Governor Moore Announces Historic Funding to Fight Child Poverty Through the ENOUGH Initiative

September 30, 2026/Joe Ciccanti

Governor Wes Moore has officially announced a record-breaking $32 million in grants to boost economic mobility and fight child poverty through Maryland’s ENOUGH Initiative, the administration’s first-in-the-nation program to reduce the number of children living in poverty. The investment will support community-led solutions to poverty in 30 communities in 13 counties across the state where poverty is highly concentrated. Active ENOUGH grantees include:

  • Moving Dorchester Forward, Inc. (Cambridge and South Dorchester, Dorchester County)
  • Caroline Human Services Council, Inc. (Federalsburg, Caroline County)

For a fact sheet on the ENOUGH Initiative see here. 

Governor Moore with Veggie Van

Additional Information from the Office of Governor Wes Moore:

“Nearly three years ago, I committed to an all-out attack on child poverty by launching the first round of funding to communities to fight child poverty. Today, we are doubling down on our commitment by delivering historic funding to pave pathways to work, wages, and wealth,” said Gov. Moore. “ENOUGH is more than just a grant program, it’s a new way of governing that empowers communities and leverages partnerships to surge record resources directly to the neighborhoods that need them most, ensuring that as Maryland moves forward, no one is left behind.”

Governor Moore shared this announcement in the Golden Mile in Frederick, where he highlighted the impact the ENOUGH Initiative has on the community as a model for success of the program. Frederick has received over $2 million in ENOUGH funding, including nearly $500,000 in FY27. Funding has supported educational and healthcare initiatives resulting in 1,088 students receiving free vision screenings. Additionally, funding established 98 mobile produce markets, including at neighborhood Community Schools, delivering 7,918 pounds of fresh food and offering affordable produce options to 3,540 local families. 

For a fact sheet on the ENOUGH Initiative see here. 

“Reducing childhood poverty can transform lives,” Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said. “With more than $1 million in funding over the past three years, the ENOUGH Initiative is supporting community needs right here on the Golden Mile, including workforce development, family enrichment, and food security. I’m grateful for Governor Moore for creating this opportunity for Frederick County.”

In addition to announcing the award of ENOUGH grant funding, Governor Moore also announced additional state grants to support high-poverty communities with critical needs like food access. Governor Moore announced the awarding of $10 million in Produce Rx grants which will deliver medical nutrition and dietary support through fresh food and vegetables to individuals with chronic medical conditions. These grants were awarded specifically to ENOUGH communities – including an award to Frederick for $900,000. 

These grants reflect the Moore-Miller administration’s all-of-government approach to help high poverty communities access capital. In order to surge resources into communities that have faced systemic barriers to investment opportunities, the administration has directed state agencies to prioritize ENOUGH communities in competitive grant programs. As a result, high-poverty communities are receiving critical state grants – often for the first time. Today, Governor Moore announced that ENOUGH communities have received nearly $100 million in additional state government grants since November of last year. 

“The ENOUGH Initiative and our all-of-government approach to fighting child poverty is centered on community-driven solutions and alignment of resources so that we can support a positive trajectory for all of Maryland’s children,” said Governor’s Office for Children Special Secretary Carmel Martin. “Not only are ENOUGH grant dollars helping communities address root causes of poverty, but by surging additional resources to these communities, we are leveraging existing state and federal resources where they are most needed. This is government working better for those it’s intended to serve – showing up in communities where investment has historically been absent and providing communities with a sustainable foundation for collective action.”

As a result of this all-of-government approach to fighting child poverty – and support from philanthropy – every state dollar invested in the ENOUGH Initiative grant program has leveraged an additional four dollars from state agencies and philanthropic partners. Together, over $360 million – comprising $70 million from ENOUGH grants, $100 million in state agency contributions, and $190 million from philanthropic partners – has been deployed to combat child poverty across Maryland’s urban, suburban, and rural communities. This all-of-government approach and aligned investments from private partners is helping transform neighborhoods, with communities implementing programs to boost economic mobility, improve healthcare and food access and create a brighter future for Maryland’s youth.

Created through the passage of the ENOUGH Act in and first launched in December 2024, Maryland’s ENOUGH Initiative is a first-in-the-nation program that aims to reduce the number of children living in poverty through community-led, government-supported solutions informed by residents’ lived experiences and expertise, data, and cross-sector partnerships. ENOUGH communities were selected in December 2024 through a competitive process. This year, following an open application process, four new communities will join the program in its third year.

