Helping families move up and stay up.

MORE is an economic mobility organization. In plain terms: we help individuals and families in the Washington and Baltimore region build a better financial future, no matter where they start.

Become a Builder Partner with MORE

MORE Junior Builders with staff and family members

Housing Stability

A stable home is the foundation. Without one, nothing else holds.

How we do it

Income Opportunity

More coming in, from more places, and the skills to keep it growing.

How we do it

A Brighter Financial Future

Stronger families. Thriving communities. A region where your starting point doesn't decide your finish.

The idea behind everything MORE does

We see potential. We invest in it. We stay.

Most programs run for a season and move on. MORE doesn't. The teenager who joins us as a Junior Builder in ninth grade can still be working with us at 25, opening a bank account, launching a business, or signing a lease. We stay in relationship with the people we serve for as long as it takes, and that is the part participants and tenants say they notice most.

Everything we do runs through one question: does this help someone find stable housing, grow their income, or hold onto the progress they've made? If yes, it belongs at MORE.

Read how the model works

One Builder, many years

At 14Junior Builder, paid through DC SYEP
High schoolCommunity Lab and the Business Accelerator
Every MayA pitch on stage at MORE in Bloom
Young adultFinancial Mastery
WorkingPaid shifts on a Builder Crew
HomeRenting or buying through MORE housing

Why housing and income go together

A stable home without enough income keeps a family stuck. More income without an affordable home just gets eaten up by rent. Most organizations pick one side of that problem. MORE works both, because families need both.

That is why a MORE program can look like a high school business accelerator one day and a rowhouse renovation the next. They are the same work. One builds the income. The other protects it.

Who we are, in six answers

Who we serve

Individuals and families with fewer resources, from teens through adulthood, who want a better financial future.

What we do

Two connected pillars: Housing Stability and Income Opportunity.

Why it matters

Families need both a stable home and a growing income. One without the other doesn't last.

Where we work

Washington, DC and Baltimore today, with a long-term vision to reach other communities.

When we show up

At every stage, from a teen's first lessons about money to homeownership and beyond.

How we do it

Mentorship, Opportunity, Resources, and Education. Not four programs, four tools we use everywhere.

Everyone here is a Builder.

The teens in our summer program are Junior Builders. The adults on our work crews are Builders. The mentors, teachers, funders, and neighbors who show up alongside them are building too. If you are connected to MORE and doing the work, you are a Builder.

I want to build my own futurePrograms for teens, young adults, adults, and families I'm a parent or guardianWhat to expect when your teen joins MORE I'm with a school or agencyHow MORE partners with schools, OST providers, and government I want to fund this workOutcomes, model, and how to give

Happening now

Income Opportunity

Community Lab

Our school-year program for high school students runs three tracks: Discovery, Social Impact, and the Business Accelerator. Students meet Wednesdays and Saturdays and build toward MORE in Bloom.

Details

Save the date

MORE in Bloom 2027

Our annual pitch competition and showcase. Saturday, May 8, 2027. Accelerator students pitch real businesses to a panel; Discovery and Social Impact students present their year.

Sponsor or attend

Housing Stability

Baltimore

MORE owns property in Baltimore and is growing its housing work there alongside the BeMORE IncUbator.

Our housing work

Builders

Become a Builder.

Builders are the people MORE works with: teens, young adults, adults, and families building a better financial future. Find your entry point below.

Teens and young adults (14 to 24)

Start as a Junior Builder.

You'll get paid through DC SYEP, learn how money and neighborhoods work, build a resume, and finish with a certification and a showcase. If you're in high school, the Community Lab keeps it going all school year. If you have a business idea, the Accelerator will help you make it real and pitch it for startup money at MORE in Bloom.

You don't need a business idea to start. You don't need good grades. You need to show up.

Junior Builders (summer)Apply through DC SYEP at summerjobs.dc.gov and select MORE as your host. Applications open early in the year, so watch for them in January.
Community Lab (school year)High school students: contact us to join. You can also ask your school to partner with MORE.
CertificationsCertified Junior Builder after your first summer. Certified Senior Intern when you return and lead.

