Fifty years of serving the needs of Baltimore is the Goldseker legacy

What makes local foundations so powerful for the people Baltimore? Let Annie Milli educate you about Goldseker Foundation and how it powers local organizations that fill the neighborhood needs that government can’t manage in our community.

Nestor Aparicio discusses the Goldseker Foundation’s 50th anniversary and its impact on Baltimore. Annie Milli, a program officer, highlights the foundation’s $150 million endowment, which has granted $140 million to 700 organizations over 50 years. The foundation supports community development, eliminating vacant housing, and neighborhood revitalization. Notable projects include the Grow Baltimore Initiative and the Patterson Park CDC. The foundation also played a role in establishing Baltimore’s philanthropic sector. Nestor mentions the upcoming Baltimore’s Birthday Bash on July 31st, celebrating Baltimore’s 297th birthday.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend the July 31st Baltimore’s Birthday Bash event in place of Annie and purchase a City Life/Baltimore’s birthday bash T-shirt from the Live Baltimore online merch store.

Nestor Aparicio’s Introduction and Segment Overview

• Nestor Aparicio welcomes listeners to WNST AM 1570, mentioning the show’s location at Faithley’s in Lexington Market.
• He discusses the potential move of the show to Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville and the Orioles’ current standing.
• Nestor introduces Sean Stanette, a former intern now serving as a delegate, and mentions the show’s sponsors, including the Maryland Lottery.
• He humorously recounts his plans to visit various Maryland locations, including Ocean City and Blackwater Refuge.

Introduction of Annie Milli and Goldseker Foundation

• Nestor introduces Annie Milli, who is now with the Goldseker Foundation, and mentions her previous role at Live Baltimore.
• Annie presents the Goldseker Foundation’s 50th annual report, highlighting the foundation’s history and its impact on Baltimore.
• Nestor shares a humorous anecdote about Matt Gallagher, a former guest, and their interactions at Faithley’s.
• The conversation shifts to Gallagher’s initial skepticism about Nestor’s mayoral aspirations and their subsequent friendship.

Nestor’s Crab Video and Its Impact

• Nestor recounts the story of his viral crab-opening video, which featured Matt Gallagher and Damie, and how it went viral, garnering millions of views.
• He shares the aftermath of the video, including people recognizing him on the streets and Gallagher’s newfound respect for him.
• The conversation touches on the importance of community and the positive impact of the video on Nestor’s public persona.
• Nestor and Annie discuss their backgrounds, including their connections to Baltimore and their experiences with crabbing.

Annie Milli’s Role and the Goldseker Foundation’s Mission

• Annie explains her role at the Goldseker Foundation and the foundation’s history, including its founder, Morris Goldseker.
• She highlights the foundation’s significant impact, including its $11 million estate in 1973 and its growth to a $150 million endowment.
• The conversation covers the foundation’s focus on community development and its support for various organizations in Baltimore.
• Annie emphasizes the foundation’s role in providing backbone support to organizations working in neighborhoods to revitalize them.

Live Baltimore and the Goldseker Foundation’s Collaboration

• Annie discusses the founding of Live Baltimore, which was partially funded by the Goldseker Foundation, and its mission to market Baltimore neighborhoods.
• Nestor and Annie reflect on the importance of community development and the role of foundations in supporting local initiatives.
• The conversation highlights the success of various neighborhood revitalization projects, such as those in Patterson Park and Johnston Square.
• Annie shares her personal connection to Baltimore and her passion for the city’s growth and development.

The Role of Foundations in Community Development

• Nestor and Annie discuss the differences between various types of foundations and their roles in the community.
• Annie explains the Goldseker Foundation’s approach to supporting organizations rather than capital projects, and the importance of accountability in grant-making.
• The conversation touches on the foundation’s efforts to eliminate vacant housing in Baltimore and the impact of this work on neighborhoods.
• Nestor and Annie reflect on the broader implications of community development and the importance of foundations in supporting local initiatives.

Baltimore’s Progress and Future Goals

• Nestor and Annie discuss the progress Baltimore has made in recent years, including reductions in violent crime and improvements in neighborhoods.
• Annie highlights the foundation’s current focus on eliminating vacant housing and the collaborative efforts to address this issue.
• The conversation covers the importance of community engagement and the role of passionate residents and strong leadership in driving positive change.
• Nestor and Annie express optimism about Baltimore’s future and the ongoing efforts to improve the city.

Baltimore’s Birthday Bash and Community Celebration

• Nestor and Annie discuss the upcoming Baltimore’s Birthday Bash, an annual event celebrating Baltimore’s history and community.
• Annie describes the event as a fun and inclusive party where residents, elected officials, and business leaders come together to celebrate the city.
• The conversation highlights the importance of the event in fostering a sense of community and pride in Baltimore.
• Nestor and Annie encourage listeners to attend the event and support the city’s ongoing efforts to improve and grow.

Nestor’s Personal Reflections and Future Plans

• Nestor shares his personal reflections on Baltimore and his experiences living and working in the city.
• He discusses his plans to attend the All-Star Game in Philadelphia and his excitement for the event.
• The conversation touches on Nestor’s love for Baltimore and his commitment to supporting the city’s growth and development.
• Nestor and Annie conclude the segment with a positive outlook on Baltimore’s future and their continued efforts to make a difference in the community.

