EASTBALTCO.COM

Mikea Hugley, graduate of Overlea High School and a visual arts teacher at Milford Mill Academy, has been named one of eight finalists in the Maryland Institute College of Art’s (MICA) UP/Start Venture Competition for her project called “Makers for Humankind.”

The UP/Start Venture Competition, now in its fifth year, is an initiative of MICApreneurship and the newly created Ratcliffe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship, and focuses on incubating and building creative business ventures within the MICA community. The finalists are competing for seed funding totaling $100,000, funded by the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation, as well as a $5,000 People’s Choice Award — which the public can vote for online now through April 24.

According to MICA’s website: “Makers for Humankind’s mission is to develop accessible footwear that bridges the gap between the fortunate and less fortunate and many stigmas that plague society. Its signature shoe, the ‘HM1’s,’ is an all-in-one shoe, both sneaker and sandal.”

Hugley’s plan for her company is to donate 10 percent of its proceeds to benefit those in the unhoused population who suffer from the lack of proper footwear.

Hugley is a first-year teacher at Milford Mill Academy. She studied design and art at the Community College of Baltimore County and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from MICA. As the founder of the design company CRE8T1V3, she has worked on media projects for the Maryland Health Connection, Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and other businesses, artists, and authors. Before joining the Milford Mill Academy staff, Hugley was a long-term substitute graphic design teacher at Overlea High.

The eight UP/Start Venture Competition finalists were selected from a pool of 37 applicants, all students or alumni of the classes of 2019 and 2020.

After selection, finalists were paired with industry leaders or investors as mentors to refine their business plans and presentation skills. They also received website development support from Wix and peer mentorship from past UP/Start winners in the weeks leading up to final presentations, which took place on April 14.

Winners of the venture capital and the People’s Choice Award will be announced after Friday, April 24. Finalists who do not receive funding from the judges will receive $500 stipends to continue advancing their ideas.

In an effort to keep pace with the demand for COVID-19 testing, the Baltimore County Department of Health will open a drive-through clinic to test patients who have a medical order from a healthcare provider.

The clinic will be located at the Timonium Fairgrounds (2200 York Road, Timonium, Maryland 21093) and will open on Thursday, April 16. Testing will continue to occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays while test kits are available.

“Our response to this pandemic must include every effort possible to help reduce the spread of the virus and save lives, and testing is a critical component of those efforts,” said County Executive Johnny Olszewski.

“Increasing testing capacity in Baltimore County is part of our comprehensive effort to keep our residents safe and healthy during this crisis.”

“In a matter of weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed life, as we know it,” said Baltimore County Health Officer Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch. “Providing a testing clinic at this location will allow for both efficiency and safety, and is another example of Baltimore County working to meet the changing landscape brought about by this pandemic.”
Increased access to testing is a priority in helping to prevent the spread of the virus. The fairgrounds are easily accessible and able to accommodate multiple lanes of vehicles at once. Additionally, patients will not have to leave their vehicles during the testing process.

Schedule an Appointment
Patients must first get authorization from a healthcare provider to be tested.
Once authorization is obtained, the person to be tested must schedule an appointment using the state-designated Chesapeake Regional Information System (CRISP). Tested individuals will receive post-test instructions at the clinic and test results will be available within five to seven days.
People arriving at the site without an order from a healthcare provider and/or without a pre-scheduled appointment will not be tested.

COVID-19 Hotline
Residents with questions or who need assistance can call the Baltimore County COVID-19 Hotline seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 410-887-3816.

Baltimore County Government has created an app with information about COVID-19.

The dashboard covers all the cases of the coronavirus throughout the county. It has a list of the cases in each Baltimore County by zip code. The app also breaks down each case by race, gender and age.

According to the first version on the county’s dashboard, 59.13 percent of the county cases have been female with 40.87 percent of cases listed as male.

The stats by race show African Americans with 555 cases, Caucasians with 417 and Asians with 31 cases. There were 224 cases listed as “other” and 148 cases were listed with no race reported.

The Dashboard listed that there have been 1,377 confirmed cases and 41 deaths as a result of the virus in Baltimore County. The site also lists the state of Maryland with 9,472 cases and 302 deaths.