Baltimore Community Foundation Announces 2025 Neighborhood Spotlight Award Winners

BCF honors grassroots leaders transforming Baltimore neighborhoods with $5,000 grants to support community-driven initiatives

BALTIMORE, Oct. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF), a nonprofit organization that connects people who are passionate about their community and purposeful in their philanthropy, just announced the winners of its 2025 Neighborhood Spotlight Awards.

The Neighborhood Spotlight Awards — supported by BCF's 50th Anniversary Neighborhoods grant program — celebrate the work of grassroots leaders who have driven positive change in their communities. The awards honor the unsung heroes working every day to improve the lives of their neighbors, including block captains; unofficial coordinators of community clean-ups, concerts, festivals, and cook-outs; artists bringing beauty to gateways; and tireless advocates for the resources their communities need to thrive.

Neighborhood Spotlight Award winners will be given a $5,000 grant to any one Baltimore-area nonprofit organization of their choice and will be recognized at the annual State of BCF event, hosted by author and caregiving advocate Chanda Brigance, with BCF staff, trustees, fundholders, and partners on Oct. 8, 2025.

"The Board and staff of Baltimore Community Foundation recognize that resident leadership is the heart and soul of stronger neighborhoods," said BCF's Vice President of Community Impact, Dr. Crystal Harden-Lindsey. "With the Neighborhood Spotlight Awards, we celebrate the everyday heroes who are creating a better Baltimore. This year's honorees exemplify initiative, intergenerational leadership, and a deep commitment to making our communities more vibrant and accessible across Baltimore City and Baltimore County."

The following leaders were selected as 2025 Neighborhood Spotlight Award winners:

• Bria Evans & Requity
  As Requity's Operations Manager, Bria Evans led the expansion of Requity Culinary across four Baltimore high schools, launched a youth-powered catering business, and led students to cook and deliver more than 3,000 free meals to neighbors through her We All Eat Wednesdays program. Bria tackles food insecurity while building youth-led programs that connect culinary arts, construction, digital storytelling, and business trades to community service.
  
  
• Arrealia Gavins & The Realia Institute
  Arrealia Gavins co-created a home-based community hub with her neighbors called the Realia Institute to support children and families in McElderry Park. This modern "one-room schoolhouse" provides free tutoring, youth mentoring, parent coaching, and wellness groups, while also hosting joyful seasonal events like toy drives and family meals.
  
  
• Janette Graham & No Struggle, No Success, Inc.
  Janette Graham founded No Struggle, No Success, Inc. to support returning citizens and break cycles of incarceration in Baltimore. Over the past six years, she has helped more than 800 individuals successfully transition back into the community through housing, job placement, restorative justice and case management, while also advocating for judicial and parole reform, leading to her being called a "present-day Harriet Tubman" by those serving life sentences.
  
  
• Aaron Maybin & The Aaron Maybin Foundation
  Aaron Maybin, a West Baltimore native, artist, activist, author, and former NFL player has become a trusted mentor and advocate for young people and in particular young men in his community. Through The Aaron Maybin Foundation and the Level Up Leadership Academy, he provides hundreds of youth with weekly mentorship, art, and wellness programming, offering a safe space to grow and heal from trauma linked to violence and poverty.
  
  
• Nneka N'namdi & Fight Blight Bmore
  Nneka N'namdi combines housing justice, youth empowerment, and neighborhood revitalization as the founder of Fight Blight Bmore and co-founder of the SOS Fund. Beyond running the Hack Hub, a youth-focused community-based imagination, innovation and incubation space, in the past year her efforts helped more than 50 families avoid losing their houses to tax sales, cleared $100,000+ in housing-related debt, and redeemed ground rents to strengthen neighborhood stability.
  
  
• Michael Richardson Sr. & Good Trouble Church
  A steady presence in Station North, Michael Richardson Sr. is the heart of both Red Shed Village and the Farm to Stoop market, ministries affiliated with Good Trouble Church, a people of color and trans-led grassroots congregation. He organizes weekly worship and harm reduction gatherings, escorts neighbors to appointments, facilitates the free market on a once-vacant lot, and shepherds Red Shed residents—ensuring safety, cleanliness, and community.
  
  
• Inez Robb & Green & Healthy Homes
  For more than 30 years, Inez Robb has been a tireless advocate for safe, stable, and healthy housing in Baltimore. She has led efforts to eliminate childhood lead poisoning, testifying before state and city leaders and supporting programs that reduced lead exposure in Baltimore by 99%. In Sandtown-Winchester, Inez organizes resiliency hubs and resource fairs that connect residents with housing rehabilitation, weatherization, lead hazard reduction grants, job training, health care, and senior support.
  
  
• Carla Schroyer & Community Assistance Network
  As Director of Community Choice Pantry Services at the Community Assistance Network (CAN), Carla Schroyer oversees all operational aspects of pantry programs. In response to the Key Bridge disaster, Carla launched CAN Stands Ready, which served over 3,000 households in addition to weekly pantry services, and implemented a special registration and shopping day for Hispanic neighbors to increase access for non-English speakers.
  
  
• Keith Taylor & Sparrows Point North Point Historical Society
  Keith Taylor, founding member of the Sparrows Point and North Point Historical Society, is a passionate advocate for preserving the history and culture of Southeast Baltimore County. Keith has spearheaded multiple projects like the Beacon of Hope at Sparrows Point High School, transforming century-old steel materials into solar-powered lampposts surrounded by a 4,000-square-foot pollinator garden and outdoor learning space honoring the community's industrial legacy.
  
  
• Greta Willis & Kevin L. Cooper Foundation
  Greta Willis is the heart of the Mt. Olivet community, running a weekly food pantry through the Pillar Worship Center that has provided over 2,000 meals since 2023, organizing an annual Back-to-School festival for more than 300 children, and connecting youth to paid work through the city's Bmore Beautiful program. She guides young people toward stability and hope while hosting her annual Stop the Violence cookout, a neighborhood tradition born from the loss of her 14-year-old son to police violence.

Launched in 2022, the 50th Anniversary Neighborhood Grants Fund was established to enhance BCF's neighborhood-based grantmaking and support the Neighborhood Spotlight Awards. For over 50 years since BCF's inception, BCF has invested millions in projects like cleaning and greening, block captain programs, festivals, and youth initiatives to create vibrant, livable communities. Recognizing the enduring impact of structural racism and disinvestment, BCF created the fund to further address these challenges and build stronger neighborhoods. To donate to the 50th Anniversary Neighborhood Grants Fund at BCF, visit https://bcf.org/fund/50neig/

For more information about the Neighborhood Spotlight Awards and the Baltimore Community Foundation, please visit https://bcf.org/spotlight/

About BCF
For over 50 years, the Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF) has connected people who are passionate about their community and purposeful in their philanthropy. BCF amplifies donors' philanthropy with strategic grants, impact investments, special initiatives, and advocacy to strengthen schools and neighborhoods. Visit www.bcf.org to discover meaningful giving, invest your funds wisely, and join a diverse community working to build a better Baltimore.

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SOURCE Baltimore Community Foundation