Explanation
This ordinance authorizes an appropriation to the Department of Neighborhoods within the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund and expenditures associated with the My Brother’s Keeper grants program.
In 2014 President Obama called on cities, non-profits, and the private sector to collaborate and close opportunity gaps for boys and young men of color (B&YMOC). Columbus was one of the first cities to answer this call. The city and partner organizations brought together more than 500 B&YMOC to ensure that Columbus’ My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) work was grounded in testimony from the target population. Numerous non-profit service providers, schools, and companies have created programs to serve vulnerable youth of color since the launch of the national MBK initiative. In 2015, Senator Sherrod Brown and former Chair of the National MBK initiative and Obama Cabinet Secretary Broderick Johnson hosted an event to highlight Columbus’ MBK initiative.
After the event, Secretary Johnson said that without hard data, the city would not be able to effectively serve B&YMOC in Columbus. Columbus City Council contracted with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity to gather data on youth vulnerability, map community assets, and determine a strategic investment framework. The study was released in the December of 2017.
The purpose of the MBK grants is to financially support programs that have shown success in one of the four categories the Kirwan Institute identified as contributing to youth vulnerability: economics, safety, education, and health. Many non-profits, churches, and community leaders have led the charge in our neighborhoods for years. The MBK Grants Program will allow those organizations to grow their capacity and serve more B&YMOC in Columbus.
The Department of Neighborhoods will administer the competitive grants program based on the outcomes of four community/service provider conversations, one conversation per realm of vulnerability. These co...
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