History & Background: After working in the Maryland correctional institutions for over eighteen years, President/Founder Steve Blankenship experienced firsthand the challenges faced by prisoners upon their release. Specifically, he observed that a great number of female prisoners were uneducated, abused, addicted to drugs, and had lost all contact with their children and family. These women largely fell through the cracks after their release and, due to the profound lack of adequate reentry services, ended up homeless on the streets and soon found themselves back in prison. After retiring from the penal system, while pursuing a career in real estate, Mr. Blankenship also became aware that Baltimore
had a high number of vacant and abandoned homes. Recognizing an opportunity to solve both of these critical issues, he began the M.O.R.P.H.E.U.S. Foundation. Standing for “Mapping Out Reentry by
Providing Housing, Education and Utilization of Services,” the M.O.R.P.H.E.U.S. Foundation takes the challenges faced by these women head on, as well as the critical issues of recidivism and
homelessness and the many problems they inexorably lead to.