Each Sunday, church volunteers in Elkridge deliver food and clothing to homeless who are living in motels and tents along the Route 1 corridor.
Since December, Howard?s homeless advocates have been reaching out to an often-overlooked population while laying the foundation for a day center for the county?s homeless.
“We are trying to provide specific items the homeless need, with the long-term goal of creating relationships,” said Andrea Ingram, executive director of Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, Howard?s only emergency shelter.
The community has become more aware of the homeless living along Route 1, as panhandling has become more noticeable, Ingram said.
On a recent Sunday, volunteers from Grace Episcopal Church made enough for 25 people for two days, said Rita Chelton, senior warden at the church. The church is one of about a half-dozen local congregations that have collected and delivered items and food.
“God knocked me on the head and said, ?Wake up, these are your neighbors,? ” Chelton said.
Grassroots recently received funding from The Horizon Foundation, a Columbia-based philanthropy focused on health and wellness, to hire a part-time project coordinator.
The effort may lead to the creation of a center where homeless people can do laundry, get mail and receive other services, Ingram said.
Howard?s Local Board on Homelessness has considered for the past few years the idea of creating a day resource center, said Shirelle Bennett, staff liaison to the board in the Department of Citizen Services.
The facility, which would not include beds for overnight stay, would help reach homeless people less likely to visit the shelters or social services offices, Bennett said.
“It would be an opportunity to do a more intensive type of effort in servicing the more chronic homeless population,” she said, adding that these people tend to have disabilities or mental illnesses.
The Route 1 outreach will provide data and evidence to support the need for a day center, she said.
“What is going on there could provide a good launching point in developing a day resource center,” Bennett said.
