Grant Opportunities FAQ

This section provides information for grant seekers on MONSE’s process for accepting Letters of Inquiry (LOI) and Full Proposals. All funding requests must be submitted through MONSE's new online grant portal.

If you are a new applicant, please create an account on the MONSE Grants Portal to complete the Eligibility Quiz. The short quiz will help determine if your organization is eligible to apply.

For further information, review MONSE’s Funding Priorities or contact MONSE at monse.grants@baltimorecity.gov.


What is the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE)? 

What are MONSE's funding priorities? 

How can I apply for funding? Is there an application form? 

What is the deadline for applying for a grant opportunity? 

What if I need help writing a grant?

What is the application submission review process? 

Does MONSE consider a request for year-over-year funding? 

Who makes the grant decisions? 



What is the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE)? 

Guided by the Mayor’s vision for Baltimore and rooted in a holistic approach to neighborhood health and safety, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) empowers community partners and city agencies to play a more active role in the co-production of public safety and prevention of violence through a trauma-responsive, healing-centered, and equity-based approach for the benefit of all Baltimoreans. 

In everything that it does, MONSE is committed to upholding its core values of being: 

Equity-based. Focused on promoting justice in reducing disproportionate negative impacts of current and future policies and practices. 

Healing-centered. Preventing violence must be paired with repairing harm. 

Trauma-informed. Based on understanding and integrating knowledge about the causes and consequences of trauma. 

Justice-oriented. Real justice is about more than punishment; it is also about restoration, renewal, and healing from past harms. 

Partnership-based. Just as violence is intersectional, so must the solutions, relying on cross-system partners and partnerships. 

Transparent. Strong partnerships require trust, and trust demands transparency and accountability.   

Data- and research-driven. Relying on data and the best available experimental and experiential evidence to guide decision-making. 

Results-oriented. Devoted to delivering impact. 
 

How can I apply for funding? Is there an application form? 

To apply for funding, take the Eligibility Quiz and submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI). From there, MONSE will notify organizations of their application status.  

You can apply for funding through the grants portal.


What is the deadline for applying for a grant opportunity? 

Grant applications in all project categories will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis based on funding availability. 
 

What if I need help writing a grant?

MONSE has partnered with Maryland Nonprofits and the Community Action Justice Fund to provide capacity building support:

Maryland Nonprofits
1500 Union Avenue
Suite 2500
Baltimore, MD 21211
410.727.6367
 

Community Action Justice Fund
512.820.8613
amber@cjactionfund.org
 

What is the application submission review process? 

Prior to the submission of a full grant application, all applicants will be required to submit an official Letter of Inquiry (LOI).  LOI's will be reviewed by the MONSE program staff on a rolling basis. Once the LOI has been reviewed and confirmed to meet the funding priorities criterion, the organization will be invited to submit a full proposal/application for grant funding consideration. 


What are MONSE's funding priorities? 

Community Violence Intervention 

Programs that apply a localized approach to gun violence prevention. Safe Streets Baltimore is an example of a CVI program. 

In June 2021, the Biden-Harris administration released a Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gun Crime and Ensure Public Safety. A cornerstone of the plan is investing in evidence-based community violence interventions, or CVIs — the first time in history a U.S. president is working to operationalize the co-production of public safety with local communities. Mayor Scott was asked to join a collaborative, along with 15 other Mayors, to expand this work. CVIs are effective because they utilize credible messengers to directly resolve conflicts, intervene before violence occurs, and connect people to needed resources. 
 

Victim Services 

Every shooting or violent incident leaves behind a web of trauma – for the victim, as well as bystanders, families, neighbors, and even the perpetrators of violence. Particularly in Baltimore’s Black neighborhoods, which have borne the brunt of gun violence over decades, this trauma has been compounded year after year, incident after incident. Victim services must be a priority in Baltimore’s public safety strategy. To be effective, services must be intentionally coordinated with a trauma-informed approach. The Scott administration’s approach to the work of victim/survivor support will be done in ways that acknowledge the varied and unique needs of victims of violence across their life span and lived experiences. 


Youth Justice 

Historically, Baltimore has over-invested in punitive approaches when young people act out or make a mistake. Mayor Scott has named Prioritizing Our Youth as a cornerstone of his administration’s strategy for a safer, accountable, and equitable Baltimore. The Mayor has committed that the City will do more to invest in the promise of young Baltimoreans, rather than their failure. In Baltimore, Black youth are overrepresented in the youth justice system. The Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) data for Fiscal Year 2020 illustrates the problem. Out of the six DJS regions, Baltimore saw the highest percentage of intake into DJS among Black youth at 95.6 percent. Complaints were formalized or referred to the DJS court for more than 80 percent of youth in Baltimore. This exceeds the statewide rate of formalization, which is 38.9 percent. Simply stated, Baltimore is two times more likely than the surrounding counties to introduce its young people to the criminal justice system. 

Community Healing 

Mayor Scott recognizes the prevalence of trauma in communities experiencing high incidents of gun violence, as well as the impacts of untreated trauma and re-traumatization. The City will work in support of and in alignment with Healing City Baltimore and similar local efforts to integrate trauma-informed approaches and build community capacity for self-healing. 

Re-entry 

Most people who have been incarcerated in Maryland state prisons return home to Baltimore City after serving time. In Fiscal Year 2020, 2,040 residents returned to Baltimore communities from state prisons and the Baltimore City Pre-Trial Complex. Looking at projections over the next six years, Baltimore City is expected to welcome back an average of 2,000 people per year. Baltimore must do a better job of providing services to people returning home from prison. This work must start prior to release. Mayor Scott believes that if we know who will be returning home from prison and when, we can be more intentional about how we tailor support so that returning residents do not re-offend, return to prison, or find themselves unable to make ends meet. 
 

Does MONSE consider a request for year-over-year funding? 

No. Grants are awarded for a one-year/fiscal year period. MONSE does not make multi-year grants. However, organizations may be eligible for funding on a year-by-year basis when necessary to project or program success.   


Who makes the grant decisions? 

Subject-matter experts in each of the funding priorities will weigh in on the most crucial needs of Baltimore City's Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan to make the grant decisions.


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