Shelter

Editor: The Welcome One Emergency Shelter in Belcamp operated by Faith Communities and Civic Agencies United (FCCAU) continues to provide excellent services for Harford County's homeless population. Even faced with reduced funding, our exceptional donor base and dedicated staff have demonstrated relentless diligence and compassion in caring for some of our county's most vulnerable citizens. During 2010, the Welcome One Emergency Shelter became a temporary home to 202 homeless men and women.

Our local Pet Valu store, at 5007 Honeygo Center Dr in Perry Hall, is bringing a VIP Pet Care Veterinary Clinic to our neighborhood. This nonemergency vet care clinic features vaccinations and micro-chipping among its services for dogs and cats. In addition, on the Saturdays of May 25, June 8 and June 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 11a.m., rabies vaccines for dogs will be administered free of charge. I Store manager Andrew Thompson has been employed by Pet Valu for the past two years.

Editor: I would like to publicly thank the Bel Air Barnes & Noble bookstore for their role in recovering from hurricane Irene. I am writing this message on my mobile device from inside their store Sunday afternoon. I am using their free Wi-Fi service and one of their electrical outlets. And, for over an hour there were six others near me doing the same thing. Nearly every outlet in the store had somebody plugged in with a notebook, tablet, or a phone. So, thank you Barnes & Noble for supporting the wireless users of Bel Air during the power outage.

The Chesapeake Bay and its rivers have lost 44 percent of their underwater grasses over the past three years, scientists reported Thursday, reducing vital habitat for crabs and fish to a level not seen in nearly three decades. Scientists blamed weather and storms for much of the decline seen last year, but they said an as-yet unexplained long-term decline in the bay's water clarity has played havoc with this key indicator of the Chesapeake's health. An aerial survey flown from late spring to early fall last year found 48,191 acres of submerged vegetation, down 21 percent from the extent of grasses seen in 2011, according to scientists from Maryland and Virginia.

Five men say they have been banned from the city's homeless shelter after a fight broke out Saturday evening, prompting concerns from legal advocates about the shelter's protocol for barring the homeless from the $8 million facility. The shelter's manager said that at least a dozen intoxicated men had attacked staffers Saturday night and police arrested two after witnessing them strike employees. "Anyone that physically assaults a client or staff member is permanently barred from our shelter," said shelter manager Linda Trotter.

To the Editor: I don't understand what people have against the Humane Society, and what they do for the discarded animals that nobody wanted. What would they like folks to do for them other than try to find them good homes? This is in regard to the article in Wednesday Jan. 4, and the Rebels dog park. People from all over come go use this park because it's safe. It's grass, not dirt and mud. It is fenced, and everyone seems to have a great time...owners and dogs. There aren't many places folks can take their dogs that is basically worry free.

Baltimore County officials have found housing for the 55 men to be displaced by the closing next week of a shelter for the homeless in Rosedale. Nehemiah House, the only shelter for homeless men in eastern Baltimore County, will shut down for a month beginning Tuesday, President Bart Pierce wrote this week in a letter to county homeless services coordinator Sue Bull. The shelter, which has been operated by Rock City Church in Towson for nearly 19 years, gave residents a week to make other arrangements.

The hundreds of thousands of Haitians who now are living in flimsy shelters that they have pieced together from scraps of rubble, plastic and bedsheets may count at least one blessing: It's the dry season. Little precipitation has fallen on the beleaguered Caribbean nation since the earthquake Jan. 12 leveled the capital. But the rains are coming, and with them, mud, misery and water-borne disease. For shelter experts struggling to move as many earthquake survivors as possible into better housing before the start of the rainy season in April, it's a race against time.

In light of recent news articles pertaining to homelessness in Harford County, Harford Mall management is partnering with the Welcome One Emergency Shelter in a collection and donation drive to benefit the shelter. The collection drive, called Have a Heart for Harford's Homeless, is taking place until Feb. 29. The goal of the Have a Heart for Harford's Homeless campaign is to collect needed items from the Welcome One wish list, as well as monetary donations. Donations for the shelter can be placed in the display area at Harford Mall's center court. Mall representatives will be on hand throughout the donation period to accept monetary donations to the shelter.  "This is a wonderful opportunity for the mall to provide some much needed assistance to our neighbors in Harford County," Harford Mall General Manager Lauri Altman said in a news release. "It is one small way that we as a community can give back to those who need it. " The kickoff for Harford Mall's campaign was last Friday afternoon in the mall's center court.

I read with interest that the goal of the city's program for ending homelessness is to reduce shelter stays to fewer than 90 days, at a cost of roughly $40,000 a year ("Aid for street people failing," March 18). Why then is Robert Cook, a 52-year-old man who wants to see a 24-hour police presence in the Fallsway shelter where a homeless person was stabbed last weekend, claiming to have stayed there for the last three years, if it is such a dangerous place? I don't mean to denigrate Mr. Cook, but during that time he could have earned a high school equivalency degree, and associate degree or any number of trade certifications.

