15 Days until The HCH Chocolate Affair

Published on January 18, 2012 in Events. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Today we are just 15 days from Baltimore’s “sweetest night in town” – The Health Care for the Homeless Chocolate Affair. Do you have your ticket – https://secure.qgiv.com/for/chocolateaffair/

On February 2, 2012, Baltimore’s best restaurants, caterers, and chocolatiers will share their gifts with you during an incredible hors d’oeuvre reception and dessert buffet. Savor a chocolate-inspired dinner prepared for you by Executive Chef Carlos Gomez of the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott.

Best of all, you can enjoy something sweeter than chocolate – the inspiring stories of personal transformation that couldn’t have happened without you. Meet the staff and hear about the incredible work they do to change our community for the better.

Don’t delay, because we expect to sell out – https://secure.qgiv.com/for/chocolateaffair/

For more details visit our webpage dedicated to The HCH Chocolate Affair – http://www.chocolateaffair.org/

 

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Join Us Dec 21 for Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day

Published on December 13, 2011 in Events. 0 Comments Tags: , .

On Wednesday, December 21 – the first day of winter, the longest night of the year – we will remember the over 111 men and women who are known to have died in 2011 and who, in life, had lacked a regular place to stay. You are invited to a 5:30PM memorial service at the Baltimore Inner Harbor Amphitheater (between the two pavilions near the corner of Pratt and Calvert Streets).

If the grave consequences of life on the streets weren’t already apparent, the arrival of long winter nights sheds greater light on the growing problem of homelessness in our communities. Lower temperatures, higher housing and energy costs, and insufficient shelter resources contribute to the premature deaths of many of our neighbors.

Join HCH and our partners on December 21 as we remember our friends and neighbors who passed away this year without a secure place to live, and recommit to the important task of ending homelessness.

For additional information on Baltimore City’s commemoration of Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day or to report the names of individuals who have died homeless, please contact Adam Schneider at aschneider@hchmd.org.

Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day is recognized in communities across the country on the first day of winter. For more information on activities across the country and for tips on organizing an event in your community, visit the National Health Care for the Homeless Council – http://www.nhchc.org/memorialday.html – or the National Coalition for the Homeless – www.nationalhomeless.org.

You can also connect with others and get more news on Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day events at this Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/290458947659658/

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City Council Dedicates December 21 Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day

Published on December 9, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

In the first meeting of its new term, the Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to dedicate December 21 as Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day in Baltimore. The resolution, introduced by Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, notes that Baltimore City’s biennial “homeless census” has documented a dramatic rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness. The larger community will commemorate Memorial Day on the 21st with a 5:30 p.m. service at the Inner Harbor.

“On December 21 – the first day of winter and the longest night of the year – Baltimore City will join communities across the country to remember those who have died without a secure place to live and to recommit to the urgent task of ending the conditions that create homelessness,” said Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young.

“Life on the streets quickly can turn to death on the streets, said Kevin Lindamood, President & CEO of Health Care for the Homeless, Inc., one of the agencies organizing the local commemoration. “Only by putting an end to homelessness itself can we stop the untimely deaths of our homeless neighbors. We welcome the resolution of our elected officials to work for a future without homelessness.”

The public is invited to the memorial service at 5:30 p.m. on December 21 at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor’s Amphitheater (the corner of Pratt and Light Streets) to recognize more than 70 men and women who died in 2011 and who, in life, lacked a regular place to stay. The service is organized by members of SHARP, a coalition of homeless service providers and advocates working to Stop Homelessness And Reduce Poverty.

For more information go to http://www.hchmd.org/memorialday.shtml.

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Baltimore County Rally to Bring Maryland HOME – Wednesday, December 7

Published on December 5, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Join us on Wednesday, December 7, from 6:30PM-8:00PM at Towson United Methodist Church (501 Hampton Lane, Towson) to bring Maryland HOME.

Homelessness is hazardous to the health of families and individuals. The experience of homelessness causes health problems, exacerbates existing illness, and complicates treatment. Although access to safe and affordable housing is among the best ways to improve someone’s health, “housing” remains the most difficult prescription for HCH providers to fill.

