosted our premiere dinner event of the year, Dinner at the American Brewery - where guests enjoyed a four-course gourmet dinner with wine pairings in the historic beauty of the American Brewery Building, catered by City Seeds, a Humanim Social Enterprise.  The evening’s special guest presenters - former Admin Assistant career training graduate (Shakiara Seals), and East Baltimore community advocate (Janice Jacobs-Hudson) - received standing ovations for their inspiring stories. Thank you to all of our guests & presenters for making the sold-out evening a huge success! More than $55,000 was raised to support the growth and development of Maryland's purpose-driven economy, through Humanim’s workforce development and social enterprise initiatives. Read more + view photos of the event at our blog!

A special thanks to our amazing sponsors:

Ellin & Tucker, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, Hillmuth Auto Care, Revere Bank, Johns Hopkins Medicine, CBIZ, Centric Business Systems, Brown Advisory, Mahogany, Inc., Wright, Constable & Skeen, LLP, T. Rowe Price, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, LifeBridge Health, MDG Virtual Accounting, Mutual of America, Quinn Evans Architects, Standard Energy Solutions, Mr. Greg Blair & Family, Sysco Baltimore, & Breakthru Beverage Maryland.

We express our sadness and loss with the passing of Congressman Elijah Cummings. He was an iconic man of substance who walked with the working class, and always honored his family’s humble past. This past summer, he hosted a forum at Humanim with Baltimore City representatives, focused on how to prevent, treat and heal childhood trauma in Baltimore City (pictured above) - just one example of his longstanding commitment to our future generations, as well as his lasting legacy. We will remember him as a fierce fighter of freedom and a man of principled compassion.

Humanim was honored with Baltimore Business Journal's Healthiest Employer Award in August, recognizing companies committed to their employees' health & wellness in the workplace. Congratulations to the other 8 companies recognized this year, including our partner CBIZ, who took first place in the Large Company category! Read more at our blog.

A big congratulations to Humanim’s 2019 "i25 Club," and our Employee of the Year Wini Alexander (pictured bottom row, 3rd from left) -  who were honored this October at our annual i25 celebration & ceremony. Humanim’s i25 Employee Recognition Program honors the outstanding performance and dedication of 25 Humanim staff each year, who help forward Humanim’s mission to support and empower individuals who face social or economic challenges by building pathways to economic equity, opportunity, and independence.

Humanim’s Vice President of Workforce Development, Kanika Feaster-Gordon, was recently featured on Comcast Newsmakers! She shared about our mission to support and empower individuals who face social or economic challenges, the importance of local hiring, and the different types of career training offered by Humanim. Watch the news segment & join the conversation here.

Congratulations to our 55+ Administrative Assistant Career Training graduates, who graduated this September after 9 weeks of hard work, training and certification. Humanim's 55+ Administrative Career Training program is specially designed for individuals age 55 or above, providing training in advanced computer skills, professional administrative skills, Microsoft Office certification, and job placement assistance. Learn more about Humanim's free career training programs at our website.

We were honored to be a part of Baltimore Homecoming this past month - an annual gathering of Baltimore’s most accomplished natives and alumni from around the U.S. and the world.  Participants in the “Revitalizing East Baltimore” tour were able to learn about Humanim’s social enterprise work in Baltimore, including a visit to Details Deconstruction sites, our Baltimore office at the American Brewery Building, and a visit to the Brick + Board warehouse. Visitors learned first-hand the process behind reclaiming wood taken from Baltimore rowhomes to be processed and resold for new design and construction projects – as well as how our social enterprises create skilled, living wage jobs for individuals with barriers to employment. The tour culminated with games of Stump and a sushi making lesson by our culinary social enterprise, City Seeds. Humanim is proud to be a part of Baltimore, and share some of the work that our city is doing to create innovative forms of economic development and #humanimpact. Thank you to our visitors and to Baltimore Homecoming for including us in this amazing event!

Watch Forest Proud's new video documenting the Baltimore Deconstruction and Urban Wood Project, Humanim's partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and national furniture retailer Room & Board.

"See how a simple quest to reclaim urban wood transformed into an opportunity to reduce waste, create jobs in underserved communities, and restore landscapes by replacing vacant lots with community parks and greenspaces that benefit everyone - reimagining our cities for a better future. #forestproud"

Humanim recently held its annual State of the Agency with our President & CEO, Henry Posko. The event, which was broadcast to all of our office locations throughout Maryland and parts of Delaware, addressed financials, employee engagement, and Humanim's year-long strategic planning initiative which will culiminate in December with a comprehensive strategic plan to support Humanim's continued growth and sustainability over the next 5 years. The address ended with a Q&A session with staff and the announcement of our Employee of the Year.

Attention Humanim Supporters and Donors: Humanim was awarded $50,000 in the Community Investment Tax Credit Program (CITC) from the State of Maryland for 2019-2020 to support Humanim Social Enterprise! This means, as a donor, you are eligible to receive up to 50% of your donation back through a Maryland state tax credit. This benefit is in addition to the Federal and State charitable tax deductions. Learn More...

NEWS & EVENTS

OPPORTUNITIES

HUMAN IMPACT

Meet Lindsay

“My experience with Humanim has definitely helped me to come out of my shell and to become more independent. Humanim's Work-Based Learning Experience and STEP programs helped me reach my goals by being involved in teamwork activities and helping me improve my communication skills and advocate for myself."

A 2019 graduate of the Homewood Center School, Lindsay was introduced to Humanim’s Work Experience – Student to Employment Program (WE STEP) in October of 2017, which provides work based learning experiences, mentoring, and job support services to high school aged students and young adults with disabilities. At the time, Lindsay’s transition counselor encouraged her to join the program to further explore her career interest in working with children.

Lindsay began her internship in the Stay and Play area of the YMCA but through the program was able to explore other departments, including mastering new skills as a Front Desk Attendant. She showed so much growth over her junior school year, that she was offered a part-time position working directly with kids at Veterans Elementary School for her senior year.

Lindsay’s exemplar work in the program led her to become the student representative to accept Howard County Public Schools’ partnership award with the YMCA of Ellicott City, and upon graduation she was offered employment with Abrakadoodle as an After School Staff for the upcoming school year. She plans to attend Howard Community College, and will continue to receive job support services with Humanim through the next three years of her employment.