“After schools shut down in March 2020, forcing children to stay home and take classes virtually, the challenges for families were crushing.
Baltimore City schools did what they could, handing out laptops and food en masse, but they could not address more serious economic pressures that were forcing families to make tough decisions, like whether to stay home with their children or to keep working.
Without an easily accessible safety net to support families, as the pandemic raged, more and more families faced dire circumstances, like hunger and eviction.
Fortunately, Baltimore had some infrastructure built-in to support families and children.
The city has 127 community schools that offer wraparound services like physical and mental health services and after-school programs, through partnerships with a host of area nonprofits, to support families’ and students’ academic and non-academic needs. They provided essential services for many.”
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