At Health Care for the Homeless, Jeff Singer is forced to turn nearly 100 people away each month.
Across town at Our Daily Bread, Angelo Boer has an average of 70 more hungry mouths to feed at each meal.
Over the last year, the crumbling economy has turned increasing numbers of Baltimore metro area residents to local charities in hopes of assistance. But the same factors gutting their finances have hit charities just as hard.
» To contribute to the United Way’s Emergency Response Fund, go to www.umcm.org/emergencyfund .
“It’s a double whammy, because fundraising and resources are sloping down,” said Mark Furst, chief operating officer of United Way of Central Maryland. “The other slope is the need, people are being turned away, there isn’t enough to go around.”
Hoping to curb at least some of their needs, the United Way of Central Maryland this week announced a $1 million Emergency Response Fund. The fund will support charities trying to meet basic human needs such as food, housing and utility assistance.
A committee assembled by the United Way will parcel out the funds to charities that apply with specific plans of how they will use the money. Furst said he hopes to have the funds raised and distributed by the end of the first quarter.
Our Daily Bread received more than 700 calls for help in October, said Boer, director of development. In December, that number skyrocketed to more than 5,000, a jump that caused Boer to check and double-check the figures.
Boer said any funds received through the United Way campaign would go in part to support the high cost of Our Daily Bread’s food programs.
“A million dollars will be incredibly helpful,” he said. “This is a great time for us [to receive additional funds], because the need is so great.”
Singer, president and chief executive officer CEO of Health Care for the Homeless, said his organization is hopeful that President Obama’s proposed financial stimulus package will include support for their mission.
“Like everyone else we’re looking at the federal government and federal stimulus package,” Singer said. “There doesn’t seem to be any additional money at City Hall, or in Annapolis, so we’re looking to Washington, D.C.”
