Due to freezing temperatures, the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services has declared a winter shelter warning for Thursday, December 19, 2024 through Tuesday, December 24 at 9 am. Call 211 (available 24/7) or 443-984-9540 to connect with shelter. Get more info here.
We don’t know what the future holds for David.*
Before he could get his late-stage cancer treated, David’s oncologist told him that his mouth had to be cleared of all infection.
Parita Patel, our Dental Director, did what she could. She conducted an exam and pulled many of his infected teeth. But David needed oral surgery with sedation to safely remove all the damaged teeth.
Kara Nelson signed up to volunteer as a way to get to know her Constellation coworkers better. But after helping nearly 200 people get warm coats and hearing their stories, Kara walked away with an entirely new understanding of homelessness.
I’m a proud two-year member of the Rock Your Socks 5K team, A Solid Case of the Runs.
All credit for the punny team name goes to my social work friend and team captain, Kim Riopelle—your Supportive Housing Coordinator at Health Care for the Homeless.
Kicking a bad habit doesn’t happen overnight. Many of us struggle with things like quitting smoking or cutting out junk food from our diets for years. But we keep taking baby steps—until finally, it sticks.
The same goes for substance use.
Do you remember the last time you moved? The excitement, the stress? Buying new supplies and home goods, getting water and electricity turned on and leaving a familiar community is hard for all of us—even in the best of times.
Imagine navigating this transition with little money for necessities and no family or friends to help. That’s what Ben and Mary are doing.
Last winter, Ray Fitzberger got frostbite on his legs and feet. Doctors had to remove three toes on his left foot. Not long after the surgery, Ray was released from the hospital.
Every day, people we know and love undergo surgery to address life-threatening conditions. If they have no place to go, they get discharged back to the streets.
Each day, Carlton trekked downtown for heroin. Drugs had landed him 33 years in prison, cost him the support of his family and prevented him from keeping a job.
Philisha fought for Gabby and Travis every day.
As the 90-day limit at a local shelter wound down, she agonized over keeping her family together and keeping a roof over her children’s heads. The possibility that she couldn’t do both was excruciating.
Tierra Bolling connects with our clients in a way that few can.
As a child, Tierra watched both of her parents struggle with substance use, and she knows first-hand what it’s like to experience homelessness. Tierra’s early years taught her that hard times don’t define your future. Change is possible.
"This doesn’t have to be what your life is like,” she reminds her clients.
Two years ago, Charles Johnson was staying in abandoned rowhouses in West Baltimore with no insurance, no income and nowhere to turn for health care needs. “I’ve been pulling my teeth out with a pair of pliers and a wash rag,” he said back then. “And I don’t have my top teeth now.”