Nestor Aparicio 0:00
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Tassel, Baltimore. We’re here in beautiful downtown Baltimore, Maryland, at my homeboy home. We’re at Faithley’s here at Lexington Market. This could be our final showdown here for the summer because we’re moving over to Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville, and the Orioles might be moving out of last place. Who knows? But Luke will be here a little later on. Also going to have my favorite elected official in the state, probably replacing like a Jamie Raskin or Chris Van Hollen. I know he’ll like that. Sean Stanette, my former intern, is now delegate and elected, duly elected official. Sean Stanett, he’ll be here later on. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland Lottery. I’m going to be going across the Bay Bridge. I’m going to see the ponies in Assateague, but never Chickatink because that’s not Maryland. I’m going to the boardwalk in Ocean City for Mako, and where’s the other one here? Somebody stole all my. Where are my? Where are my fishes? Hold on, I had fishes. I’ll find it. Blackwater Refuge, one of my favorite places in the state. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland Lottery, Maryland Treasures. We’re at Faithley’s having crab cakes. It’s the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. Friends at GBMC are keeping me alive and spry and healthy, as well as Farnan and Dermer. And it is a little warm in here, man. I like wore jeans and I wore two layers. So Zach Dermer have to call him 410 367777 Come put my fire out for my HVAC. Annie Millie’s here. She is with Goldsacker Foundation. You may remember her from her perfect TV days as Live Baltimore. Megan McCorkle is now with Live Baltimore. So I talked to her about Enoch Pratt. You’re now with Goldsacker, and so this whole thing started when I invited Gallagher because he sent me this, which is what Annie.

Annie Milli 1:40
That is the Goldstein Foundation’s 50th annual report. We’re celebrating our 50th anniversary. It’s a lot of years. It’s a lot of years. It’s fantastic. We’re very proud to be a perpetual asset for the people and institutions of Baltimore, and the report talks about our history and it celebrates our grantees, and it’s a big milestone.

Nestor Aparicio 1:59
Gallagher said to me, and I can read from my phone, and I probably should because he’s he’s governmental, okay, or was quasi governmental. He told me, literally, did he tell you this that if once you do the show, I’m never going to invite him back. Now that’s paraphrasing. I just got to find it. Here it is, right here. Yeah, he’s

Annie Milli 2:22
very kind. He’s always flattered. Hold

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Nestor Aparicio 2:24
on here. The meat talk Annie time window foundation rock star. Hold on. Program officer.

Annie Milli 2:33
Program officer.

Nestor Aparicio 2:34
Just getting. I’m getting the. Now he sent me another thing and said that once you were on, I’d never go back to him. And you. First thing you said to me is, “How do you know Matt? And I went through the whole like I was going to run for mayor, bought him a positive, like all that stuff. But here’s the truth about Gallagher.

Annie Milli 2:48
Okay,

Nestor Aparicio 2:49
he never took me seriously because, I mean, look at me, right? You know what I mean? So he he and I, and I said I’m going to run for mayor, and he was one of the very few people that when he spoke to me about it, was taking me seriously or pretending to. Even though he thought I was a little nuts, but he didn’t try to talk me out of it. Okay, like a lot of people, like everybody was like, “You’re nuts. You’re too white. You’re not this. You’re not that. You can’t. You’re unelected. Like I’ll hear all that, but he like talked to me, and I’m like, he’s such a serious, serious, and he should be the mayor. And I thought, okay, he’s kind of taking me serious. And then we did a hit together here.

Annie Milli 3:29
Okay, we were at

Nestor Aparicio 3:30
Fadley’s over at the old Fadley’s. It was like this time of year was Fourth of July, and he was on the set, and Moeller was there, and we did a whole bit that there was a young lady at Faithley’s on a very cold winter day who ordered one very small crab. She ordered one of everything. She was from Minnesota. She didn’t have to open it, anything. And I started to show her, and Moeller had a freaking conniption. He’s like, “You’re showing her wrong. You’re showing her the wrong way to open a crab. And I’m like, dude, I’m from Dundalk. I’ve opened 10,000 crabs. You know, not even facetiously. I used to pull them out of the back river and the yeah. And so Bear Creek. He got mad at me, and Damie got wind of this. And when the whole thing was over, and I was done doing all my Annie Millies and all my mats and all the things I do. We did one stupid, not even for television.

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Annie Milli 4:30
It

Nestor Aparicio 4:30
was on my phone. I set it up on like a coaster the wrong way, like the kids do it. This way, not this way, right? And I set it up, and it featured Damie’s hands showing me how to open a crab, Catonsville style. Which apparently, you don’t pull the whole thing apart. You do it lollipop style. Is there a

Annie Milli 4:55
knife involved?

Nestor Aparicio 4:56
No, it’s like magic. You got so the video. We made seem very innocuous to me. It was like July 1st, with 150 degrees. I put all my crap away. Way way you saw me put it together. I went home, and I cut my finger. There’s a scar right there. You see that scar?

Annie Milli 5:13
That’s that’s really the

Nestor Aparicio 5:14
scar. I sliced my finger open, doing it her way.

Annie Milli 5:18
Okay.

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Nestor Aparicio 5:18
And I’ve never ever ever done it the Catonsville way, the lollipop way again?

Annie Milli 5:23
You got to do it your own way.

Nestor Aparicio 5:24
Where are you from?

Annie Milli 5:25
I’m from here.

Nestor Aparicio 5:26
You got away?

Annie Milli 5:27
I mean, I think where are you from?

Nestor Aparicio 5:28
Where’s here?

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Annie Milli 5:30
Well, I grew up. Richard

Nestor Aparicio 5:31
High School.

Annie Milli 5:32
I went to Franklin High School.

Nestor Aparicio 5:33
You’re from Northwest. You’re from Reisterstown.

Annie Milli 5:35
I grew up in Reisterstown, Owings Mills. Yes, I know. And my family’s been sort of city mouse, country mouse, all you know for many, many years, and I’ve been here my whole adult life. You

Nestor Aparicio 5:47
know your way around the crustacean. Yeah, I do. You know what it’s like to cut your fingers. I’ve been

Annie Milli 5:51
soft shell crabbing. Like, have you ever done that? That’s incredible. Okay, you get up, you get up very early before the sun. You get into a very small boat, and you have to go along the shoreline with a net.