You can help!

Join us to rally in support of the Maryland Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act, which would prohibit housing discrimination based on a household’s legal source of income. This bill supports the work of HCH by providing our clients with greater access to safe, decent and affordable housing. Your support – and the support from Baltimore County legislators – will be critical to the success of the bill.

The rally, which will include music by HCH staff, is sponsored by Baltimore County Communities for the Homeless and the Coalition for the Maryland HOME Act. Food will be provided.

Event Information:

Wednesday, December 7, 2011
6:30PM – 8:00PM
Towson United Methodist Church
501 Hampton Lane
Towson, MD 21286

Contact Lovel Tokic, 410-625-9409, ext. 246, or tokicl@publicjustice.org to RSVP (for purposes of estimating food) and get help with transportation.

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60 Minutes “Hard Times Generation: Families Living in Cars”

Published on November 29, 2011 in In the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

“More than 16 million children are now living in poverty and, for many of them, a proper home is elusive. Some cash-strapped families stay with relatives; others move into motels or homeless shelters. But, as Scott Pelley reports, sometimes those options run out, leaving an even more desperate choice: living in their cars. 60 Minutes returns to Florida, home to one third of America’s homeless families, to find out what life is like for the epidemic’s youngest survivors.”

Health Care for the Homeless has seen an increase in the number of families coming to our door in desperate need of health care and affordable housing. And it is unsettling to know that children are indeed disproportionally affected. While 25% Baltimore’s households live in poverty, nearly 2 out of 5 children (38%) are living in poverty right now.

Thanks to our supporters, we are helping families get off the street now and advocating for policies that address the root causes of poverty and homelessness.

Having trouble with the video? Click here

Or click here to read the full story.

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Homeless Baltimoreans Find Lifesaving Care

Published on November 16, 2011 in In the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Our thanks to Ashley M. Latta for authoring a great article for Capital News Service. The stories included demonstrate the incredible transformations that occur when people have access to comprehensive health care, affordable housing, and livable incomes – work that is only possible with our many supporters and community partners.

As uplifting and enjoyable as it is to revel in our shared success with Tony and Mark, our Community Relations Coordinator Adam Schneider rightfully reminds that there is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure more people are spared the hardships Tony and Mark endured.

“‘More and more people are finding themselves with incomes that they can’t live on,’ Schneider said. ‘We need to look at what the real structural problems that cause homelessness are, and we really need to work to address those issues.’”

Click here to read the full article.

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HCH and Loyola University Partner on Award-Winning Radio Program

Published on November 9, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

An episode of the WLOY-Loyola radio show Both Feet In: Conversations with People Experiencing Homelessness produced in partnership with Health Care for the Homeless and the “Faces of Homelessness” Speakers’ Bureau won the 2011 National Student Production Award for Best Podcast. The award was presented at the 90th Annual National College Media Convention held October 26-30 in Orlando, Florida. Both Feet In, which airs on WLOY Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00pm-1:30pm, was created by Dr. Sylvia Park to share stories of people experiencing homelessness in bold, creative, and intimate ways.

The winning episode – “A Bench Is Not a Bed” – featured the reflections of students and people experiencing homelessness who participated in a “Sleep Out” in Baltimore City’s Inner Harbor last November commemorating National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

“It’s important to create spaces that provide the opportunity for expression and conversation about the realities of homelessness,” said Lindsay Vanderheiden, former Coordinator of the “Faces of Homelessness” Speakers’ Bureau at Health Care for the Homeless and host of the award-winning podcast. “Both Feet In and the Speakers’ Bureau – as well as events like the sleep out – provide venues for such conversations.”

“Before the sleep out I thought I had a handle on people experiencing homelessness because of the service that I’ve done this semester but afterwards I realized how difficult it is and it made me more interested to learn about how to solve the issues and advocate for people experiencing homelessness and broaden my horizons to gain awareness from others,” said Rebecca, a student at Loyola University who was interviewed for the program.

