Baltimore
Baltimore street named in honor of trans activist
Iya Dammons is founder of support groups Safe Haven in Baltimore, D.C.
Baltimore city officials and LGBTQ activists participated in a ceremony on June 29 officially dedicating the renaming of a street in honor of transgender woman Iya Dammons, who founded and serves as executive director of the LGBTQ services organization Maryland Safe Haven.
A section of Baltimore’s 21st Street at the intersection of North Charles Street, where the Maryland Safe Haven offices are located, has been renamed Iya Dammons Way.
The ceremony took place six years after Dammons founded Maryland Safe Haven in 2018 and one year after she launched a Safe Haven operation in D.C.in 2023 located at 331 H St., N.E.
A statement on its website says Safe Haven provides a wide range of supportive services for LGBTQ people in need, with a special outreach to Black trans women “navigating survival mode” living.
“Through compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,” the statement says. “Our programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,” it says.
Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Alexis Blackmon, and Dominique Morgan, an official with the national foundation Borealis Philanthropy, which provides financial support for transgender supportive nonprofit organizations, including Safe Haven.
“This is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,” a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. “Iya Dammons has been a tireless advocate for transgender rights and has worked tirelessly to provide safe spaces and resources for transgender individuals in our city,” it says. “This honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.”
Baltimore
Baltimore Center Stage refuses to comply with federal anti-DEI guidelines for funding
National Endowment for the Arts has eliminated Challenge America grant program
By WESLEY CASE | The National Endowment for the Arts announced last month new guidelines and the elimination of Challenge America, a grant program that supports underserved groups and communities — moves that falls in line with President Donald Trump’s plan to reshape federal arts policy.
Now, Baltimore Center Stage, Maryland’s state theater, says it will refuse to comply with the NEA’s new guidelines — which state that applicants “will not operate any programs promoting ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’” or “gender ideology” — at the cost of its own potential federal funding in the future.
Under the new guidelines, the NEA is encouraging applicants to create projects that honor the upcoming 250th anniversary of the country’s adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Baltimore
Baltimore Safe Haven announces expanded services in new building
LGBTQ group provides housing, health, legal, other programs
The LGBTQ community services organization Baltimore Safe Haven announced it intends to expand its services in a recently acquired building that it’s currently renovating at 806 North Collington Avenue near the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
“The new facility, named the Mary Lynn Washington Building and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Community Hub and Resource Center, is set to open soon, marking a significant milestone in our ongoing mission to create safe and inclusive spaces for all,” a statement released by the group on Dec. 30 says.
“The expansion would not have been possible without the generous support and commitment of our community donors,” the statement says.
A report by Baltimore’s WMAR 2 TV news says the building’s rooms will accommodate two dozen people “who need transitional or permanent housing and will include clinical resources under the same roof.”
The TV news report says Baltimore Safe Haven’s founder and CEO, Iya Dammons, completed the purchase of the building over the Christmas weekend but neither the news report nor the Safe Haven statement disclosed the building’s purchase price.
“We extend our deepest gratitude to [Maryland State] Senator Mary Washington, Congressman Kweisi Mfume, Mayor Brandon Scott, Borealis Philanthropy, the Astraea Foundation, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, MOHS, COC, and MDH,” the statement says. “Their unwavering support has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life,” it says.
“The new community hub will serve as a one-stop resource center, providing expanded clinic services in collaboration with the University of Maryland, including mental health and wellness programming,” according to the statement.
A separate statement on its website says Dammons, a transgender rights activist, founded Baltimore Safe Haven in 2018. The statement says the group has previously expanded its services since its founding to provide housing services for members of the LGBTQ community facing homelessness and housing insecurity.
“The organization has also developed a wide range of programs and services focused on mental health support, physical health coordination, workforce development, legal support, advocacy, and community building.”
In July 2023, Safe Haven opened a D.C. office and drop-in center at 331 H St., N.E. that Dammons said would seek to provide services for the LGBTQ community, especially people in need, like the services provided in Baltimore.
Baltimore
5 more Salisbury students charged after man said he was lured to apartment attack
Suspects allegedly targeted victim on Grindr
By CODY BOTELER | Five more Salisbury University students have been charged in an alleged attack where a man said he was lured into an apartment and punched, kicked, and spat on because of his “sexual preferences,” the Salisbury Police Department said Thursday afternoon.
The latest charges come after seven students were arrested earlier in the week, in an incident law enforcement officials are investigating as a hate crime.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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