Adults

Two doors, and you can walk through both.

Financial Mastery is eight weeks on getting more coming in and doing something smart with it. Builder Crews is paid work now: cleanouts, turnovers, and light labor for clients across the region, with references at the end.

If you don't have a government ID or a bank account, that's not a barrier. Getting both is one of the first things we do together.

Financial MasteryEight-week cohorts. Contact us to save a seat in the next one.
Builder CrewsSend us your name and availability. No resume required.

Families and residents

If your household needs stable, affordable housing in DC or Baltimore, or you already rent from MORE, you're a Builder. Housing at MORE comes with the same people and programs our youth and adults use, and it comes with a plan for ownership if that's where you want to go.

Housing inquiriesContact us to ask about availability in DC or Baltimore.
Current residentsReach your MORE contact directly, or send us a message.

What we ask of Builders

Show up when you say you will. Do the work in front of you. Ask for help before it's an emergency. Stay in touch after the program ends, because we will.

That's the whole deal.

Funders

Fund economic mobility that lasts.

MORE builds sustainable economic mobility for under-resourced individuals and families in the Washington and Baltimore region through two connected pillars: Housing Stability and Income Opportunity.

Give now Request a conversation

Why fund MORE

Housing-only and income-only interventions each leave a gap the other fills. Stable housing without sufficient income limits mobility; income gains without affordable housing are absorbed by housing costs. MORE is one of few organizations in the region working both pillars with the same population over a multi-year relationship, from early youth economic education through workforce, entrepreneurship, financial capability, and housing. The result funders are buying is not just program completions. It's households whose gains persist.

What makes MORE different

Relational permanence

Participants stay connected across programs and years. A ninth-grade Junior Builder becomes an Accelerator student, a Financial Mastery graduate, a crew member, a resident.

Two pillars, one population

Youth, adult, and housing work serve the same families, not separate caseloads.

Earned, not given

Youth are paid to work. Crews bill real clients. Dignity is designed in.

Built to last

Sustainability means gains that hold and housing that costs less to operate.

What we measure

The outcome framework behind every MORE program.

Stability

Households that stay housed and enrolled year over year.

Resilience

Participants with a second income stream and/or emergency savings.

Income

Earned income and wages paid to youth and crew members.

Assets

New bank accounts, savings balances, startup capital awarded.

Choice and ownership

Businesses launched, residents moving toward ownership.

Wealth and investment

Shared equity participation and long-term asset growth.

Current footprint

Legal status501(c)(3) public charity, incorporated in Washington, DC and registered in Maryland. EIN 87-3659464.
SitesWashington, DC (youth programming, Financial Mastery, Builder Crews) and Baltimore (housing, BeMORE IncUbator).
Youth servedJunior Builders summer program in 2026; Community Lab school-year program for 2026 to 2027; growth plan targets 80 youth across two sites.
AssetsProperty owned in Baltimore.
Public partnersDC Summer Youth Employment Program (DOES) and Learn24 / Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes.

Ways to fund

General operating support

The most useful gift. It funds the staff who stay.

Program grants

Junior Builders, Community Lab, Financial Mastery, Builder Crews, MoreTV.

Capital and housing

Acquisition, rehab, and shared-equity structures in Baltimore and DC.

MORE in Bloom

Sponsor prize capital for youth businesses. Every dollar goes to a young founder on stage.

Documents

Our IRS determination letter, most recent Form 990, annual report and program one-pager are available on request.

Give now Request a conversation

Schools and agencies

Partner with MORE.

For schools, out-of-school-time providers, and public agencies in DC and Maryland who need a youth or adult economic program that shows up, pays, and stays.

For public agencies

MORE has served as a DC SYEP host organization and holds an Out of School Time grant through Learn24. We are set up to operate as a site-based provider with time-clock attendance, staff and youth document packets, certification tracking, and board-ready outcome reporting. We serve adults as well as youth.

Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes (OST / Learn24)School-year and summer programming, currently one DC site with a two-site plan.
Department of Employment Services (SYEP)Summer host organization, ages 14 to 24.
Housing and community development agenciesAffordable preservation, DOPA, and supportive housing in DC; property development in Baltimore.

