Baltimore Community Foundation Honors 11 Grassroots Leaders with 2025 Neighborhood Spotlight Awards

The Baltimore Community Foundation has announced the winners of its 2025 Neighborhood Spotlight Awards, honoring 11 grassroots leaders who are driving positive change in communities across Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Each award recipient will receive a $5,000 grant to direct to any Baltimore-area nonprofit organization of their choice and will be recognized at the annual State of BCF event on October 8, 2025. The awards celebrate unsung heroes working to improve neighborhood conditions through community clean-ups, youth programming, housing advocacy, food distribution, and cultural preservation.

Supported by BCF's 50th Anniversary Neighborhoods grant program, the initiative recognizes that resident leadership forms the foundation of stronger communities. BCF's Vice President of Community Impact, Dr. Crystal Harden-Lindsey, emphasized that this year's honorees exemplify initiative, intergenerational leadership, and deep commitment to making communities more vibrant and accessible. The selected leaders represent diverse approaches to community transformation across multiple neighborhoods.

Bria Evans, Operations Manager at Requity, expanded culinary programs across four Baltimore high schools and launched a youth-powered catering business. Through her We All Eat Wednesdays program, she led students in cooking and delivering more than 3,000 free meals to address food insecurity while connecting culinary arts to community service. Arrealia Gavins co-created the Realia Institute, a home-based community hub in McElderry Park that provides free tutoring, youth mentoring, parent coaching, and wellness groups.

Janette Graham founded No Struggle, No Success, Inc. to support returning citizens and break cycles of incarceration. Over six years, she has helped more than 800 individuals successfully transition back into the community through housing, job placement, and case management while advocating for judicial and parole reform. Aaron Maybin, a West Baltimore native and former NFL player, provides hundreds of youth with weekly mentorship, art, and wellness programming through The Aaron Maybin Foundation and Level Up Leadership Academy.

Nneka N'namdi combines housing justice with youth empowerment as founder of Fight Blight Bmore. Her efforts helped more than 50 families avoid losing their houses to tax sales, cleared over $100,000 in housing-related debt, and redeemed ground rents while running the Hack Hub youth innovation space. Michael Richardson Sr. serves as a steady presence in Station North through Red Shed Village and the Farm to Stoop market, ministries affiliated with Good Trouble Church.

Inez Robb has advocated for safe, stable housing for more than 30 years, leading efforts that reduced childhood lead exposure in Baltimore by 99%. In Sandtown-Winchester, she organizes resiliency hubs and resource fairs connecting residents with housing rehabilitation, weatherization, and support services. Carla Schroyer, Director of Community Choice Pantry Services at the Community Assistance Network, launched CAN Stands Ready in response to the Key Bridge disaster, serving over 3,000 households in addition to weekly pantry services.

Keith Taylor, founding member of the Sparrows Point and North Point Historical Society, preserves the history and culture of Southeast Baltimore County. He spearheaded the Beacon of Hope project at Sparrows Point High School, transforming century-old steel materials into solar-powered lampposts surrounded by a 4,000-square-foot pollinator garden. Greta Willis runs a weekly food pantry through the Pillar Worship Center that has provided over 2,000 meals since 2023 and organizes an annual Back-to-School festival for more than 300 children.

The Neighborhood Spotlight Awards represent BCF's ongoing commitment to neighborhood-based grantmaking. For more information about the awards program, visit https://bcf.org/spotlight/.