History of the Fund for Anne Arundel

One of CFAAC’s primary goals is to increase the dollars that the foundation has available to strategically align grantmaking with the most critical needs in the county. The Fund for Anne Arundel is a fund created to help meet critical needs and improve the quality of life for all county residents, now and in the future.   

As federal, state, and local funding support for nonprofits continues to decline for countless reasons, individual donors and community foundations are being called on, now more than ever, to fill the gaps so that nonprofits can continue to provide essential community services.

In 2017, CFAAC was awarded a $300,000 Challenge Grant from the Deerbrook Charitable Trust to begin building the Fund for Anne Arundel. In 2018, CFAAC Board Trustee Jim Humphrey added another $150,000 to the challenge, which effectively turned this opportunity into a 3:1 match! Fueled by this matching challenge, CFAAC quickly raised over $600,000 to support the Fund for Anne Arundel. As of 2022, the Fund for Anne Arundel has raised $1.86 million. 

In the summer of 2019, a committee of community leaders and CFAAC Board of Trustee members and staff, convened to develop a strategic and comprehensive grantmaking approach to meet the needs of Anne Arundel County. Through a review of the most recent community needs assessment, the committee determined that the first focus area for grantmaking will support nonprofit organizations that address the needs of children in Anne Arundel County.

Why Children? Their Success is Our Community’s Obligation.

• There are 127,512 children under the age of 18 living in Anne Arundel County. Of those, 35,002 (27.45 percent) are under five years of age. Over 12,000 (10 percent) live below the federal poverty level. We can do better.
• Estimates suggest nearly 15 percent of the single-parent households in the county make an income that is below the federal poverty level. We can do better.
• 7.1 percent of Anne Arundel County children under the age of 18 live below the poverty level. We can do better.
• There are 10,278 county families on the waiting list for Housing Choice Vouchers, and 17,683 families on the waiting list for public housing. We can do better.
• In 2018, 1,260 homeless youth were identified in the county public school system. We can do better.
• Childhood hunger continues to rise with school personnel reporting more and more hungry children who are unprepared for the school day. The number of children receiving free breakfast and/or lunch has risen 21 percent and 7 percent respectively. We can do better.
• Affordable childcare is a huge issue throughout the county with the number of family daycare providers continuing to drop. We can do better.
• In 2018, only 48 percent of county children were ready for kindergarten when assessed through Anne Arundel County Public Schools R4K readiness tool. We can do better.
• In 2018, over 80 percent of county 8th graders were not meeting standards in math and less than 50% met standards in reading. We can do better.
• While, African American students have shown an 8.56 percent improvement, and Free and Reduced Meal Students have shown a 7.96 percent improvement in graduation rates, there are still gaps in achievement related to race, ethnicity, income, disability, and Limited English Proficient students. We can do better.
• The county’s chronic truancy or habitual absenteeism rate has risen across all grade levels and student populations. Children from low income families who receive free and reduced lunch (FARMS) have the highest levels of chronic truancy. We can do better.
• The overall county unemployment rate for youth ages 17 to 24 stands at 13.6 percent. The rate of youth unemployment for African Americans stands at 25 percent, almost double that of the overall rate. We can do better.
• There has been a 70 percent increase in residents seeking mental health services since 2012. The two highest increases in numbers served are the early childhood population and those over 65. We can do better. 
• Increased mental health and behavioral health issues in the birth to five early childhood population are causing widespread concern in every system. We can do better.
• In 2018, over 13 percent or 74,522 county adults and children resided in a food desert, defined as urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. We can do better.
• There is an increasing need for residential mental health and substance abuse beds, especially for the adolescent population. We can do better.
• The number of newborns assessed positive for substances in their systems, including methadone, has risen 144 percent since 2014. We can do better.
• Youth gang violence is continuing to increase. At least 10 identifiable neighborhood crews have been inventoried in Annapolis alone and four sects of MS-13 have been seen in the county. We can do better.
• There are an estimated 6,702 disconnected youth in the county. Disconnected youth are young people aged 16 to 24 who have dropped out of school, are not in college, and without employment or any sort of career path. We can do better.
• Increasing numbers of grandparents are raising children with little government help. We can do better.
• The use of social media is a major concern for residents and professionals in every area of the county. We can do better.
• The lack of parenting programs in the county continues to be a significant area of need, and mentoring programs continue to be high on everyone’s list of needs. We can do better.
• The need for behavioral support for young children continues to grow. Anxiety and depression, including increased suicidal ideation among public school students, requires a huge increase in mental and emotional health services. We can do better.
• School personnel note the importance of sports and the need for more recreation centers in low income neighborhoods where youth struggle with transportation, as well as, the negative outcomes associated with poverty. We can do better.
• Several nonprofits offer after school and summer arts programs throughout the county. However, for low income students, the lack of transportation out of their neighborhoods makes participation difficult or impossible. We can do better.
• As of August 2018, 19 public schools had unacceptable levels of lead in their drinking water. Children are particularly susceptible to lead poisoning leading to negative health effects including reduced IQ, impaired growth, hearing loss, and severe neurological problems. We can do better.

​Anne Arundel County’s Children- Determined, Hopeful, Focused, Empowered

The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County is dedicated to working with donors who wish to make an impact through their philanthropic support. A gift made in support of the Fund for Anne Arundel will be combined with the generosity of others to have a true and lasting impact on the lives of children in Anne Arundel County. For additional information, contact Rosalind Calvin at rosalind@cfaac.org or 410-280-1102 x104.