Family Support

In a perfect world, the Young Family Support Center in Essex would have had a grand opening, but the needs of the real world leave no time for celebrating.The storefront in a brick, strip shopping center in the 200 block of Back River Neck Road doesn't even have a sign. But that's OK. People have been coming to the center since before the spackle dried.The center is the first of its kind in Baltimore County. It is supported by a $170,000 grant from Friends of the Family Inc., which funds five similar centers in Baltimore and several others around the state.

The Booth family would like to publicly thank everyone who has been so supportive of our family with cards, calls, e-mails and prayers during and since the passing of Tom. He has been honored and recognized over the last two months for his numerous accomplishments here in Catonsville, most recently the annual lighting of the community Christmas tree and Santa's arrival. Over the past 40 years, his involvement in St. Mark Parish, the Community College of Baltimore County-Catonsville, Mount St. Joseph High School and the Greater Catonsville Chamber of Commerce left his mark on numerous businesses and their associates for years to come.

Family members with questions about the status of individual service members may call the following hot lines:Army (800) 626-1440Air Force (800) 253-9276Navy (800) 255-3808Marines (800) 523-2694Coast Guard (800) 283-8724American LegionFamily Supporthot line (800) 786-0901Maryland Army and AirNat'l Guard (800) 492-2526Or from Baltimore 576-6019GENERAL HOT LINES FOR FAMILY SUPPORTU.S. Army Reserve hot line(only for family members ofreservists called to activeduty) (800) 874-8451U.S. Army Desert Storm hot line(nationwide community familysupport center hot line, forfamily members of Army personnel only)

Howard County boasts a plenitude of nonprofit organizations and charitable agencies. Howard Magazine highlights who they are, what they do and how you can help. In honor of April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Howard Magazine is spotlighting Voices for Children, a member of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association and an affiliate of the Maryland CASA Association. Name: Voices for Children Who: Pamela Grady, executive director Q: What is your mission?

At a time when the political talk is about reforming the welfare system and scaling back government aid to teen-age mothers, a center is opening in Annapolis with a clear vision of how to help young families.At the Family Support Center on West Street, the emphasis is on prevention, local management and cooperation between public and private initiatives.Located on the edge of one of the state capital's poorest neighborhoods, the Family Support Center brings together a variety of programs to help young parents who have children under the age of 3. Services are provided for free without regard to income.

It took the irresistible rhythm of the "Cha-Cha Slide" to flood the dance floor at La Fontaine Bleu in East Baltimore. Slinky in shimmery, revealing gowns and impossibly high heels, some 50 party girls hopped to the left, hopped to the right, momentarily released from the challenges of young, disadvantaged motherhood. For one enchanted evening, there were no dirty diapers, housing concerns, money worries, family strife. Instead, it was a night to take part in a ritual that millions of high school students enjoy every spring.

Work crews still are putting the finishing touches on the first family support center in Annapolis to offer multiple social services under one roof, and already people are walking through the front door looking for help."

THERE IS a significant correlation between drug use in the home and occurrences of child abuse and neglect. The Maryland Citizens' Review Board for Children found that in 74 percent of all cases in which children under age 2 were removed from families because of abuse or neglect, at least one parent was a substance abuser. With these numbers, it's clear that providing opportunities for Baltimore's families to overcome drug abuse is a moral obligation. But it is equally clear that the economic benefits of aiding these families cannot be overlooked.

In celebration of Black History Month, Encore Theater will showcase the African-American theater drama "Black Girl.""Black Girl," written b J.E. Franklin, first appeared on Broadway in 1971. It is about a young dancer who struggles to find a better life and receives no support from her family. The play emphasizes the importance of family support.The cast features youths from age groups ranging from 5 to 11 and 12 to 18 years old. "This teaches them ensemble work and allows them to work with one another," said Belva Scott, the artistic director.

Johns Hopkins University student Nathan Krasnopoler was riding his bike home from the Waverly Farmer's Market on a sunny Saturday morning last February when his life was cut short by an elderly driver. The 20-year-old computer science major from Ellicott City was riding in a marked bike lane on University Parkway when an 83-year-old woman turned right and hit him, trapping him under her car for 15 to 20 minutes. He never regained consciousness, was in a coma for more than five months and died Aug. 10 of brain injuries sustained in the accident.

My two teenage granddaughters are high school seniors. They both plan to take next year off before entering college while they try to figure out how to connect to adult roles. How will they fit in the wider community? What are the careers where they will earn their livelihoods? While they struggle, they are not without resources: a good and successful public high school education, parents and family members who are professionals and connected to networks, extracurricular experiences in theater or school government, and part-time jobs.

We have just completed our Laurel 2011 election cycle. First, I want to thank my wife, Mary Eileen, and daughters, Marianne and Katie, for helping me with my campaign. I also want to thank our mayor and my friend, Craig Moe, and my Council colleagues Valerie, Donna and Fred; and Eddie, our Council colleague-elect, for a great Laurel Team effort. This election cycle I relied upon Candy DiPietro to take over as my treasurer after her mother, Peggy Anderson, had provided a steady hand in this area for the past 15 years - we all miss Peggy!

Budget cuts strain services families need In her column on state budget cuts, Jean Marbella wonders what a 5 percent cut to child care and family support programs will look like ("Yes, they're paper cuts, but they can go deep," Oct. 16). I can tell her. Picture a teenage mother in a Family Support Center learning parenting and job skills. Think of a working family getting help finding and evaluating child care. Imagine a classroom full of child care providers learning how to plan activities that enhance early learning and school readiness.

It's a street robbery that left a 27-year old man in a coma, his wife shaken and a community outraged - and yesterday it drew the attention of Mayor Sheila Dixon and her leading challenger in next month's Democratic primary election, City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. The victim, Zachary Sowers, was beaten near his Patterson Park home on the night of June 1. His attackers took his cell phone, his watch and his wallet, which held several credit cards....

Freshman year at Auburn could have been the effective end of Ben Grubbs' football career. Like many small-town prep stars, he'd been the alpha dog on any field he'd ever played on - big enough to squash his strongest foes, quick enough to catch his swiftest. But when he reached college, everything changed. He couldn't learn Auburn's complicated defensive sets. He felt uncomfortable playing from a down position instead of on his feet as a linebacker. Good grades in the classroom didn't come as easily as they had at Elmore County High.

June Boyer allowed herself only a short recuperation after knee surgery in December. The 74-year-old Annapolis resident was in a hurry to get back to her job at the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services Family Support Center, where she has been a member of the foster grandparents program for nearly nine years. Boyer, who works there four days a week, enjoys her time with the children so much that, she said, "I'll be in the program until they kick me out." Whether they are great-grandparents or have never had children, the county's "foster grandparents" have one thing in common: their love of children.

Forget bundle of joy - a new baby can turn new moms and dads into a bundle of nerves. By helping first-time parents handle the stresses coupled with successful reproduction, Healthy Families Howard County hopes to keep their offspring safer. Administered by Howard County General Hospital, the voluntary program screens new parents and, depending on their needs, offers them in-home visits or access to support groups. In addition, a newsletter provides information about available community services and a "warm line" provides answers to nonemergency questions 24 hours a day. Ultimately, the goal is to support new moms and dads by promoting "positive parenting" and to reduce the risk of child abuse or neglect from the beginning of an infant's life.