Transitional Housing

Men who are recovering from drug or alcohol abuse will be able to avoid being homeless as they try to reclaim their lives next year at a home to be built in Mount Holly.And many in the West Baltimore neighborhoods of Mount Holly, Greater Walbrook, Woodhaven and Windsor Hills are ready to welcome, rather than oppose, their new neighbors."We're fully behind this. There's such a desperate need for transitional housing for those recovering," said John B. Ferron Sr., member and past president of Woodhaven Community Association.

I have been a member of the board of a mental health organization that for many years has provided neighborhood housing for people who suffer from mental illness. Many people with mental illness live and work in their communities. Only people who are in crisis or are a danger to themselves or others remain in a psychiatric inpatient setting. Therefore, since transitional neighborhood placements far exceed inpatient care, one can conclude based on the success of these residential facilities, they are well supervised and safe.

I have been a member of the board of a mental health organization that for many years has provided neighborhood housing for people who suffer from mental illness. Many people with mental illness live and work in their communities. Only people who are in crisis or are a danger to themselves or others remain in a psychiatric inpatient setting. Therefore, since transitional neighborhood placements far exceed inpatient care, one can conclude based on the success of these residential facilities, they are well supervised and safe.

The Light House homeless shelter in Annapolis has received a grant of more than a half-million dollars, its largest gift for the construction of a larger and more comprehensive center planned to open in the fall. The Kresge Foundation has provided a $575,000 grant to the shelter, with $425,000 for the construction project and $150,000 going toward the operating budget. "We are honored to be awarded a grant of this size from an internationally renowned foundation," said Elizabeth Kinney, president of the Light House board of directors and co-chair of the capital campaign.

Carroll officials are working with a developer on a deal that could provide housing at no cost to the county for about 15 families who are homeless or in dire need of support.County Commissioner Julia W. Gouge confirmed yesterday thatthe county is working with James Ryan Jr., owner of Rylea Homes Inc. of Westminster, on a deal in which Mr. Ryan would donate land off Kriders Church Road for the transitional housing project. No contract outlining terms has been drafted, she emphasized.The arrangement hinges on the county receiving about $680,000 from the state to move seven houses the county purchased in connection with the airport expansion project, said Department of Citizen Services Director Jolene G. Sullivan.

When county officials talk about their transitional housing program, "transitional" is supposed to refer to families who will be going from a shelter to permanent housing.But the project itself has been in transition since Carroll County received grant approval in March to create 15 apartments on Kriders Church Road.The project has been pared down to nine apartments, but now the residents will have support services such as child care and transportation to help them work their way back to independence.

Carroll County has asked the federal government for nearly $400,000 in grants to address the needs of its homeless population. The 50-page grant application was approved by the county commissioners on Thursday and forwarded to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday. Its requests included about $88,000 for temporary shelters and other transitional housing. Officials also sought roughly $82,000 to improve data systems, which would allow for more accurate counts of those needing shelter and pay the salary of an employee to manage the survey system.

A group working to shelter Harford County's homeless announced Friday that it has purchased the first of two homes to be used as transitional housing for the working poor who do not earn enough to pay market-scale rent. "It is very exciting," said Dianna Tilton, president of Faith Communities and Civic Agencies United, a collection of churches, civic groups and government agencies, of the purchase. The home is the first in the county set aside to help homeless men, she said. Up to eight residents may stay for as long as two years.

Seven houses the county owns near the Westminster airport should be moved and renovated into transitional apartments for the homeless or others in dire need of housing, the county's citizen services director told the county commissioners yesterday.Carroll now has no transitional housing to accommodate those who have exhausted their stays at homeless shelters or to house the recently unemployed, displaced women with children and others who need time and support services to become self-sufficient again.

The Light House shelter on West Street in Annapolis has been providing the homeless a life preserver on a cold winter night since 1988. Now, Annapolis Area Ministries Inc., the nonprofit group that runs the shelter, is preparing an anchor.The Anchor House, a program starting this fall, will be Annapolis' first experiment with placing families in long-term housing. Two large houses are being readied for three families to call home for as long as a year."We've gone beyond the soup kitchen and the storefront mission where people would get a meal and hear a message and go on their way," said Toni Graff, executive director of Annapolis Area Ministries.

