Westminster officials are seeking a $382,870 grant to rebuild a dilapidated section of a shelter for homeless families. The grant also would be used to expand its capacity.
The 12-year-old shelter serves intact families -- usually both parents and their children, said Karen K. Blandford, the city's housing and community development administrator.
But the building at 23 W. Green St. is not so intact, she said.
"The entire rear of the building is structurally unsound," Blandford told the Westminster Common Council Monday night.
"The roof has water leaking and needs to be reconstructed, the mechanical system is outdated, and the space is illogically laid out."
The council voted to seek the grant.
The shelter houses about 21 homeless families a year, Blandford said, and is the only shelter that allows men and women.
It often has a waiting list.
"The goal is to return [families] to self-sufficiency, but we need greater capacity," Blandford said. "We hope this project will tug on the hearts of people.
"It's a wonderful project that keeps families together, and Carroll County values the family."
She said expanding the shelter would allow the city to help an additional 10 to 15 families a year.
Opened by the county Department of Social Services in 1985 as a refuge from domestic violence for women and children, the shelter is operated by the nonprofit Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc., a local community-action agency.
"The history of the shelter movement began for women and children, for victims of abuse," Blandford said. "As homelessness grew in the 1980s and into the 1990s, the population became more diverse."
A men's shelter was added to the women's. Finally, a family shelter was added.
"It's the most precarious funding of the three," Blandford said. "One year, we had to rely entirely on private donations, and some anonymous donor came through."
Westminster will be competing with other communities for money from the Maryland Small Cities Community Development Block Grant program, Blandford said.
Even if the project gets state money, more will be needed, she said.
A corporate fund-raising drive also is planned.
"The number we're shooting for is $60,000," said Michael Oster, president and chief executive officer of Carroll County Bank & Trust Co., a longtime supporter of the shelter.
Qualifying corporations will receive charitable deductions and tax credits.
"They asked my assistance as a business person in the community," Oster said. "I'm sending out letters to organizations that may be interested in helping."
Plans include improving the one-toilet restroom and adding washing machines to the first floor, which also houses the Second Chances program.
The shelter also seeks donations of furniture, linens and other household items.
These are used to help families set up new homes or are distributed to needy families, with priority given to shelter residents.
Councilman Stephen R. Chapin said he would like to see more follow-up with the families "so the original cause of homelessness doesn't reappear."
Barbara Brown, representing Human Services Programs, told Chapin the success rate is greater when families can be kept together through the 12-week period.
"We stay with the families a year," Brown said, but there's no money for further follow-up.
The council also voted to seek a $300,000 block grant to remove "spot blight" from the old Farmer's Supply Co. site near the shelter.
The "blight" consists of four buildings at Liberty and Green streets that have been vacant for about six years, Blandford said.
A historic stone building at the site is to be preserved, and stone from one of the buildings about to be demolished will be salvaged to help restore its facade.
Carroll County Bank and Trust Co. has won approval from the city to develop the property and has said it will move its operations center to new office buildings on the site, along with the corporate headquarters of its parent company, Mason-Dixon Bankshares Inc.
The plan includes brick retail and office buildings, a parking structure with 210 off-street spaces and the rehabilitation of the historic stone building.
The bank's board of directors has not taken a final vote on the project but is expected to meet by the end of this month, Blandford told the council.
The option on the property has been extended from June to December.
The grant money, if awarded, would also go toward acquisition of the property, she said.
Pub Date: 7/16/97