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Nestor Aparicio 6:06
Tony Conrad has offered to do this with me. Okay, it’s like literally take me out in Middle River.

Annie Milli 6:11
It’s incredible, literally. And when you get to a dock, which you’ll get to many, you have to lay down in the boat so that you can go underneath of the dock, and it’s just like an incredible experience, yeah. It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool growing up around here, isn’t it? Right. Yeah. So

Nestor Aparicio 6:24
I cut my finger while I’m bleeding. All I didn’t have my equipment. I mean, I’m dabbing my. I can feel it now, stinging. The issues in there. In there. The the the Jo or the. Oh sure. So I’m burning. Went home. Didn’t think anything of it. Video’s only on here. I put all the stuff that I do here on the radio and the cosmos, and I woke up on July 3rd. It was like Heritage Fair weekend, about three in the afternoon, and I saw the video, and the video was kind of fun about opening the crab. And even though I cut my hand open, I put it up on Facebook and I took a nap before I went to Heritage Fair. Oh yeah, 3:30 at 6:30, I woke up that had 80,000 views.

Annie Milli 7:04
Okay,

Nestor Aparicio 7:04
and then it accelerated into it has like 4 million views now. You can put Nestor Crab video up, right?

Annie Milli 7:11
Definition of a viral video. Of all

Nestor Aparicio 7:13
the things in my life I’ve ever done, for the next 18 months, I would walk the streets of Baltimore. People would yell, “Hey, nasty! Hey, ravage! Or as they say, ain’t you the crap video guy, Dan Fadley’s? So I had that going on, and then Gallagher, the next time he saw me, he said, “You know how he is. I’ll never doubt you again. That’s what he said to me. So that’s how I know Matt Gallagher. Is that good? Did I do a good job?

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Annie Milli 7:38
It’s a great story, and it’s no surprise that he was very supportive in whatever you were trying to pursue. He’s a very supportive man. He’s a very

Nestor Aparicio 7:45
supportive man. He

Annie Milli 7:46
is a very supportive man. But he’s

Nestor Aparicio 7:47
never coming back on the show because you’re going to be better guest.

Annie Milli 7:49
Well, we’ll see about that. I’m happy to be though. I hear though, so thank you so much. So

Nestor Aparicio 7:53
I’ve gone up down the river with Goldsteincker. My audience may know, they may not know what a foundation is. I always say, let’s go Schoolhouse Rock. Let’s go. I mean, we don’t understand civics in this country, let alone what a foundation represents and what old money, new money, and everything’s foundations. Kochlub, it’s got a name on it, and everybody knows the Harry and Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. Yeah, I’ve been doing that since Ed Block 30 years ago, putting names on buildings. We have a guy running the country, like to put his name on the building, whether he should or shouldn’t. Give me the Goldsacker story because I think, folks, I’m inspired by it. I know a good person like Matt and a good person like you. You spend your days and nights making sure that this old money winds up doing good things right here, right now, the way it was set up to do. Right? Yeah.

Annie Milli 8:39
Well, it’s it’s a really inspiring story. So Morris Goldsacker, he came to Baltimore as a 15-year-old boy. He came here all by himself. It was 1914. He was escaping Russian-occupied Poland. He worked as a grocery store clerk and other modest jobs, just like most immigrants do. And eventually, he built a real estate company that employed hundreds of Baltimoreans. It gave lots of people the opportunity to own homes. And when he died in 1973, he had an 11 million dollar estate, and he left. Hold on, yeah,

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Nestor Aparicio 9:11

19. I was do the math. 11 million dollars in 1973 would have purchased the New York Yankees. They were sold for like 9 million, like I’m just I’m giving you a no. That’s good context. I’m giving you a context of like what you could have done if you were a rich guy. I want to say the word I was going to say at that point and gifted it to your kids who would have pissed it away or whatever would have been done with money. Yeah, with money. I mean, Leonard Raskin is my financial guy here, and he’s always like, what you can do with money when you compound it is you can create wealth for yourself or whatever. This is the other side of this. Yeah. During my early, you know, my he was leaving the earth and I was coming onto the earth. Yeah. And he was trying to help make this city better. Literally, this city.

Annie Milli 9:56
Yeah. And what he did was he started this foundation. With his entire estate, and the same thing, the foundation has become a perpetual asset for the people and institutions of Baltimore. So that money has been invested in over 50 years. That 11 million has granted 140 million to 700 organizations, and we now have an endowment worth 150 million that we can use as an asset to support the people institutions of Baltimore for for many many many years to come. So those are just pretty incredible

Nestor Aparicio 10:29
numbers and 150 million. And then you put out this that says where it goes. So if you’re accountability, imagine that transparency. You know, imagine that all the things that Gallagher talked to me about government. If I ran the city, you’ve been at this a long time. Like you come from Live Baltimore, which talk about give the speech and the numbers. Pretend Megan’s not here, and the numbers are updated. Megan, I’m coming to your party. I’m coming back from rushing New York. It better be good. I know it’s going to be good.

Annie Milli 10:57
It’s going to be good. I’m sure it’s going to go into that

Speaker 1 10:59
one.

Annie Milli 11:00
I’m not gonna go. I did it for 10 years. I did it for 10 years. My hair

Nestor Aparicio 11:03
looks perfect. You should go. Oh

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Annie Milli 11:05
my gosh! No, you know what? It’s my husband’s birthday weekend, and for 10 years, that poor man. Enough said. He did birthday bashing for a very long time. He was he was our extra employee for Shark Tank. Oh, anyway,

Nestor Aparicio 11:16
here’s what we’re gonna do right now. Okay.

