As hundreds of Baltimore County?s homeless are turned away from shelters each night, others refuse to accept help and insist on living in tent camps, advocates say.
“There?s no room at the inn anywhere,” said Richard Doran, executive director of the Community Assistance Network, which operates the county?s east side homeless shelter. “There have been camps in various spots throughout the county for a long time.”
Doran?s shelter sleeps 179 people a night in addition to an overnight shelter at Catonsville?s Spring Grove Hospital Center and six outreach centers throughout the county.
But most shelters prioritize to accommodate people with disabilities, seniors and women with children first, he said.
The shelters also impose rules like no drinking or doing drugs ? restrictions that aren?t always agreeable to clients, said Mary Harvey, director of the county?s community conservation office.
Those who refuse to abide often turn back to camps, she said.
“They are a very difficult population to engage,” Harvey said. “We can?t force anyone to accept services.”
The county enlists the help of private nonprofit group Prologue Inc. to visit tent camps with supplies and a doctor, Harvey said.