With the abrupt onset of winter weather, Baltimore finds itself this week with 300 fewer beds for the homeless in emergency shelters and transitional housing than it had last year. A handful of privately run shelters have closed - for a variety of reasons - and as the season progresses the city may need to scramble for more beds. The solution to most of the homelessness problem is to have more affordable permanent housing, and the city (and country) should redouble efforts under way to address that.

Though the recent count of the homeless population in Harford County revealed a 20 percent increase over two years ago, more people are opting for shelters or other programs instead of living on the streets, county social services officials say. The federally mandated count in late January tallied 145 homeless people countywide, including eight who decline to use the county's seasonal emergency shelter or other options. "It is a large increase, but the breakdown shows more people are living in shelters and taking advantage of our transitional housing programs," said Elizabeth Meadows, community development coordinator of the county community services department, of the biennial count.

Meet housing needs of the city's poor The deaths of two homeless men after freezing on the streets of Baltimore underscore the pressing need for increased emergency shelter for individuals and for families ("Homeless deaths spur shelter policy review," Dec. 6). These deaths added urgency to state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer's complaints regarding temporary trailers in Baltimore County that are serving as makeshift emergency shelters ("Mayor Annoyed strikes again," editorial, Dec. 5)

CHICAGO - Rita Canning had an idea for a house, a big one. As president of Women in Need Growing Stronger (WINGS), a nonprofit group that supplies resources and emergency housing for families facing homelessness, Canning dreamed of a shelter where those fleeing domestic violence could find immediate refuge. "We looked for property for four years," she said. "You have to have the right spot." Once the property was found, it took another two years to win municipal building approval. Today the "safe house" is taking shape, thanks in large part to HomeAid Chicago, a charity sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago, which is donating time, service and materials to the $1.6 million project.

A Harford official said Friday that the county is moving to a new strategy for homeless transitional housing, and is talking with several service providers about their plans - including the nonprofit group it severed ties with last month. James Richardson, director of human resources, who also works closely on the shelter issue, said the county is looking at creating transitional apartment housing at scattered sites around the county. He said officials are talking with other shelter providers, including Holy Family House in Aberdeen, about the possibility of expanding their services.

Residents of an Abingdon subdivision are fighting to keep a homeless shelter out of their neighborhood, the second time in a year that neighbors have banded together to fight plans for what would be Harford County's first such facility. Neighbors led by Republican state Sen. Nancy Jacobs, who lives in the Long Bar Harbor community where advocates of the homeless have purchased a house, say the shelter was brought into their community surreptitiously, and would imperil families and older residents.

WESTMINSTER -- County officials succeeded in impressing state Housing Secretary Jacqueline Rogers with their proposal to build 15 transitional housing units near the Westminster airport."

Though the recent count of the homeless population in Harford County revealed a 20 percent increase over two years ago, more people are opting for shelters or other programs instead of living on the streets, county social services officials say. The federally mandated count in late January tallied 145 homeless people countywide, including eight who decline to use the county's seasonal emergency shelter or other options. "It is a large increase, but the breakdown shows more people are living in shelters and taking advantage of our transitional housing programs," said Elizabeth Meadows, community development coordinator of the county community services department, of the biennial count.

A group working to shelter Harford County's homeless announced Friday that it has purchased the first of two homes to be used as transitional housing for the working poor who do not earn enough to pay market-scale rent. "It is very exciting," said Dianna Tilton, president of Faith Communities and Civic Agencies United, a collection of churches, civic groups and government agencies, of the purchase. The home is the first in the county set aside to help homeless men, she said. Up to eight residents may stay for as long as two years.

Dionne Love knew the drill at the homeless shelter: Check in by 4:30 p.m. Leave by 6 a.m. and "blow time" until shelter doors reopened. So when the mother of two learned about Pratt House, a former West Baltimore school gymnasium converted into a $5.6 million, 35-unit apartment complex for homeless families with two or more children, she moved on it. Yesterday, Love, 28, watched as officials with Volunteers of America Chesapeake and other project partners...