Thursday, April 8, 2010

Needs on the rise

This past January we received 30 phone calls from homeless families needing help – the second highest monthly total since opening our doors over 3 years ago. We are already well on our way to what may be a record number of inquiries this month with eight calls received in the last 72 hours. Despite our official intake freeze, we are going to fill a few spaces – not to full capacity though – to help meet some of the need we are seeing in the community. The families we are hearing from have children ranging from infants to teenagers. They all face one or more of the issues common to homelessness such as domestic violence, substance abuse, lack of affordable housing, inability to earn a living wage, and even mental illness. It’s discouraging for our Family Ministry Specialist to hear the desperation in their voices and not have the resources to help each one. She provides referrals to other community services, but there are never enough shelter beds available in the community so much of the need remains unmet.

I recently received a call from a firm in Baltimore that is conducting a survey of service providers in the Washington metro area to assess the needs of homeless families. The information he is gathering is disturbing. Montgomery County reports they have 50-60 homeless families on the streets every night that their shelters are unable to serve. Fairfax County reports seeing a 60% increase in need from 2008 to 2009. The caller promised to keep me updated on his findings, but he suspects the number of homeless families in the Washington DC area is increasing significantly.

We are grateful for the outpouring of support we receive from the community which not only keep our doors open in this difficult economy, but is providing the additional support we need to serve as many families as possible in 2010. Please continue to keep the many many homeless families who are struggling to survive in your thoughts and prayers. Until next week …

Sue Oehmig
Founder and Executive Director

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