Community Service

Timonium-based mental health service provider Mosaic Community Services said it will merge with another provider, the North Baltimore Center, as of Thursday and expand its reach into Baltimore City from surrounding counties. The merger gives the providers a combined client base of 20,000 a year, staff of more than 700 and budget of about $36 million. The move by the two, both affiliates of Sheppard Pratt Health System Inc., will allow better management of programs and finances, officials said.

The 35th annual Audrey Robbins Humanitarian Award winners were recognized at a luncheon last week for their commitment to the Association of Community Services of Howard County. Through their accomplishments aiding those with mental illnesses, helping adoptive families, and offering a lifetime of commitment to citizen services, these three women join the 70 people who have received the award since 1975. NAMI — Howard County, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, was awarded Volunteer Team of the Year at the luncheon.

On behalf of the nearly 700 employees (about 85% of whom are direct support staff) and the nearly 3,000 individuals and families receiving community-based support services from The Arc of Baltimore, we offer a huge and hearty thanks to Sen. Thomas M. "Mac" Middleton for his leadership and support for the nonprofit organizations like ours who are dedicated to providing exemplary services to individuals and families affected by developmental disabilities ("Md....

The volunteers who run next weekend's annual Smith College Book Sale are determined, patient and love the volumes they offer. They spend a year soliciting, then organizing, the donated books and entire libraries, then stage an annual springtime sales event that serious readers consider their own secret. "We're praying for cold and rain," said Mary Anderson, president of the Smith College Club of Baltimore. "Bad weather brings us our best crowds." For 52 years, Baltimore Smith College Club volunteers have been gathering and selling a yearly haul of about 50,000 used books.

I read with interest the article about former Mayor Sheila Dixon stepping back into the spotlight ("In public return, Dixon dwells on achievements," Feb. 25). She was promoting some of her pet causes -- one of which was prenatal care. Ms. Dixon signed the bill (that our current Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake sponsored in the City Council) requiring all pregnancy centers in Baltimore to post a sign that tells those walking into these centers what they don't provide -- abortion referrals.

Even before the ink dried on the six-year contract extension Nick Markakis signed with the Orioles in January 2009, the budding star right fielder vowed that he would make as big an impact off the field as on it. Four months later, Markakis and his wife, Christina, announced the formation of a nonprofit organization called The Right Side Foundation, whose mission was to improve the lives of distressed children throughout Maryland. In just six months, the Markakises have hosted children from the Ronald McDonald House on a trip to the ESPN Zone and aquarium, led a group from the Living Classrooms Foundation on tours of Camden Yards and the Sports Legends Museum, and organized a day at the Ravens practice facility for patients from the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital.

Baltimore developer Ronald H. Lipscomb apologized in court Thursday for violating campaign finance rules and accepted a sentence of three years of unsupervised probation, 100 hours of community service and a $25,000 fine imposed by Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney. "I have no one else to blame but myself," Lipscomb said at a sentencing hearing for his role in the City Hall corruption scandal. "If I had not made some stupid and selfish decisions, I would not be here today." Sweeney also barred Lipscomb from donating to any city political candidates or attending campaign events during the probation period.

Seven women were honored this month for their contributions to racial justice, equal opportunity and community service during the 14th annual Fannie Lou Hamer Awards Reception at St. John's College. This year's honorees are U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski; Vanessa Bass, senior manager of recruitment and staffing for Anne Arundel public schools and vice president of the Anne Arundel County Alliance of Black Educators; Jan Chapman, founder, owner and CEO of an investment advisory firm; Victoria Bruce, an author and filmmaker with a background in science whose second book, "Hostage Nation," will be published next year; Karin Hayes, a writer, director and producer who co-wrote "Hostage Nation" with Bruce; Caldonia Johnson, a volunteer who works with the Anne Arundel County Red Cross, Lincoln Heights Community Association and Foster Grandparent program; and Alice Wright, a registered nurse who retired in 1997 after a 43-year career.

People sentenced for drunken driving or other infractions once again have a place to go for the community service part of their court-ordered penance. A new, state-funded alternative sentencing program began operating Tuesday from the Serenity Center, a volunteer-run 12-step program already serving recovering alcohol and drug abusers in a small, unpretentious building next to the Talbott Springs swimming pool on Basket Ring Road in Columbia's Oakland Mills. Using an existing $85,000 state grant, the program will get help from the county detention center staff and from state parole and probation officers to screen candidates for the program referred for community service by county judges.