For schools

The Community Lab is our school partnership model, and it is open to high school students from any school. MORE has a formal partnership with Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, and this year's students come from schools across the city, including Truth Montessori and Cardozo Education Campus. Students earn community service hours, meet Wednesdays and Saturdays off campus at MORE's site, and choose a track: Discovery, Social Impact, or the Business Accelerator. Your school supplies the students and a point of contact. MORE supplies staff, curriculum, site, and the year-end showcase.

What the school commits

A staff liaison, help with recruitment, and a way to credit service hours.

What MORE commits

Weekly programming, all materials, background-checked staff, and reporting on attendance and outcomes.

What students get

A track that fits them, a business plan or community project of their own, and a stage at MORE in Bloom.

Interested in bringing the Community Lab to your school? Start here

What we bring to a partnership

Operations

Time clock and attendance tracking, weekly timesheets, document packets, and a youth hub app already in use.

Curriculum

Neighborhood economic history, financial decision-making, entrepreneurship, and resume building, all field-tested with DC youth.

Reporting

Attendance, completion, certification, and survey data delivered in the format your grant requires.

Compliance and readiness

Nonprofit status501(c)(3), DC and Maryland
Staff clearancesAll program staff are background checked.
Contact for partnershipsJason Shine, Co-Founder and COO. Reach out here.

Parents and guardians

For parents and guardians.

What actually happens when your teen joins MORE, who they'll be with, and what we need from you.

What your teen will do

In the summer, they'll clock in every day, get paid through DC SYEP, and spend six weeks learning how money and neighborhoods work. That means research projects, field trips to places like the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the National Building Museum, a resume they build themselves, and a showcase at the end where you're invited.

During the school year, high school students can join the Community Lab on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Younger students explore. Older students run community projects or build an actual business and pitch it for startup money in May.

Who they'll be with

MORE staff are adults from this community who come back year after year. Many of the mentors your teen meets this summer are the same people they'll see next summer and the one after that. Staff are background checked. Sessions run in groups, at MORE's site, with a clear start and end time and a phone number you can reach.

Common questions

Does it cost anything?: No. Youth programs are free, and summer participants are paid through SYEP.
Where is it?: At MORE's site in Washington, DC. We share the address and arrival details when your teen enrolls. Community Lab sessions are not held on school property.
What are the hours?: Summer: weekdays during SYEP, with daily times confirmed when your teen is placed. School year: Wednesdays (3 to 5pm one week, 4 to 5pm the next) and Saturdays, plus two all-day sessions in February.
Does my teen need a business idea?: No. Most start in Discovery or Social Impact and find their way from there.
What if they miss a day?: Attendance is tracked and matters for pay and certification. Call us before, not after, and we'll work with you.
What about me?: Parents are welcome at the showcase and at MORE in Bloom. If you want help with your own income or housing, Financial Mastery and Builder Crews are open to adults.

How to sign up

Summer (Junior Builders)Apply through DC SYEP at summerjobs.dc.gov and choose MORE as the host. We can walk you through the application by phone.
School year (Community Lab)Contact us and we'll get your teen enrolled. If you'd like your teen's school to partner with MORE, send us its name and we'll reach out.

Ask a question

About MORE

An economic mobility organization, explained.

MORE exists so that where a family starts doesn't decide where it finishes. We work in Washington, DC and Baltimore, with people from their teens through adulthood.

The name

MORE stands for Mentorship, Opportunity, Resources, and Education. For a while we described those as four programs. They aren't. They are the four tools we bring to every piece of work, whether that work is a teen's first business plan or a family's first lease.

MentorshipThe relationship.
OpportunityThe door: a paid job, a pitch slot, a unit to rent.
ResourcesThe money, materials, and connections that make the door usable.
EducationThe skill to walk through it and keep going.

The model

Two pillars, one outcome. Housing Stability reduces the strain of housing costs and creates a stable foundation. Income Opportunity increases and diversifies what a household brings in. Together they produce lasting financial progress, not temporary relief.