Annie Milli 11:18
Yeah.

Nestor Aparicio 11:18
Even though you’re not going, and you’re a little worn out on birthday bash. No, I’m not worn out. I’m

Annie Milli 11:22
not worn out. I’m just. I’m

Nestor Aparicio 11:23
gonna take your spot.

Annie Milli 11:24
Okay, take my spot.

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Nestor Aparicio 11:25
I’m gonna be you. My hair is gonna be different, and I’m different gender, like all that. But like, give me the vibe on that because Megan likes this. You know, it’s a spot. You’re coming. You’re coming. You’re coming. And I’m like, all right, I’m coming. It’s come a Friday. It’s it’s like the end of the month. It’s always

Annie Milli 11:39
the last Friday in July because it’s a celebration of Baltimore City’s birthday. City’s going to be 297 this year, I think. Megan can check my number. You want to take

Nestor Aparicio 11:49
a selfie of the two of us and send it to her. Just to troll

Annie Milli 11:51
her a little bit. Just say, hey,

Nestor Aparicio 11:52
we’re telling we’re pimping your joint today.

Annie Milli 11:55
No, she and the team. Annie’s

Nestor Aparicio 11:56
eating your crab cake. Ha ha. I’m sorry. Go ahead.

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Annie Milli 11:58
She and the team are going to do an incredible job! It’s it’s a wonderful wonderful civic event. I was there when the event started. It was a a bunch of Live Baltimore employees. My my colleague and friend Liz Koons and I and others. Did you

Nestor Aparicio 12:11
make the shirt? I love City Life. No, I

Annie Milli 12:13
didn’t. That was a woman named Carolyn O’Keefe who. I don’t

Nestor Aparicio 12:16
own one, and I’m I’m I’m mad at Megan and myself. Okay, I’m mad at I’m mad at myself. They

Annie Milli 12:22
have an online store. You can get in there. You can order your merch. You can support a good cause. I mean, be

Nestor Aparicio 12:27
more positive. I gotta have something. Okay, I’m sure

Annie Milli 12:30
they can bring. I used to carry the swag with me. I don’t do it anymore. You know what I

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Nestor Aparicio 12:32
found in my closet. I carry around with the foundation. I don’t like T-shirts and all that. And I found the beater shirt that I bought on the corner where perhaps. Read Ale House, Baltimore versus everybody.

Annie Milli 12:46
Oh yeah,

Nestor Aparicio 12:47
I have that. You know, orange and black. I have

Annie Milli 12:49
one. It’s yeah, y’all. I got as polite. Yeah, the

Nestor Aparicio 12:53
former mayor made that famous. But you know, I guess for Baltimore, you come at this honest to want to make this sort of a move in the same way that Megan went from television to Enoch Pratt to people that love Baltimore wind up moving around, and me, I moved from Faithley’s to Koco’s, and even to the county, Pizza Johns and Costas. Yeah, people, you say yeah, like you’re from Baltimore, like we love this place, right? Love this place. I love City Life. That’s why I want the shirt. Yeah, and I think that there’s something about like once you start to get entrenched in trying to do good things here, and you see success stories in various ways. And I’m sure the Baltimore for you, yeah, trying to get people to live here and love it. And I did. I lived downtown for 19 years. Look,

Annie Milli 13:34
it was the it was the best job ever. I was so happy to do it. I did it for 11 years. I’m laughing at your lottery tickets. Actually, I I wore. I was in commercial advertising before I was at Live Baltimore, and the Maryland Lottery was one of my accounts. So I had a ticket as good looking as this

Nestor Aparicio 13:47
boardwalk ticket. Here, this is perfect.

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Annie Milli 13:49
I once did a we did a Ravens ticket, and I had to get Tony Saragusa, who was retired at the time and had been retired for quite some time, to put on his helmet. He was not happy to have to put that on. I like putting

Nestor Aparicio 14:02
this on. Yeah,

Annie Milli 14:02
he did not want to do it. But yeah, that was goose doesn’t

Nestor Aparicio 14:05
wear a helmet.

Annie Milli 14:06
That was a really fun photo shoot. Fun working on the. You’re making

Nestor Aparicio 14:10
me think of him. He makes me laugh. You and I were. Oh, it

Annie Milli 14:12
would. That was that was a great day. I remember doing races up and down the field, and that was great. I loved working on that account. But yeah, commercial advertising was a lot of fun, but then I started to want to do more, and I ended up marketing the city of Baltimore. So I, I was I was selling lottery tickets, and then I decided I’ve been

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Nestor Aparicio 14:32
marketing Baltimore every minute of my life. Yeah, if you love the Orioles, love the Ravens, love the city,

Annie Milli 14:36
yeah,

Nestor Aparicio 14:37
you want. That’s why we cheer for the teams. We want good things to happen.

Annie Milli 14:41
We want good things to happen. So when I got the opportunity to market the city, it was just it was a wonderful, wonderful time, and I had so much fun learning about neighborhoods. I always tell people, Live Baltimore is like a PhD program in Baltimore. You get to meet people, go places that nobody else gets to go. It’s an amazing. Opportunity, and actually, Live Baltimore’s one of the organizations that was in part founded by the Goldsacker Foundation. What? Yeah, so that’s the connection to the foundation. Yeah,

Nestor Aparicio 15:10
you know, people wonder how I meandering these stories.

