The purpose of this american rescue plan funded grant is to improve the health of underserved and vulnerable communities in baltimore, MD

This will be accomplished by increasing the accessibility of urban forest patches that provide residents with heat relief and contribute to bettering the air quality in 3 underserved neighborhoods in baltimore. Baltimore city, maryland is a majority-black (63%) jurisdiction with underserved and vulnerable communities that suffer from many ills and lack of services. These include limited access to greenspaces and limited tree canopy cover that intensify neighborhood heat islands. Residents of these neighborhoods have higher rates of chronic health conditions, including asthma. Activities: the project will include the following activities to achieve this objective: field research will be conducted by graduate students from morgan state university and/or university of maryland, baltimore county to determine how much progress has been made in improving the health of 10 forests that we first surveyed in 2016. Education and training will be provided for 10+ neighborhood forest stewards and 200+ other baltimore city residents will be educated about the importance of forest patches in mitigating neighborhood heat islands and trained in maintenance efforts such as invasive vine removal. Outcomes: these educational activities will reach approximately 200+ baltimore city residents including at least 10 neighborhood forest stewards and provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge to maintain and improve the health and accessibility of urban forest patches. The knowledge and skills provided are essential to maintaining and enhancing forest patches which in turn are essential to bettering local air quality and mitigating neighborhood heat islands. Poor air quality and extreme heat are major challenges in these communities which have a long history of environmental and social injustices. This education and training will provide specialized information that would otherwise be unavailable to the community to enable vital maintenance activities such as invasive vine removal, and correct selection of transitional plants which are essential to maintain the health and prevent degradation of the forest patches and achieve valuable health benefits. The beneficiaries are predominantly the neighborhoods around the 3 primary sites of wilson park woods, springfield woods, and fairwood forest. These neighborhoods have high minority populations (61%-90% black), and a high percentage of low-income households (29%-47% in 2018) and have long suffered from a history of redlining, disinvestment, an abundance of vacant houses and lands, and limited access to greenspaces. Other beneficiaries are baltimore city underserved and vulnerable communities as a whole that can benefit from increased knowledge and capacity building from the 200+ residents receiving training and skills. Subrecipient: no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.