The Baltimore New American Access Coalition (BNAAC)

What is the Baltimore New American Access Coalition (BNAAC)?

A 6-month program to help Baltimore City's immigrants and refugees. 

The program will help families with: 

  • Applying to benefits like WIC, SNAP, and more 
  • Connecting families to resources throughout the city

Need assistance applying with the following public benefits? 

  • Health care coverage  
  • Supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) 
  • WIC
  • Cash assistance (TCA)
  • Childcare 
  • Home energy assistance 
  • Water bill assistance
  • Rental Assistance (Oct.21- Nov. 19, 2024)
  • And more! 

To qualify for the program individuals and households must: 

  • Be a Baltimore City Resident
  • Be an Immigrant and Refugee Family with limited English
  • Have at least 1 child under the age of 18 that is a US citizen or has an immigration status
  • Must agree to case management assistance based on household need and agree to meet with Benefit Navigator over the course of six months. 

This program is free and language support is provided.

Please fill out this referral form to participate in BNAAC or if you would like to refer someone else to BNAAC.

BNAAC english 2.0 BNAAC 2.0 Spanish

 

 

Flyers in additional languages:

More Information

Mayor Brandon Scott and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs announced "The Baltimore New American Access Coalition" (BNAAC) in October 2022. The program helps reduce the economic and social hardships of immigrant and refugee families in Baltimore City. The program connects people to health and social resources who were hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program has $4 million of funding from the City's American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.  

For immigrants and refugees, access to health and social services has many barriers. Barriers like language, fear of government, and difficulty navigating already complex government systems. BNAAC wants to increase equity in access to health and human services through its benefit navigation program.   

The benefit navigation program partners with 6 community-based organizations. These partners are CASA, Southeast CDC, Global Refuge, and Esperanza Center. The partners help immigrant and refugee populations in the city. Working with trusted partners builds trust in the benefit navigation program. The program offers short term financial help and long-term bilingual case management. This is to help immigrant and refugee residents’ access federal, state, and local aid. BNAAC will also work with immigration legal services to teach families about their rights.  

The program hosted at CASA, Southeast CDC, Global Refuge, and Esperanza Center served over 700 families through October 2024. A second phase will serve an additional 120 families through April 2025. The program will offer 6 months of case management to limited English proficient families. Over the course of 6 months of case management, benefit navigators assist with applying to services like SNAP, WIC, and healthcare coverage.   

For more information contact Mariela Rodriguez mariela.rodriguez@baltimorecity.gov 

The Baltimore New American Access Coalition (BNAAC) is an ARPA-funded project. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided $641 million to the City of Baltimore in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its negative economic impacts. Mayor Brandon M. Scott has established the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs to transparently and effectively administer this funding on behalf of the City. For additional information, visit the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs website.