Annie Milli 15:14
Yeah, yeah, it’s a cool story. I mean, so back in the ’90s, there were passionate residents of Baltimore, including Carol Gilbert, who was the program officer at the Goldsucker Foundation, they were getting together. They were talking about their concerns about population loss, their concerns about neighborhoods that were in decline, and they wanted more people to come here. And so they were trying to figure out what to do. And they ultimately decided they needed to found an organization that was responsible for marketing the neighborhoods to residents, and that was Live Baltimore. And we are

Nestor Aparicio 15:42
such a neighborhood city. Absolutely, a lot of cities don’t have neighborhoods like we have, where people have been entrenched forever. You know, yeah. I mean, in Baltimore, has such a rich. Like I travel the world, and certainly in our country, the depth of Lexington Market. We’re now in the second one, right? Yeah. Memorial Stadium to Camden Yards, right? Like whatever the harbor is going to be the next time, and I was bitching about that this morning because we’re going to get the All Star Game here soon. Okay. And you remember the All Star Game was here in ’93. Oh my gosh! I’m going to Philly. I mean, part of the reason we’re doing this is going to run during the All Star Game next week. I’m going to be in Philly covering the game for us because we’re going to get the game. And I’m wondering, like, how does this impact Baltimore? And it’s one more thing that we’re all trying to do, which is everybody is trying to lift the city in whatever way. And there’s nothing that lifts the city more than having people live here, work here, play here.

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Annie Milli 16:32
It’s so absolutely critical to the city’s success. And so, yeah, I started at Live Baltimore in 2013. That was the year that Matt started at the Goldsacker Foundation, and the very first project that I worked on was something called the Grow Baltimore Initiative, and that was something that Matt brought when he came to the foundation. It was a public-private partnership working with city government to try and figure out how do we get the city’s population to grow. I worked on that project with Matt, and I joke I’ve been working for Matt ever since. And so when I had the opportunity to go to the foundation, it was just the greatest, greatest possible move I could make. My, you know, my former colleagues are now my grantees. My former funders are now my colleagues, and it’s just a really wonderful opportunity to make a difference in this city.

Nestor Aparicio 17:17
Annie Millie is here. She is representing the Goldsteincker Foundation because Matt sent her and said that she would be better and I’ll never. Matt, you’re coming back, dog. Go on now.

Annie Milli 17:27
Am I doing okay though? I mean, I’m no Matt Gallagher, but who is?

Nestor Aparicio 17:32
You’re never coming back, Matt. It’s done. Annie’s going to be here forever. So you have this um this document really like, and and it’s an annual. It’s 50th anniversary. Yes, but it really does speak to like, all right, what do they? What do they do? Well, you can go online. You can read. All of this comes to life. In the old days, you only had this. Now we have like a whole expansive online. Click here, look here. How much money it all registers for how many community organizations that I’ve driven by that I will drive by as I leave here, between here and the city line, how many I would pass if I just went up Park Avenue that have been affected by what you do. Yeah. What are you proudest of? When you, if I give you five minutes to talk about it, what would you talk about in regard to specific things, not numbers that are available or how many community organizations? But like, I’m sure that you feel things every single day, saying, “This is why I work here.

Annie Milli 18:27
Absolutely. I mean, there’s so many reasons to feel good about working for the foundation. You know, the foundation in its history was a major player in establishing Baltimore’s philanthropic sector. The foundation played a significant role in the establishment of the Baltimore Community Foundation, the Association of Baltimore Area Grant Makers, which is now Maryland Philanthropy Network. We were founders of those organizations, which have really been a

Nestor Aparicio 18:52
tree, right? Oh my gosh,

Annie Milli 18:54
it’s like a tree! It’s amazing. And then all of the organizations that we were part of founding. You know, I mentioned Live Baltimore, but there’s many other organizations: Central Baltimore Partnership, Southwest Partnership, some of our community development grantees. Where does this

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Nestor Aparicio 19:08
go? Kids, schools, educate. Yeah, you mentioned the names of these places. All right, now what does pick any of the ones you just mentioned? Yeah, and I can have those folks on and talk at length, and I have at various points. But people would like to if they’re driving around listening to me right now. Hey, you know what’s funny? It’s money. What does it mean? There’s an Annie that works there that has community this and programs that and events that you know and and I guess around the city I even think like summertime right now and I have the folks on the Y on John Hoey’s a friend. Just my my partners at Planet Fitness have free work for for young people. So many of these programs target young people that really I don’t say it. We’ve failed over the the generation since we lost mr. Goldsiger, but like that that is at the crux of what we’ve been trying to feed forever. And the work’s never done, I guess, right? Yeah, right.

Annie Milli 20:03
Well, I mean, every foundation is different. You mentioned foundations that put names on buildings. There’s a lot of foundations that do that. The Goldsiger Foundation doesn’t do that. The Goldsiger Foundation, yeah, some organizations

Nestor Aparicio 20:14
famous to me, but it’s not from being on the sides of buildings, right? Yeah, I mean, so

Annie Milli 20:18
some foundations they support capital projects, so buildings. They sometimes put their names on those. Some organizations support programs, so the work that organizations are doing. The Goldsticker Foundation supports organizations. So we’re really about providing the backbone support that allows great leaders, great people, great teams to do important things in our city. And so you give

Nestor Aparicio 20:40
a million dollars to a place, they fund it then and run the program with that money through the year, and then they report to you to make sure that the money you’re giving them is going where it’s supposed to go. Is that pretty much it?

Annie Milli 20:54
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that’s important. And

Nestor Aparicio 20:56
well, Matt should be proud because he taught me that. So well,

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Annie Milli 20:59
yes, accountability. I failed

Nestor Aparicio 21:00
the accelerant test two weeks ago with Kate Paris, so you know I try.

Annie Milli 21:04
Accountability is important, and yes, we pay attention to what our grantees are doing. I sort of know what

Nestor Aparicio 21:09
Live Baltimore does. I try.