“Thirty communities across Maryland are receiving ENOUGH Act awards this year, including more than $6.1 million for Cherry Hill, Brooklyn and Curtis Bay, and Perkins Somerset Oldtown,”said Senate President Bill Ferguson. “When we passed the ENOUGH Act, the goal was to change how government responds to concentrated child poverty: listen to the people closest to the work, build on what communities are already doing, and put real resources behind locally led plans. These communities have already done the hard work of bringing residents and partners together around solutions. This funding gives them the resources to put those plans into action for children and families.”

“When we worked to pass the ENOUGH Act, we understood that ending child poverty requires more than any single program or government agency can offer. We must listen to communities and give them the resources to build solutions around the needs of their own families,” said House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk. “Today, we get to see how that vision comes closer to being reality. These investments mean more children with access to healthy food and health care, more families connected to opportunity, and more communities empowered to shape their own futures. I was proud to help shepherd this legislation through the House, and I am even prouder to see what Maryland communities are doing to implement it.”

Through ENOUGH, Maryland is also deploying state agencies to assist ENOUGH communities with complex, systemic challenges like access to benefits. In his visit to Frederick, Governor Moore also highlighted the work of Benefits Navigators, members of the Maryland Corps/ Service Year Option program who are embedded inside local social services offices to provide personalized assistance to Marylanders in economic need. They support organizations as they work to connect customers to vital benefits like SNAP, WIC, energy or food assistance. This year there are over 40 Benefits Navigators in nine jurisdictions, seven of which are ENOUGH communities, including Frederick.

“It’s exciting to see ENOUGH partners breaking down silos across their neighborhood, city, and state and unlocking new ways of supporting their children and communities together,” said ENOUGH Executive Director Ojeda Hall-France. “ENOUGH quarterbacks are truly meeting families where they are and driving lasting, generational change.” 

For a full list of active ENOUGH grantees see below: 

  • 480 Club (Montgomery Village, Montgomery County) – New FY27 Community
  • Anne Arundel County Partnership for Children, Youth, and Families (Pumphrey/ Brooklyn Park, Anne Arundel County)
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford and Cecil Counties (Edgewood, Harford County)
  • Caroline Human Services Council, Inc. (Federalsburg, Caroline County)
  • CASA, Inc. (Langley Park, Prince George’s County)
  • CHEER (Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research) (Long Branch, Montgomery County)
  • Cherry Hill Strong (Cherry Hill, Baltimore City)
  • Child First Authority (Druid Heights/ Upton and Westside, Baltimore City)
  • City of Cumberland (South Penn and John Humbird, Allegany County)
  • Community Assistance Network, Inc. (Essex, Baltimore County)
  • Elev8 Baltimore, Inc. (Sandtown-Winchester/ Harlem Park, Baltimore City)
  • Frederick Local Management Board (Route 40 The Golden Mile, Frederick County)
  • Good Intentions Foundation Inc. (Greater Landover, Prince George’s County)
  • Greater Mondawmin Coordinating Council (Greater Mondawmin, Baltimore City)
  • Identity, Inc. (Central Gaithersburg/ Montgomery Village, Montgomery County)
  • Kent County Local Management Board (Uptown Chestertown, Kent County)  – New FY27 Community
  • Latin American Youth Center (East Riverdale/ Adelphi, Prince George’s County)
  • Leaders Breeders Inc. (Belair-Edison, Baltimore City)
  • LifeStyles of Maryland Foundation, Inc. (Waldorf, Charles County)
  • Moving Dorchester Forward, Inc. (Cambridge and South Dorchester, Dorchester County)
  • New-Service Training Employment Program (N-STEP), Inc. (Aberdeen, Harford County)  – New FY27 Community
  • Park Heights Renaissance, Inc. (Park Heights, Baltimore City)
  • San Mar Family & Community Services: Bester Community of Hope (South End, Hagerstown, Washington County)
  • South Baltimore Community Land Trust (Brooklyn and Curtis Bay, Baltimore City)
  • Tendea Family INC. (McElderry Park Community, Baltimore City)
  • The Central Baltimore Partnership, Inc. (Greater Greenmount in Central Baltimore, Baltimore City)
  • The Y in Central Maryland (Greater Waverly, Baltimore City)
  • Turnaround Inc. (Dundalk, Baltimore County County) – New FY27 Community
  • United Communities Against Poverty (District Heights and Suitland, Prince George’s County)
  • Urban Strategies Inc. (Perkins Somerset Oldtown, Baltimore City)

For more information about the ENOUGH Initiative and the work of the Governor’s Office for Children, visit goc.maryland.gov. 

 

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