Twenty-three (23) percent of the county's population lives at or below 200% of the federal poverty line.  We've said that many times before; not new news. (And to reiterate what this really means, 100% of the poverty line is around $20,000.  The United Way says a family of 3 needs an income of 3x the poverty line (300%) to afford an apartment, food, and transportation to work in Baltimore County).

But I bet you didn't know that many are your neighbors.  We know because we can now map 200% of the poverty line using our GIS mapping tool (the development of which so many of you supported - THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU). Here's what that looks like:

The areas marked A-H are places where we are investigating opportunities for urban farms or community gardens.  They are places where both poverty and the existence of vulnerable populations are high. If you know of a community organization that might be a good partner, please use the link below to let us know the group's name.

CLICK HERE IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR W/A CHURCH OR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION IN ONE OF THESE AREAS

Our effort to create our mapping tool was marked by much blood, sweat and beers.  Now that we've finally got the darn thing up and running, we thought it would be important to have an independent authority kick the tires, as they say, and offer an expert opinion as to its quality.

For that work, we have turned to the Chesapeake Conservancy, an Annapolis-based nonprofit that uses technology to enhance the pace and quality of conservation.  We are grateful to the Keep Maryland Beautiful Program of the Md. Environmental Trust(MET) and the Md. Department of Transportation for their award of a Janice Hollmann Grant to support this important work.

Finally, if I could impose on you to help us with one more thing, I'd be grateful.  Would you use the links below to share this with others whom you think might find it interesting?