Allison E. Foster

The Nourish Maryland program, initiated by the Maryland Department of Housing Community Development, aims to address food deserts by providing grants ranging from $25,000 to $150,000 to small retailers, including for-profit and not-for-profit entities. The program's goals include enhancing consistent access to healthy, affordable, and fresh food, supporting business development through financing for operational needs, and integrating with initiatives like the Maryland Market Money program to double federal nutrition benefits. This initiative represents a long-term commitment of at least five years, focusing on communities struggling with food access and capital.

This document details Maryland's Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) plan, which leverages $79 million in federal funding. The primary objective is to ensure all Marylanders have affordable and equitable access to high-speed internet by connecting the approximately 9,000 remaining unserved locations. The strategic approach involves contracting local internet service providers for infrastructure buildout to achieve 100% broadband connectivity across the state by 2030.

This document outlines a 'Whole Blocks Strategy' designed for comprehensive neighborhood revitalization, with guidance from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. Key focus areas include engaging community leaders and residents to develop masterplans and drive redevelopment, leveraging neighborhood strengths while addressing weaknesses through strategic renovation and demolition of blighted areas to create green spaces. The strategy also details phased reinvestment in contiguous block clusters, measuring progress via metrics such as homeownership and vacancy rates, and securing consistent public and private funding to ensure sustained implementation and build community confidence.

The Reinvest Baltimore FY26 Action Plan operationalizes the city and state vacancy initiative by outlining clear objectives, strategies, actions, and performance indicators to eliminate vacant properties. The plan focuses on six key objectives: Vacancy Reduction, Thriving Neighborhoods, Thriving Households, Capacity for Action, Private Sector Leverage, and Transparency. It aims to transform at least 5,000 vacant properties into homeownership or other positive outcomes over a five-year period, ultimately leading to stronger housing markets, attainable quality housing, attractive neighborhoods, and renewed community confidence in Baltimore.

The meeting commenced with the adoption of the previous meeting minutes. The primary focus included a review of the monthly production report via a dashboard, noting sustained progress in driving down the number of Vacant Buildings Notified (VBNs) and progress toward whole block outcomes. Discussions covered demolition and stabilization projections, with city-funded demolitions reported halfway through the FY26 projection, and stabilizations slightly ahead of schedule. Detailed updates were provided on the status of Metropolitan Steering Agreement (MSA) demolitions, which are expected to commence in late spring. The council also reviewed code enforcement activity, including the issuance of failure to abate citations, and acquisition metrics, which are currently on track for the FY2026 goal of 585 completed acquisitions, though challenges regarding the expansion of the INREM pipeline through court implementation were noted, prompting an invitation for relevant parties to brief the council next time. Finally, the opening date for the FY2027 Baltimore Vacancy Reinvestment Initiative (BVRI) funding round, set for February 18th, was announced, confirming continued funding to Baltimore City, MSA, and community development organizations.