“I didn’t expect to end up here,” Mr. Clarke says, sitting next to his son in an exam room. “Coming here from a different country, you’re supposed to do better, not worse.”

The Clarkes moved to the Baltimore area from Canada in 2016. They moved into an apartment, relying primarily on Mrs. Clarke’s income. When she lost her job, they couldn’t make rent and were evicted. And they have spent much of this winter staying in the Baltimore County family shelter just downstairs from one of our clinics.

Their teenage sons worry that classmates will find out where they stay and wonder when they can play a school sport again. Each night, 60–90 children and their families stay at the Eastern Family Resource Center, a family shelter in Baltimore County.

Thanks to our strong relationship with the shelter, and strong support from people like you,  we quickly became a resource for the Clarkes. Amidst so much  uncertainty, they don’t have to worry now about things like their oldest son’s strep throat going untreated due to lack of insurance. Instead, they have easy access to flu shots, antibiotics and a sense of reliable, quality care in the same building where they are staying. And that gives Mr. Clarke a sense of optimism.

“Nobody wants to be in a homeless shelter,” he says. “But I tell my sons it could be worse. We have 90 days to find a place. Hopefully we’ll get something soon.”

Meanwhile, we will be just upstairs, ready to care for his family for as long as it takes.

Learn more about the lack of affordable housing in our region.