We call the outcome a brighter financial future. Funders may know it as sustainable economic mobility. Same thing. A family moves up and stays up.

The filter for everything MORE does

Does this help people find housing stability, increase income opportunity, or hold onto the economic gains they've made?

If yes, it fits. If no, we don't do it, no matter how good the idea sounds or who is offering to pay for it. This is how a small organization stays focused while running programs for ninth graders and adults in the same week.

We see potential. We invest in it. We stay.

Why "we stay" is the important part

Anyone can run an eight-week program. The hard part is being there in month nine, and year three. MORE is built for long relationships. A young person who joins our summer program can move into the school-year Community Lab, pitch at MORE in Bloom, take Financial Mastery as a young adult, work on a paid crew, and eventually rent or buy through our housing work. The staff and mentors they meet at 15 are, as much as possible, the same people they call at 22.

Both our youth and our tenants describe this the same way: MORE didn't leave. That is the thing we protect most.

Where we work

Washington, DC

MORE was founded in DC and most of our youth programming runs here, including the Junior Builders summer program and the school-year Community Lab.

Baltimore

MORE is registered in Maryland and owns property in Baltimore. Our Baltimore work centers on housing and the BeMORE IncUbator, and we are building partnerships with local ESOs and community organizations.

Sustainability, two ways

When we say the outcome is sustainable, we mean two things. First, the gains last: a family that moves up doesn't slide back the moment a program ends. Second, the housing itself is built to last and cost less to live in. Energy-efficient rehabs and green building choices lower monthly bills, and a lower bill is one more month a family stays stable.

People

Leadership

Kendra Whitaker Shine, Co-Founder and Executive Director of MORE — Kendra Whitaker Shine
Co-Founder and Executive Director

Jason Shine, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of MORE — Jason Shine
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer

Programs

Every program below sits under one of two pillars and answers the same filter. Together they cover a person's life from ninth grade to homeownership.

Program	Who it's for	Pillar	When
Junior Builders	DC youth, ages 14 to 24	Income Opportunity	Summer (SYEP)
Community Lab	High school students	Income Opportunity	School year, Wednesdays and Saturdays
MORE in Bloom	Youth pitching real businesses; the whole community	Income Opportunity	May 8, 2027
Financial Mastery	Adults and young adults	Income Opportunity	Eight-week cohorts
Builder Crews	Adults seeking paid work and skills	Income Opportunity	Year-round
MoreTV	Youth media makers	Income Opportunity	Ongoing
Housing Stability	Families and residents in DC and Baltimore	Housing Stability	Ongoing

Income Opportunity

Junior Builders

Summer Youth Employment ProgramAges 14 to 24 · Washington, DCPaid through DC SYEP

Junior Builders is MORE's six-week summer program run through DC's Summer Youth Employment Program. Youth are paid, they clock in, and they work. The work is learning how money and neighborhoods actually function: research on the economic history of places like Black Wall Street, Barry Farm, Gallery Place, and Columbia Heights; trips to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the National Building Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History; a community scavenger hunt with the Southeast BID; and a resume every participant leaves with.

The summer ends with a closing showcase and pitch competition. Youth who complete the program earn the Certified Junior Builder credential. Returning youth who take on more responsibility can earn Certified Senior Intern.

How to apply

Income Opportunity

Community Lab

High school students2026 to 2027 school yearWednesdays and SaturdaysCommunity service hours placement

The Community Lab carries the summer model into the school year, and it is open to high school students from any school. MORE has a formal partnership with Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, and this year's students come from schools across the city, including Truth Montessori and Cardozo Education Campus. Students choose one of three tracks and meet on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with two all-day sessions in February. Sessions are held at MORE's site, not on school grounds.

Discovery

For freshmen and underclassmen. Learn what MORE is, take the What's in Your Hands assessment, and explore what you're good at before committing to a track.

Social Impact

Students run social ventures and community projects: back-to-school giveaways, a podcast, scripted shorts, and Taco-bout Justice, a taco-bar discussion event on a social justice topic that students plan, promote, and run for the whole community.