Annie Milli 21:11
Well, we definitely want our grantees to be successful, and we’ll do anything that we can to support them in their efforts to achieve their missions. We’re primarily a community development foundation, and a lot of people don’t know what that means, but I would say the most obvious thing that it means is that we fund organizations that are doing the work in neighborhoods to revitalize that

Nestor Aparicio 21:31
government might not be doing or not doing enough of,

Annie Milli 21:34
or the or they’re partners of government, really, right? I mean, we’re all in this together, and so one of the biggest initiatives that we’re involved in right now is the effort to eliminate vacant housing in our city. Sure. So a lot of the organizations that we have been we’ve been the foundation has started and that we’ve been able to continue funding and supporting those leaders. They’re directly involved in the elimination of vacant properties. They’re actually in there. That’s not even

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Nestor Aparicio 21:58
possible to move in necessarily. It can be demolition, yeah.

Annie Milli 22:01
Well, well, you’re the

Nestor Aparicio 22:03
Baltimore background. You you’ll know all of this. Well,

Annie Milli 22:05
demolition is usually handled by the city itself,

Nestor Aparicio 22:08
right?

Annie Milli 22:08
But the organizations that are actually in there rehabbing houses, like if you’ve heard about the work that’s happening with Rebuild Metro and Johnston Square, right? You take neighborhoods that were maybe 75% vacant and you get them down to less than 4% vacancy. That’s the target. Now you

Nestor Aparicio 22:23
got tax base, schools. You got everything. You know, it’s a

8

Annie Milli 22:26
virtuous cycle. When people move into our neighborhoods, when vacant houses are eliminated, when people move into those homes, it’s a virtuous cycle. It’s value for everybody,

Nestor Aparicio 22:35
all boats.

Annie Milli 22:35
Value for everybody, and we need it. And you know, first I was

Nestor Aparicio 22:38
asking. I started going around Detroit when it was bad 20, and it got leveled. There was just a lot of dirt plots at that point. We can talk about a bad place either. You know, that’s not a bad place to be if that’s what winds up happening. Yeah. But yeah, I just I drive around the city in various arteries, and I would say this to Brandon: if you walk by, sometimes he does. Yeah. I feel like it’s getting better, and I don’t just say. And I left the side. I live in Towson now, and it wasn’t anything like I’m leaving the city or any of that at all. We looked at living in all sorts of places. Wound it’s where we wound up, but I drive through the city in various in all sorts of places. And if I would have driven through there 10 years ago when I was pissed off enough to run for mayor, I come back and say whoever’s been running the place has done a a good certainly the murder rate like all of that kind of stuff and we have our other issues with the dirt bikes and the things that still piss me off. But driving around cleanliness safety just things have been addressed here. Things are getting better and I would say that to anybody inside outside I feel that way and I don’t have to say that because I’m the first guy to get loud when it’s not. But I think on a general vibe thing, all that I talk about that we’re doing and things that you’re doing to lift it, whatever percentage it’s gotten better, it’s getting better.

Annie Milli 23:56
It’s getting better. That’s and you know we’ve been here our whole lives. A lot of people come to the city, new, and they maybe they land in Patterson Park, right? And they’re like, “Oh, this is a great neighborhood. They have no idea that just 20 years ago, Patterson Park had extreme levels of vacancy. And at the time, the Goldsteinger Foundation was supporting an organization called Patterson Park CDC, which went through and methodically cleared the vacancy in Paterson Park. Patterson Park today is a thriving neighborhood, a place with strong home values, with great schools, with families, and a

Nestor Aparicio 24:27
pond with birds that I didn’t know about. Nobody knows

Annie Milli 24:30
about this pond,

8

Nestor Aparicio 24:30
dude. I mean, I get

Annie Milli 24:32
in on

Nestor Aparicio 24:32
it. During COVID, we couldn’t do anything, right? Yeah, you could walk around the pond. I’m walking over to Meachie’s with tears in my eyes, trying to keep them in business, taking meatballs out, just trying to keep Nacho Mama’s in business, and they’re not. So I mean, I tried to do all of that stuff, and that’s how Baltimore Positive was born.

Annie Milli 24:49
Yeah,

Nestor Aparicio 24:50
during COVID, and my wife and I walked over there one night, got a Verde pizza. Hi guys, love your pizza. Delicious. And we walked up the hill past the Ukrainian temple. And Ukraine maybe was getting bombed by this bastard. I don’t know. Maybe not yet. But it was almost like a Disney World. Like it looked like a Disney World set. We had pizza in a box, and we pulled our mask down, and it was all bougie and whatever. And we’re sitting in Patterson Park, and my wife’s like, “Let’s go for a walk. And the old me would say, “It ain’t safe to go along with every, you know, the old me, and I’m like, yeah, let’s go. You know, we’ll walk over. Still daylight, and I saw a pond, and I’m like, how can I be 52 years old from East Baltimore? Yeah. And there’s Burt, and they were coy. I’m like, nobody told me about this.

Annie Milli 25:35
Well, right, and look,

Nestor Aparicio 25:35
Gallagher.

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Annie Milli 25:37
I mean, it took passionate residence, right, and it took strong leadership. I can tell, strong leadership, strong organizations, passionate residents. We still support the Friends of Patterson Park. The Friends of Patterson Park worked with Patterson Park CDC.

Nestor Aparicio 25:52
She’s like, let’s walk to the pagoda. Okay, that’s so we were observatory.

Nestor Aparicio 25:56
We were walking across, and I’m like, I ain’t never done this. Literally, yeah. I’m like I’ve never walked over there. Yeah, I would have walked down Eastern Avenue and made the ride on Patterson because I’m a freak like that. That’s the way the bus went. But we that’s how we did it. Was like walk into the pagoda.

