BALTIMORE (July 28, 2015) – United Way of Central Maryland today announced $215,000 for programming supporting United Way’s goal of building self-sufficient families and stronger communities in Harford County. United Way’s grants will support the organization’s overall mission to stabilize families and provide all central Marylanders the opportunity to attain a quality education, financial stability and good health through programs that provide emergency housing, child abuse victim advocacy, legal services and more.
“Our work to stabilize families in our region focuses on creating a solid foundation for success,” said Paige Boyle Kornke, chair of United Way of Central Maryland’s Harford County partnership board and director of marketing and customer relations, Boyle Buick GMC Truck. “Thanks to our supporters, we are able to continue important work to sustain our Harford County communities and change the odds for families on the brink of or experiencing homelessness.”
The seven community operating grants totaling $140,000 include:
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County, $25,000 for quality out of school time programming for Harford County children and youth
- Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland, $20,000 to support their Trauma Based Treatment Center
- Harford Community Action Agency, $25,000 for the Food Pantry and Food Bank
- Harford Family House, $25,000 to support financial stability programs
- Linking All So Others Succeed (LASOS), $10,000 to support Foundations in Learning at Aberdeen and Edgewood
- Mason-Dixon Community Services, $15,000 for its emergency food program
- The Sexual Assault/Spouse Abuse Resource Center (SARC), $20,000 to support financial stability programs
An additional $75,000 has been invested in United Way’s homelessness prevention program for Harford County.
Each of these nonprofits facilitates some aspect of United Way of Central Maryland’s Family Stability programs. A multi-faceted approach to supporting the region’s most vulnerable citizens, Family Stability programs at United Way are aimed at lifting families out of crisis and moving them to self-sufficiency through prevention (helping at-risk families stabilize before they become homeless), shelter diversion (diverting homeless families from traditional shelters to temporary housing, accompanied by comprehensive case management) and financial education (working with these families on financial literacy, asset-building, budgeting and employment).
“Our continued work with United Way of Central Maryland as a Community Partner allows us to further our work addressing the needs of low-income individuals, families and communities in Harford County,” said Pamela Overbay, executive director, Harford Community Action Agency. “As one of more than 1,100 Community Action Agencies nationwide, our efforts have helped many families facing the conditions of poverty in Harford County, like the 20,000 people our Food Bank was able to feed last year alone.”
Since their launch in May 2012, through March of this year, these programs have helped 387 families, including the diversion of 139 families from homeless shelters into housing, and kept 570 children in their school of origin. In addition, with the opening of the new United Way Family Center, 18 teen parents are now on the path to high school graduation, with three graduating this past May. These new grants will help to continue this great and important work to provide families the support and resources they need and strengthen communities across central Maryland.
For more information about United Way of Central Maryland’s work, or to find out how to help change the odds, visit www.uwcm.org.
About United Way of Central Maryland
For 90 years, United Way of Central Maryland has been changing the odds for families and communities by investing in the building blocks of a self-sufficient life: education, financial stability and health. Family Stability is at the core of this work, which includes helping children attain the education they need to be successful; preventing homelessness and providing, safe, affordable housing; and increasing access to healthy food and healthcare. All of this work is underpinned by a safety net of critical service supports to meet people’s basic needs, plus the 2-1-1 Maryland United Way Helpline, which answered more than 100,000 calls for help last fiscal year. United Way of Central Maryland serves Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard Counties and Baltimore City. To help change the odds for families and communities in central Maryland or learn more, visit www.uwcm.org.
