ENOUGH Initiative Overview
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Poverty is one of the most persistent challenges in our society, and addressing it is both urgent and complex. Its root causes are woven into nearly every aspect of American life – housing, education, healthcare, public safety, transportation, food access and more. Many families navigating these challenges have faced a long history of inadequate social support systems. And it’s our children who often suffer the most.
There are 1.3M children living in poverty in the United States today, and roughly 150,000 in Maryland. For too long, concentrated childhood poverty has existed in neighborhoods across the state, denying many children the ability to reach their full potential. But every child deserves more than just a chance to survive – they deserve the opportunity to thrive.
As Marylanders, we have a shared responsibility to ensure fairness across neighborhoods, because your zip code should not determine your outcome in life. And when every community thrives, Maryland wins with a healthier economy, a stronger tax base and less strain on public service programs.
In 2024, the Moore-Miller Administration spearheaded the passage of the Engaging Neighborhoods, Organizations, Unions, Governments, and Households (ENOUGH) Act, a law intended to tackle the root causes of poverty in Maryland by addressing inequities and working with impacted communities to develop local solutions. This first-in-the-nation, community-driven effort to reduce the number of children living in concentrated poverty has an initial commitment of more than $100 million for four years from state, philanthropic, and private partners.
“There's a measure of intentionality that drives concentrated poverty – so there needs to be a measure of intentionality in how we're going to address it.”
Governor Wes Moore
Today, Maryland’s ENOUGH Initiative, administered by the Governor’s Office for Children (GOC), is supporting 27 community-led organizations across 12 counties, representing rural, suburban and urban areas in the state that have been historically impacted by barriers to economic mobility. Through the use of data, residents’ lived experiences, and cross-sector collaboration, this pioneering grant initiative aims to improve access to four key pillars of development for young people – quality healthcare, safer communities, good schools and good jobs – so that more children and families can prosper. The Initiative also provides support to Local Management Boards, which bring together local service providers across education, health, child welfare, housing and community safety, to build the capacity of community-based organizations to tackle child poverty in every jurisdiction in Maryland.
For decades, government programs have tried to reduce poverty with mixed results – and usually without directly listening to the people most affected. ENOUGH flips that model on its head by connecting the dots between state agencies, local nonprofits, and community leaders to work toward shared goals with clear outcomes. It puts funding and power directly in the hands of neighborhood organizations, not agencies or outsiders.
For example, a struggling school may have a strong administrative team, but lacks a functioning parent-teacher association that allows parents and school leaders to work side by side to advocate for what their kids need. A parent may have an opportunity to join a job-training program but have no access to transportation or quality childcare. The ENOUGH Initiative supports partnerships at the community level that tackle these kinds of gaps and better integrate existing programs to meet people’s realities because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to these challenges.
“This is an opportunity to leverage additional sources of capital. This legislation will channel private, philanthropic, and state resources to communities with the highest rates of generational poverty.”
Governor Wes Moore
In addition, by taking a whole-community, whole-government approach, the GOC in its new capacity can do what no single agency can do alone: align, coordinate, and maximize Maryland’s investment in children and families. Rather than creating another independent agency, GOC is designed to be a force multiplier – a connector of agencies that helps break up siloes in state government to ensure resources reach the people they’re meant to support.
Intentionally designed to dismantle barriers to progress, ENOUGH is Maryland’s a bold step toward building a future where every child in the state can focus on their dreams and not what’s missing from their lives. Instead of wondering where their next meal is coming from, whether they’ll make it to graduation, or how they’ll find a pathway to a career, all of Maryland’s young people will have the resources they need to grow up with hope, security, and opportunity, creating a better, stronger Maryland for all.
Join our movement to end childhood poverty in Maryland. We Are ENOUGH.