Annie Milli 26:12
The city’s parks were incredible during the pandemic, weren’t they? We’re so lucky that we have so much. Oh my god! People were

Nestor Aparicio 26:18
playing soccer and dogs and girls and bikes and yes,

Annie Milli 26:21
Lake Montebello saved me. Right, I live on Herring Run Park, so my front yard is Herring Run Park. I walk, I live two blocks from Koco’s, Chesterfield Park. I shouldn’t say that while I’m in here, but it’s gorgeous over there. It’s gorgeous, but the parks, man, the parks are such an asset. There’s so many assets in our communities that are maybe you know not not many people know about. That’s what Live Baltimore’s for. That’s what a lot of organizations are for, and and that’s why the foundation’s proud to support that kind of work because we need to tell the story of our city. We need to have real progress in our neighborhoods, and we need to have strong and dedicated leaders that are making that progress happen. So, that’s that’s kind of what we’re trying

Nestor Aparicio 26:57
to do. All right, Matt Gallagher couldn’t be here, and Annie Millie’s here, and Matt Gallagher’s lost his gig on Baltimore positives all over. Yo, you know what? Though he was a part of the 4 million video Facebook thing, the sensation we had on Facebook with Nestor Crab video. I heard about that. So he’s got value. I mean, you got strong value, Gallagher. I don’t know why if this video doesn’t have at least 3.2 million views, grant making, and like there’s a whole page in here that you can read all the fine print about 15 grand here, 80 grand there, 20 grand there, 50 grand here, 150 grand there. I can go on and on and on. It’s two pages. Soccer without borders. Yeah, I’ve supported. I just have to see how many of the places that I’ve had on just through all itinerous, my goodness! Live Baltimore, made in Baltimore. Jeez, this is incredible. So check it out. Website?

8

Annie Milli 27:52
Yes, GoldSecretFoundation.org, and we just relaunched our website in further celebration of the 50th. So you can go on there. You can find all kinds of publications that the foundation was involved with over its many years. There’s a grants database. You can look up our strategies, how we think about our grant making. All of our grantees has a profile page. So if somebody wants to learn about the grant making that we’re doing and they want to go on and support those organizations, there’s ways to connect with those grantees. The website’s really about celebrating the the grantees, not celebrating ourselves, and it’s just really a privilege to get to work with all these folks. We make about $6 million a year in grants, and those awards go to about oh, it does, and those awards go to about 80 to 90 grantees a year. So those are the folks that I have the the pleasure of working with and supporting in my role.

Nestor Aparicio 28:42
All right, I’m trying to find staff. Matthew D. Gallagher, President, Chief Executive Officer. Yes. Annie Milley, Program Officer. Christina Caldwell, Executive Assistant. Hi. Yes. Is a

Annie Milli 28:52
small. So Gallagher couldn’t be

Nestor Aparicio 28:53
here. So what I’m going to do for Gallagher is I’m going to read his quote right here from the book here because he couldn’t be here. Decades in the making. Where is he on vacation? He’s dead.

Annie Milli 29:06
He’s headed on vacation.

Nestor Aparicio 29:07
Decade. I hope you eat something good and come back with a recommendation. Yeah, he will. Decades in the making. Property abandonment and population loss are two of Baltimore’s deepest rooted and self-reinforcing challenges. You’ve already you went through that. He told me you’d be a better guest than he was.

Annie Milli 29:23
I mean, look, we’re really excited about the opportunity right now to support the efforts to eliminate vacancy. The city and state are investing big amounts of money in this work. The state has committed $50 million a year. The city has $150 million non-contiguous TIF, and there’s organizations that are right now have capital that they’ve never had before to deal with this problem. We were really proud last year. We brought along with us 10 other local and national foundations together to provide support for the organizations that are really on the ground doing the work. We helped collaboratively raise about one. $7 million and all of that went to these nonprofits, these community development corporations, or community development organizations. People will say, and you know they’re bringing these houses back to productive use. They’re making opportunities for families to become homeowners, to build wealth for their families. It’s really important work, and you know the momentum right now has never been stronger behind it. So this is the work that that I you know I live for. This is what I was trying to do. The heavy lifting. Yeah, this is this is the work, man. I mean, this city is definitely on the rise, and we’ve had these you know amazing reductions in violent crime, incredible reductions in homicides, and and now we’re ready to just take off and do everything else we’ve ever dreamed of doing.

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Nestor Aparicio 30:45
Which Maryland lottery treasures ticket will you be taking, Annie Millie? You have you have horses of of acetyl horses. This was a competition last year. They they did an artist thing. My wife is artsy, and it was artist interpretation of what makes Maryland beautiful and great, and these were the four winners. So we have the the Bay Bridge, not the Key Bridge, to be confused with that. We have Blackwater or something approximation of crustaceans and beautiful. You been to Blackwater?

Annie Milli 31:11
I have not.

Nestor Aparicio 31:13
Kind of Marylander are you?

Annie Milli 31:14
I am sorry. So you go to. I know you’re always

Nestor Aparicio 31:16
in a hurry to get to the beach. When you get to Cambridge and you go across the the water where they do all the sluffing for the for the soft crabs.

Annie Milli 31:23
Okay.

Nestor Aparicio 31:24
Right when you you go past where the Tasty Freeze was, you get to the red light and it says Blackwood’s one of the brown signs because it’s like a state park thing. You make the right there be the best 14 miles you’ve ever driven in your life. Okay, not that far. I’ll

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Annie Milli 31:37
check it out.

Nestor Aparicio 31:38
Less 20 minutes off. So I got to pick. Oh no, I get your boardwalk? Okay. This is like it’s like Monopoly, Park Place boardwalk. Yeah. Boardwalk. So anyway, which one do you want?

Annie Milli 31:47
I want the one with the heron on it.