Business Accelerator

Mostly juniors and seniors with an existing business idea. Each writes a business plan with measurable objectives in the fall and works it all year: prototype, first customers, testimonials, real budget, and the technical skill their product needs. They pitch at MORE in Bloom.

Saturdays are build days for every track. Accelerator students build their businesses, Social Impact students build their service projects, and Discovery students get hands-on time with the tools and resources behind the rest of their MORE work. MoreTV production happens on Saturdays too.

Showcase

MORE in Bloom

Saturday, May 8, 2027Open to the public

MORE in Bloom is the day the year's work goes public. Business Accelerator students pitch to a panel for startup capital. Discovery and Social Impact students give shorter presentations on what they built. Families, teachers, funders, and neighbors fill the room. It is the best two hours to understand what MORE does.

Sponsor a prize, judge a pitch, or attend

Income Opportunity

Financial Mastery

Eight weeks · Adults and young adultsContact us to join the next cohort

Most financial classes start with a budget. Financial Mastery starts with a harder truth: for most participants the problem isn't spending, it's income. So the first weeks are about what's in your hands and what's in your reach, and the early wins are practical: a government ID, a bank account, a plan for more coming in.

From there the cohort moves through mindset, money basics (budgeting and balancing), and money mastery (putting money to work).

Contact us about the next cohort

Curriculum developed by Real Smart Consulting, LLC and delivered through MORE.

Income Opportunity

Builder Crews

Adult workforce developmentPaid, hourly, hands-on

Builder Crews put adults to work on real jobs for real clients: residential cleanouts, property turnovers, and light labor for real estate clients across the region. Crew members are paid hourly, learn on the job, and build a work history and references they can take anywhere.

Join a crew Hire a crew

Income Opportunity

MoreTV

Youth video networkYouTube and social

MoreTV is the youth-run media arm of MORE. Students script, shoot, edit, and publish shorts, podcasts, and event coverage. It doubles as skills training in a field that pays and as the record of everything else MORE does.

Watch MoreTV

Pillar one

Housing Stability

Reduce the strain of housing costs and give families a foundation that holds. Nothing else we do works without this.

Why we work on housing at all

MORE started with youth. We kept running into the same wall: a teenager finishes a great summer, goes home, and the family is moving again because rent went up. Progress that depends on a stable address is fragile when the address isn't stable. So we work on the address too.

Housing costs are also the fastest way to lose income gains. A raise disappears into a rent increase. Our housing work exists to make sure that when a family's income grows, they keep it.

What we do

Affordable housing development and preservationAcquiring and renovating homes in DC and Baltimore, and keeping existing affordable units affordable.
Supportive housing and servicesHousing paired with the mentorship, opportunity, resources, and education residents need to stay housed.
Shared equity and community ownershipOwnership structures that let residents build wealth together instead of paying it to someone else.
Green, energy-efficient housing with biophilic designRehabs that lower utility bills and bring nature indoors through daylight, plants, natural materials, and views of green space. A lower bill is one more month of stability, and a healthier home is one people want to stay in.
Pathways to ownershipFrom renter to owner, with the financial coaching to get there and the relationship to keep going after closing.

Where the housing work is today

Baltimore

MORE owns property in Baltimore and is developing it as part of a longer-term housing strategy in the city.

Washington, DC

In DC, MORE continues to work with tenant organizations to preserve the affordability of their homes when their buildings come up for sale.

For residents

If you rent from MORE, you are a Builder too. Residents have access to Financial Mastery, Builder Crews, and the same mentors our youth work with. Rent is a relationship, not just a transaction. Ask us about availability.

For partners

We work with lenders, developers, property owners, and public agencies who want affordable housing to stay affordable and want residents supported after move-in. If you own a building you'd rather see preserved than flipped, talk to us.

Talk to us

Pillar two

Income Opportunity

Increase and diversify what a household brings in. More coming in, from more than one place, and the skills to keep it growing.

Income first

A lot of financial education starts with cutting expenses. That advice assumes there's something to cut. For most of the people MORE serves, there isn't. The problem is income, and the fix is more of it, from more sources. That's why our income work covers everything from a ninth grader's first paycheck to an adult's first side business.

