Homeless Families

The only shelter in Carroll County where needy families can stay intact has enough money to stay open until the end of June, says an official of the agency that operates the facility.Lynda Gainor told members of the Carroll County Children's Council yesterday that enough has been donated to keep the shelter functioning until then.Ms. Gainor is deputy director of Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc., which operates the shelters. She said the agency is soliciting donations from the community in an attempt to secure the $32,000 necessary to continue shelter operations.

Renovations to turn two vacant buildings at Rosewood Center in Owings Mills into transitional housing for up to 23 homeless Baltimore County women and their children are scheduled to begin next week.The center, similar to units operating in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County, will offer women and their youngsters housing while they receive guidance and job training.Drug counseling and other services to prepare them to enter the work force will be offered, said Frank W. Welsh, county director of community development.

I noticed him out of the corner of my eye as I drove on Route 140 past Cranberry Square in Westminster. Standing on the concrete traffic island that divides Center Street at the intersection was a young man, dressed in bib overalls and a plaid flannel shirt, holding a cardboard sign: "Homeless -- willing to work for food."My first thought was: "What's wrong with this picture?"Seeing homeless people with signs asking for work or a handout has become a regular part of the landscape in Baltimore, Washington and other American cities.

A decade ago, when homelessness -- especially among women -- was still a relatively new phenomenon in cities across the country, Associated Catholic Charities opened My Sister's Place on Mulberry Street. It was designed not as a traditional overnight shelter, but rather as a safe haven for women during the daytime hours -- a place to sit undisturbed in a comfortable chair, to take a shower, wash their clothes and feel like worthwhile people for a few hours. Today, the need for a service like My Sister's Place is more acute than ever.

NEWS flash: Someone has invented the wheel. Again.The other day there was a story about how some old cities and their housing authorities, some urbanologists (are they doctors?) and some black people are reconsidering their alleged views on helping the homeless.It seems these institutions and individuals, labeled "liberals," are worried that homeless families are often problem families who, when moved into subsidized housing, make life more difficult for the neighbors. Really? Read on.It also seems that these institutions and individuals have concluded that providing shelter to problem families isn't enough, that families need all kinds of services.

Charles L. Halter walked out in the midst of a discussion last week of county government plans to open apartments for families making the transition from homeless shelters to their own apartments or houses."

WESTMINSTER -- Candace Reynolds has had plenty of problems in her short life, but if Carroll County's homeless shelter for families shuts down, her problems will multiply."

The homeless man had a minor legal problem and a serious drinking problem. Staff at the Homeless Persons Representation Project tried to direct him to a clinic for the homeless, hoping he would walk the six blocks to find out about a detoxification program. Instead, he just left.For Baltimore's homeless population, estimated at 2,600 on any given night, finding the help they need can involve an overwhelming obstacle course through city streets, as they trudge from agency to agency, in between the searches for shelter and food.

WESTMINSTER -- Carroll County may lose one of its two shelters for homeless families if it cannot get federal funding restored, according to officials who work with the homeless.On Wednesday, they were notified that Gov. William Donald Schaefer rejected their request for a $32,000 Emergency Services grant that enables them to operate an apartment where homeless families can be sheltered."This is very unfair," said Karen Blandford, the chairman of the Human Services Program, which runs the county's homeless shelters.