Sitting alone at the edge of the parking lot outside Baltimore's 24-hour homeless shelter, Robin Bolden watched the dozens gathered nearby Saturday to remember her husband, Dana, who was stabbed to death at the facility earlier this month. Tears stained her face while she listened to Tony Simmons call on the homeless individuals and activists assembled to demand city leaders step up plans to find permanent homes for the more than 4,000 men, women and children who sleep outside and in shelters every night.

A guest post from Liz Atwood: I wouldn't normally look to Mick Jagger for parenting advice, but an item in the news a few days ago caught my eye. Jagger's ex-wife Jerry Hall is reportedly asking him to buy three houses for their grown children (their youngest, 15, still lives at home). According to the story, Jagger says he believes his kids should make their own way in the world and not expect him to give them handouts. Lately I've heard my friends talking about helping their children after they graduate from college.

I read with interest that the goal of the city's program for ending homelessness is to reduce shelter stays to fewer than 90 days, at a cost of roughly $40,000 a year ("Aid for street people failing," March 18). Why then is Robert Cook, a 52-year-old man who wants to see a 24-hour police presence in the Fallsway shelter where a homeless person was stabbed last weekend, claiming to have stayed there for the last three years, if it is such a dangerous place? I don't mean to denigrate Mr. Cook, but during that time he could have earned a high school equivalency degree, and associate degree or any number of trade certifications.

Amid a stepped up enforcement for St. Patrick's Day-related festivities that was hailed as successful, Baltimore Police were dealing with a spate of violence over the weekend elsewhere in the city. Three people were killed Sunday in apparently unrelated incidents, and police were also investigating a double-shooting that injured two early Saturday morning in East Baltimore.  And Monday started off with homicide detectives dispatched to the Remington neighborhood of North Baltimore for a serious shooting around 10 a.m. Few details were immediately available, but police said the shooting occurred in the 2700 block of Fox St. -Detectives have made an arrest in the first killing that occurred Sunday, at the city's Code Blue homeless shelter.

Baltimore police say a man who was stabbed early Sunday at the entrance of the city's 24-hour emergency shelter has died. The adult male was seriously injured about 5:45 a.m., according to officials. In a statement, police spokesman Detective Vernon Davis said the man had been taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, "but despite medical effort, he succumbed to his injuries. " Police have not identified the victim. Police said preliminary investigation suggested the victim and another person had an argument inside the shelter.

At Baltimore County's animal shelter this week, dozens of animals were waiting for someone to adopt them. Among them were Cisco, a year-old pit bull terrier, a bulldog named Ivan and Sugar Pie, a tricolor cat. But judging by shelter statistics, potential pets are more likely to be put down than placed in a home. Now, under pressure from animal advocates and some lawmakers, county officials are looking for an animal-oriented nonprofit to take over the shelter. "Much like most animal-control agencies, their focus is really on protecting people from animals," said Ron Lambert, a board member of the Maryland Feline Society.

The Family Crisis Center of Baltimore County will receive $107,000 in federal funding to continue programs that provide housing and counseling for victims of domestic violence. The grant, announced Wednesday, will assist the nonprofit center, which is struggling with a funding shortfall and decrease in donations this year. "Quite simply, this award means we survive," said Doug Murphy, center director. "We can continue to provide services that are critical to women and families.

Adoption promotions and specials on fees have helped more furry friends than ever at the Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter find homes this year. The South Baltimore shelter, also known as BARCS, is reporting 3,225 adoptions in 2010 — a 13.5 percent increase over the record set last year. The shelter gets about 33 new dogs and cats daily, approximately 12,000 annually. It started reducing fees for holiday adoptions two years ago to sway potential pet owners and ease economic pressures on smaller rescue groups, which couldn't afford to take in as many of the shelter's animals as they normally would.

As a 44 year resident of Baltimore City, I cannot think of a better use of my taxes than paying to temporarily house the homeless individuals who are about to be evicted by the city from their meager camp in motels while they wait for permanent housing ("Homeless eviction plan criticized," March 5). Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's comments that doing so is "not a responsible use of taxpayer money," and Councilwoman Rikki Spector's reference to the camp as "toxic," made this proud resident of Baltimore feel shame that publicly elected officials would so openly demonstrate their contempt and lack of compassion for our most vulnerable citizens.

Venus Wiles would rather sleep in a tent stuffed with blankets and all her worldly possessions on the side of the Jones Falls Expressway with her boyfriend, Michael Spence, than stay the night in an emergency shelter. The encampment - a collection of tents on a sliver of land between the northbound roadway of the JFX and the Fallsway, where as many as 18 homeless men and women live with their cats and dogs - feels more like home. Wiles and Spence say they don't know where they'll go Friday when the city plans to clear the site, which has been used by the homeless for the past five years.