Maryland Department of Housing and
Community Development

Community Health and Safety Works

​​​​​​​​​​​​The application period is closed.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Overview​

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) administers Community Health and Safety Works grant opportunities to improve the livability and economic potential of Maryland communities through targeted investments in the physical environment that impact health and safety.

Who Can​ Apply

Eligible Applicants

Tax Exempt Nonprofits and/or​ Local Governments.

Eligible Activities

Awards will be competitive in the four categories below. Applicants may apply only once in each category. Projects should be located in Baltimore City or within designated Sustainable Communities Areas elsewhere in the state. To determine if your project is located in a designated Sustainable Communities Area, enter the project address in this mapper​.

Eligible projects must fall into one of four competitive categories:

  1. 1 - Comm​unity Placemaking

    Eligible projects are community-led collaborations that engage artists and designers to create lovable and safer spaces for community use. Grants up to $100,000.     

    Community Placemaking Sample Application     

    Community Placemaking & Environmental Health and Justice Training Slides     

  2. 2 - Environmental Health and Justice

    Eligible projects will eliminate predatory and unhealthy practices such as illegal dumping, litter and traffic hazards and address urban heat islands and other conditions related to climate change. Grants up to $100,000.     

    Environmental Health and Justice Sample Application     

    Community Placemaking & Environmental Health and Justice Training Slides​     

  3. 3 - Cameras, Lighting and Related Safety Services

    Eligible projects address illegal and dangerous activities in communities through lighting, camera surveillance strategies and related community safety services and technology. Grants up to $100,000.     

    Cameras, Lighting and Related Safety Services Sample Application     

    Cameras, Lighting and Related Safety Services Training Slides     

  4. 4​ - Technical Assistance for CHSW Initiatives

    Individual and teams of nonprofit providers will provide project design and implementation support to the awardees of CHSW project funding. Grant amounts will be determined by the scope of services provided.     

    Technical Assistance funding is for nonprofit providers that have experience providing design and implementation support to other organizations implementing community placemaking, environmental health and justice, and other community safety projects. Nonprofits that receive Technical Assistance grant funding will be responsible for providing technical assistance to CHSW projects. This may include helping other nonprofit organizations implement the following activities:     

    • Designing and facilitating an inclusive community engagement process
    • Providing guidance on integrating art and cultural elements into a community space project
    • Assisting artists/designers and community organizations with integrating health outcomes in community space projects
    • Finding and engaging partners for environmental stewardship projects
    • Assisting artists/designers and community organizations with integrating green infrastructure and climate-sensitive urban design into their community space projects
    • Assisting partnerships that are developing and implementing place-based outreach and case management strategies
    • Creating and evaluating a call for artists and designers for projects
    • Obtaining and evaluating bids from contractors for projects
    • Designing a maintenance plan for public space improvements
    ​

    If you are interested in receiving Technical Assistance grant funding for your Community Health and Safety Works project, you should consider applying to one of the other funding tracks. If you have any questions about what funding track to select, you may email us at dhcd.communitysafety@maryland.gov.     

    Technical Assistance Sample Application     

    Technical Assistance Training Slides     

Resources

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Awardee Training

FY24 CHSW Awardee Training​   

Application Training

Training sessions and 1:1 support are available until the application deadline.   

Community​ Health and Safety Works Resource & Inspiration Guide​

This collection of tips, tools and resources is designed to guide your community’s goals to integrate health and safety into your community revitalization and placemaking efforts.   

Program FAQs

Be sure to review the program FAQs​ for answers to commonly asked questions about the program. We will be updating this document regularly throughout the application process.   

Sustainable Communities Mapper

To determine if your project is located in a designated Sustainable Communities Area, enter the project address in this mapper​.   

Application​ Process

​

The application period is closed.     

Applications were available from Thursday, March 21, 2024 through Thursday, April 25, 2024 at Maryland OneStop.     

Department staff will lead a review team that will make award recommendations.     

To stay up to date on this and other DHCD programs, sign up for DHCD's news and alerts​.     

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More ​Information

Christine McPherson
Assistant Director
Division of Neighborhood Revitalization
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
2 North Charles Street, Suite 450
Baltimore, Maryland 21201​
​​E: christine.mcpherson@maryland.gov