Nestor Aparicio 31:48
All right, that’s good. That’s the black. If you want, you got to go to Blackwater. That’s it. I don’t even know if this is the Blackwater routine. It has crustaceans. It has oysters, mollusks, birds, herons, and a beautiful creek. It looks a little bit more like that little town past Cambridge that you go over. What’s that? Not. I’ll come up with not Berlin. My buddy wanted to take me fishing there. It’s beautiful. It’s on Route 50. I’ll be doing that for Mako next month. Andy Milley is here, formerly of Live Baltimore, now with the Goldstein Foundation, Matt Gallagher is flying off to eat better food. I invite him to Fadelies, and he’s going to go on vacation. You’re getting two crab cakes out. The man’s earned

Annie Milli 32:30
a break.

Nestor Aparicio 32:31
All right, last thing, and I was fiddling with my phone because I want to make sure that I don’t. I’m trying to stay on the right side of McCorkle here, right? Oh please, while I have you.

Annie Milli 32:39
Yes.

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Nestor Aparicio 32:39
Birthday bash is the 31st of the month? People tell me it’s a hell of a party, and Annie’s going to tell you why.

Annie Milli 32:46
It’s a it’s a fantastic party because the party is pure love for Baltimore. If you love this city, it is a party where you can you can dress up or you can come as you are. There are elected officials and business leaders and regular old neighbors all dancing together. Put

Nestor Aparicio 33:07
on your party hat and join your neighbors to celebrate Baltimore’s 297th birthday. Oh, I got it right. At Baltimore’s birthday bash. Yeah, the party of the year happens on Friday, July 31st, 2026, with special permission from the War Memorial Commission. Yeah, this year’s birthday bash will be held at the War Memorial. What is that? Where’s that?

Annie Milli 33:25
It’s down by City Hall. All

Nestor Aparicio 33:26
right. The 12th annual Baltimore’s radio voice. The 12th annual. I don’t like to do that. 1,000 residents, elected officials, sponsor city lovers to celebrate it. You can learn more at liveBaltimore.com. Event details are here. Look at Megan looking sharp in that pink dress. That’s a magenta. Would you call that a magenta? I would call that a magenta. Yeah, and become a corporate sponsor. Event details, ticket options, dance party, Baltimore’s own DJ Tans, open open bar. Uber, take me away. Light bites, birthday desserts from local vendors, and you get your tickets right now. It’s 55 bucks, cheapskates. Let’s go. Well, you know

Annie Milli 34:06
what? That is by design. We everybody told us years and years that we should increase the prices, and we said no. This is the party for the people. This should be a party that people can afford. So it’s the most affordable, highest end fundraiser in town. It’s definitely, definitely worth going. And in fact, we had birthday bash here in the new Lexington Market before Lexington Market was open. So it was the first event ever held in Lexington Market. We had, I don’t know, that year probably 700 people. I might

Nestor Aparicio 34:38
have been here.

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Annie Milli 34:39
Mayor Brandon Scott was our guest DJ. Were you here?

Nestor Aparicio 34:42
Yeah, I think I was. It was incredible. The

Annie Milli 34:43
mayor actually did a DJ set, and that was one of the most fun nights of my entire life. Standing on the stage with the mayor, I was so happy that night. But yeah, you know, it’s just it’s really really cool part. I’m in. Yeah, good. Celebrate this. Megan will be thrilled.

Nestor Aparicio 34:58
She’s already. Invited me. I’m just trying to figure out what do I wear. Anything I want. You wear

Annie Milli 35:03
anything you want. People dress up. People wear what you’re wearing. You know, it’s Baltimore. I mean, the B Mag

Nestor Aparicio 35:09
party. Sometimes you sweat. You know, like I would do the B Mag party every year. I’m sure they’re concerned about the. They want to be in white and shorts.

Annie Milli 35:17
Look, they have an incredible events manager named Misty Keens, and I guarantee you that she’s taking care of. I look like I played

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Nestor Aparicio 35:23
croquet.

Annie Milli 35:26
Croquet. Well, I haven’t

Nestor Aparicio 35:28
heard that in a while, right? I gave that for the French because they’re into the 75s. We play

Annie Milli 35:32
croquet in my house.

Nestor Aparicio 35:34
Little little things. Yeah,

Annie Milli 35:35
we got a backyard for it. Northeast Baltimore, man. You can have. You can walk to restaurants, and you can have a backyard. You can have a classic five trying to get me

Nestor Aparicio 35:42
out to hit a real golf ball, and I’m actually considering it. So, thank you for being such a beautiful guest. Thank you for being

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Annie Milli 35:48
such a beautiful host. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here. I’ve loved it.

Nestor Aparicio 35:51
Goldsaker Foundation. You can find him at GoldsakerFoundation.org. LiveBaltimore, which he doesn’t represent, but always does because we all do anyway. Always. And all this cool stuff we up at Baltimore positive. My friends at the Maryland Lottery sending me out. Luke and I. Luke is um. He’s gonna eat a lot of pizza next week in Wildwood. His nieces are now old enough that they can both hold his hands. There’s be great pictures. I’m gonna bust his chops down here. We’re gonna get some crab cakes. We are at Fadley’s, and as you can see, joints buzzing here. Birds are in town. Orioles are in town. All Star Game weekend. I’m in filthy all next week. Don’t worry, I’m not staying. Believe me, I’m coming back. A couple cheesesteaks, man. Maybe I’ll gain some weight next week. Maybe cheesesteaks, pretzels. What do you think? All Star Game?

Annie Milli 36:32
All of it. Having it all. I’m gonna

Nestor Aparicio 36:34
do it all up, man. Summertime in the city. I am Nestor. We are Baltimore positive. Back for more. We are Matt Gallagher free forever now that Annie Milley is here. It’s Baltimore positive. Stay with us.