What we do

Financial education and capabilityFinancial Mastery cohorts for adults and money basics woven into every youth program.
Entrepreneurship and microbusiness developmentThe Business Accelerator, MORE in Bloom, and coaching for adults starting small ventures.
Workforce and skills developmentBuilder Crews, resumes, certifications, and job-ready habits built on paid work.
Youth economic education, pitch competitions, and startup capitalJunior Builders, the Community Lab, and prize capital for youth businesses.
Supplemental income and asset buildingSide income, savings, first accounts, and the steps from income to assets.

The income programs

For teens

Junior Builders in the summer, the Community Lab during the school year, and MORE in Bloom in May.

See youth programs

For adults

Financial Mastery for the money side and Builder Crews for paid, hands-on work.

See adult programs

For makers

MoreTV, where youth learn media production by producing MORE's own content.

See MoreTV

What "diversify" means here

One paycheck is one point of failure.

We push every Builder toward at least two streams: a job plus a skill they can sell, a crew shift plus a small business, a salary plus a savings habit that starts earning on its own. It doesn't have to be big. It has to be more than one.

Get involved

Build with us.

Give, mentor, hire a crew, sponsor a pitch, or just ask a question. Every option below moves a family closer to moving up and staying up.

Give

A gift to MORE funds the people who stay: the mentors and staff who are still here in year three. General support is the most useful thing you can give. If you'd rather direct your gift, MORE in Bloom prize capital goes straight to youth founders on stage.

Give online

MORE is a 501(c)(3). Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. To give by check, stock, or donor-advised fund, email info@more2build.org.

Volunteer and mentor

Judge a pitch

Sit on the panel at MORE in Bloom, May 8, 2027.

Mentor a young founder

Meet with an Accelerator student a few times over the school year.

Teach a session

Bring your trade, your business, or your money story to a Wednesday session.

Host a field trip

Open your workplace to a group of Junior Builders for a morning.

Hire a Builder Crew

Need a residential cleanout, a property turnover, or a few extra hands? Our adult crews do reliable work for real estate clients and homeowners across the region, and every hour billed is an hour of paid work and experience for someone building a work history. Contact us to book a crew.

Partner or sponsor

Schools, agencies, employers, and businesses: see the partners page for how the Community Lab and agency partnerships work, or sponsor MORE in Bloom and put your name behind a youth business.

Contact

Questions about a program, a partnership, a crew booking or a gift all come to the same place. We usually reply within two business days.

Email MORE Give

Emailinfo@more2build.org
Where we workWashington, DC and Baltimore, MD
FollowInstagram · LinkedIn · YouTube

Helping families move up and stay up.

Housing Stability

Income Opportunity

A Brighter Financial Future

We see potential. We invest in it. We stay.

Why housing and income go together

Who we are, in six answers

Who we serve

What we do

Why it matters

Where we work

When we show up

How we do it

Everyone here is a Builder.

Happening now

Community Lab

MORE in Bloom 2027

Baltimore

Become a Builder.

Start as a Junior Builder.

Two doors, and you can walk through both.

Families and residents

What we ask of Builders

Fund economic mobility that lasts.

Why fund MORE

What makes MORE different

Relational permanence

Two pillars, one population

Earned, not given

Built to last

What we measure

Stability

Resilience

Income

Assets

Choice and ownership

Wealth and investment

Current footprint

Ways to fund

General operating support

Program grants

Capital and housing

MORE in Bloom

Documents

Partner with MORE.

For public agencies

For schools

What the school commits

What MORE commits

What students get

What we bring to a partnership

Operations

Curriculum

Reporting

Compliance and readiness

For parents and guardians.

What your teen will do

Who they'll be with

Common questions

How to sign up

An economic mobility organization, explained.

The name

The model

The filter for everything MORE does

Why "we stay" is the important part

Where we work

Washington, DC

Baltimore

Sustainability, two ways

Leadership

Kendra Whitaker Shine

Jason Shine

Programs

Junior Builders

Community Lab

Discovery

Social Impact

Business Accelerator

MORE in Bloom

Financial Mastery