“I wanted my voice heard. I wanted to be a part of something that hopefully – eventually – would bring an end to homelessness in the City,” said Sal, one of the people interviewed at the sleep out who was without housing.

The local commemoration of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (November 12-20) again will culminate with a “Sleep Out” – beginning at 6pm on Saturday, November 19, in front of Baltimore City Hall. Following a program of speakers and discussions, students from over seven local colleges and universities will sleep out in solidarity with those across Baltimore who lack stable housing.

More information about Both Feet In – as well as past episodes – are available at http://wloy.org/shows/both-feet-in/.

For more information on the “Faces of Homelessness” Speakers Bureau, contact Vanessa Borotz at 443/703-1349 or vborotz@hchmd.org.

For more information on the local commemoration of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week – including the November 19 “Sleep Out” in front of City Hall – contact Lisa Klingenmaier at 919/413-7734 or at lklin001@umaryland.edu.

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From the CEO: HCH Releases New Report on Incarceration and Homelessness

Published on October 27, 2011 in * From the CEO. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Baltimore – like most cities these days – has a math problem.  The supply of emergency services is simply insufficient to meet the demand for those in need of them.

At least 4,000 men, women, and children without a place to stay tonight will compete for roughly 2,000 shelter beds.  Never been much of a math whiz, but even I can calculate that one.

This same imbalance exists across an array of services our friends and neighbors require to meet basic needs for themselves and their families:  food, health care, addiction treatment, rental assistance to prevent evictions and foreclosures.  In each and every case, the demand for resources completely overwhelms the supply, leading to . . .

Another math problem:  people who don’t have their needs met through relatively low-cost emergency services often wind up using far costlier resources in emergency rooms and hospitals or back in jail or prison.

Since the creation of Health Care for the Homeless 26 years ago, we’ve noticed a phenomenon that further complicates both equations.  Every morning, the line of people requesting services outside our clinic includes individuals who have been released from jail or prison during the night with nowhere to turn.  Conversely, detention facilities in Baltimore are filled increasingly with individuals living their private lives in very public spaces – men and women arrested for loitering, trespassing, exhibiting signs of a mental illness, or, well, to put it bluntly, having no place else to pee.

We are pleased to release today a new report exploring the relationships among homelessness, incarceration, and re-entry back into the Baltimore community.  Student interns, HCH staff, and dozens of people who have themselves experienced homelessness and incarceration spent long hours this past summer listening to more than 400 men and women who had been released from incarceration within the past ten years.  Their experiences and perspective guided the research.

The results are striking.  Two thirds were released between the hours of 8:00pm and 5:00am when most supportive services are closed.  Most of those surveyed listed “housing” and “employment” among the factors that may have prevented their incarceration.  And respondents who first entered the corrections system in their youth were more likely to spend ten years or more behind bars over the course of a lifetime.

We can and must use public dollars differently.  May this report and the important work to follow guide us all toward sensible and cost-effective solutions that actually add up.

Click here to learn more and download a copy of the report.

Kevin Lindamood, President & CEO
Health Care for the Homeless

Twitter: @KevinLindamood

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WBAL Special Report: Fighting Homelessness in Baltimore

Published on October 20, 2011 in In the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Sunday, October 17, WBAL broadcast a half-hour show on homelessness in Baltimore, featuring Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Health Care for the Homeless, and Michele Littlejohn Sampson, an advocate who is formerly homeless. Given the troubling degree of increased homelessness in our community among families and individuals, an increased focus on this issue comes at an important time.

Click here to watch the story – “Fighting Homelessness in Baltimore.”

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City Paper reports striking growth in homelessness

Published on October 20, 2011 in In the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The Baltimore City Paper article, “Census shows striking growth in Baltimore homelessness” by Van Smith, reports:

“As one might expect in a miserable economy, Baltimore’s overall homeless population swelled nearly 20 percent during the past two years. The number of homeless young people (ages 13 to 24) jumped by 50 percent. The dramatic data, based on homeless counts conducted this winter, were revealed in two studies released in September by Morgan State University and Johns Hopkins University.”

Click here to read the full article.

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