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Rural Maryland Council Announces Fiscal Year 2023 Grant Recipients

The Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund (RMPIF) supports Rural Maryland Council’s operating
activities, including the Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund
(MAERDAF), and the State’s five rural Regional Councils. The RMPIF grant program is designed to
facilitate significant targeted investments in important economic and community development
programs and promote regional and intergovernmental cooperation. The MAERDAF grant program
provides capacity-building grants to rural serving nonprofit organizations and community colleges that
promote statewide and regional planning, economic and community development, youth engagement
& leadership development, energy, rural broadband, and agricultural and forestry education.

Total Requested: 215 Applications $19,130,407
Total Awarded: 84 Grants $8,369,629

Regional Councils: 5 Grants = $3,000,000
Per Statute, one-third of the RMPIF is distributed to the State’s five rural regional planning and
development councils:

Awardee Total Award
Mid-Shore Regional Council $600,000
Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore $600,000
Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland $600,000
Tri-County Council for Western Maryland $600,000
Upper Shore Regional Council $600,000
Regional Council activities funded through RMPIF, include:
• Equity lending
• Transportation software and systems
• Regional agricultural development and
education

• Economic and small business
development activities
• Summer Career Enrichment
• Rural economic research
Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund: 32 Grants = $4,216,426

The RMPIF grant program has three focus areas-Health Care, Entrepreneurship, and Infrastructure. In
FY2023, this program received 87 applications totaling $11,748,072 in requests. Of these requests, 32
grants totaling $4,216,426 were awarded.
RMPIF Health Care: 17 Grants = $1,541,120

Awardee Total Award
Brook Lane Health Services $150,000
Casa Della Fenice, Inc/ dba Reflection House $200,000
Chesapeake Housing Mission Inc. $15,000
Choptank Community Health System, Inc. $158,000
Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center $75,000

For All Seasons, Inc. $150,000
Fort Ritchie Community Center, Inc. $40,000
Garrett County Health Department $127,151
Habitat For Humanity Of Wicomico County, Inc. $75,000
Ivy and Pearls of Southern Maryland Community Charities, Incorporated $10,000
Maryland Emergency Medicine Network $175,000
Partners for Care $45,000
The Arc Southern Maryland $18,750
The Benedictine School for Exceptional Children Foundation Incorporated $87,750
TidalHealth $187,775
Town of Millington $13,694
Western Maryland Area Health Education Center (dba AHEC West) $13,000
RMPIF Entrepreneurship: 8 Grants = $1,144,748

Awardee Total Award
Carroll Community College $250,000
Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center $200,000
Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. $135,000
Frostburg State University $143,500
Howard County Economic Development Authority $65,248
People for Change Coalition $90,000
The Greater Cumberland Committee $175,000
University of Maryland Eastern Shore $86,000
RMPIF Infrastructure: 7 Grants = $1,530,558

Awardee Total Award
Allegany College of Maryland $250,000
Board of County Commissioners of Garrett County $81,808
Calvert County Government – Economic Development $100,000
Dorchester County Economic Development $380,000
Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center $100,000
Enterprise Community Development, Inc. $500,000
Town of Boonsboro $118,750

Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund: 47 Grants = $1,153,203
The MAERDAF grant program has five focus areas-Agricultural and Forestry Education, Community and
Economic Development, Energy, Rural Broadband, and Youth Engagement and Leadership
Development. In FY2023, this program received 123 applications totaling $4,382,335 in requests. Of
these requests, 47 grants totaling $1,153,203 were awarded.
MAERDAF Agricultural and Forestry Education: 13 Grants = $379,470

Awardee Total Award
Allegany College of Maryland $45,000
Ann’s Circle, Inc. (DBA Annmarie Sculpture Garde) $45,000
Delmarva Chicken Association $25,000
Ladies of Charity Calvert County, Inc $6,500
LEAD Maryland Foundation, Inc. $45,000
Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation $25,500
Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation $43,690

Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation $1,280
Maryland Forestry Foundation $20,000
Maryland Forests Association, Inc. $25,000
Maryland Horse Foundation $45,000
Steam Onward Inc $17,500
Western Maryland RC&D $35,000
MAERDAF Community and Economic Development: 21 Grants = $529,369

Awardee Total Award
Aaron’s Place, Inc. $36,000
Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity – Alpha Theta Education Foundation $1,000
Bay Community Support Services, Inc. $15,400
Beach to Bay Heritage Area $30,000
Caroline County Historical Society $45,000
Chesapeake Audubon Society-Pickering Creek Audubon Center $11,590
Chesapeake Center, Inc. $30,000
Chesapeake Culinary Center $45,000
Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center, Inc. $25,000
Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore $25,000
Community Mediation Maryland $33,750
Delmarva Community Services $8,950
Delmarva Community Services $26,325
Fair Hill Environmental Foundation, Inc. $8,950
Fair Hill International, Inc. $25,000
Garrett College Foundation $35,000
Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna $45,000
Justice Jobs of Maryland $27,454
Mid Shore Community Mediation Center $14,950
Minorities in Aquaculture $10,000
The Ranch, Inc. $30,000
MAERDAF Energy: 2 Grants = $60,700

Awardee Total Award
Alliance for Green Heat $25,000
Easton Day Care Center, Inc. dba Crichlow Adkins Children’s Centers $35,700
MAERDAF Rural Broadband: 1 Grant = $45,000

Awardee Total Award
LifeStyles of Maryland Foundation, Inc. $45,000
MAERDAF Youth Engagement & Leadership Development: 10 Grants = $138,664

Awardee Total Award
Building African American Minds, Inc. $16,399
Coming of Kings, Inc. $10,000
Dream Queen Foundation $32,000
Furnace Town Foundation $5,000
Garrett County Arts Council, Inc. $15,000
It Takes a Village to Help Our Children, Inc. $9,000
Lower Shore Land Trust $21,000
Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts $8,000

Maryland FFA Foundation, Inc. $10,000

Off Street Sports Performance $12,265

Rural Maryland Council: Operating Budget – $750,000

Organization Funds Distributed
Rural Maryland Council $750,000
Founded in 1994, the Rural Maryland Council (RMC) serves as the state’s federally designated rural
development council and functions as a voice for Rural Maryland – advocating, educating, and helping
rural communities and businesses across the state to flourish and to gain equity to its suburban and
urban counterparts. The Council administers the Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund (RMPIF)
and the Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF) grant
programs. Additionally, the Council conducts research activities to understand rural challenges and
outreach to engage rural residents in developing solutions to these challenges and convenes groups to
identify solutions through consensus and coalition building.

RMC operates under the direction of a 40-member Executive Board in a nonpartisan and
nondiscriminatory manner. The Council’s vision is a future where all of Rural Maryland is prosperous
with thriving resources, vibrant economies, and healthy, connected communities. The organizational
goals are to:
• Encourage healthy, connected communities throughout Rural Maryland through convening
stakeholders, education, public relations, and advocacy;
• Support the development and growth of vibrant economies in Rural Maryland;
• Foster stewardship of Maryland’s natural resources; and,
• Maximize outreach, resources, and mission through financial and organizational development.

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