Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Extreme cold this week poses dangerous conditions for those living on the street.
When Bethesda Cares closed for the evening Tuesday, executive director Sue Kirk said some of the group's clients were headed out to spend the night on the street despite frigid temperatures. The group provides services for the area's homeless, some of whom have lived on the street for years. During the day, the group is providing hot lunches, coffee and hot water to their clients as the Washington region experiences extreme cold this week. Though shelter beds were available in Montgomery County, Kirk said many Bethesda Cares clients didn't plan on using them Tuesday night. With overnight temperatures expected to drop 10 to 15 degrees with wind chills of -5 to 5 degrees, Kirk expressed concern for those who would brave the elements. "It’s …
Extreme cold this week poses dangerous conditions for those living on the street.
When Bethesda Cares closed for the evening Tuesday, executive director Sue Kirk said some of the group's clients were headed out to spend the night on the street despite frigid temperatures. The group provides services for the area's homeless, some of whom have lived on the street for years. During the day, the group is providing hot lunches, coffee and hot water to their clients as the Washington region experiences extreme cold this week. Though shelter beds were available in Montgomery County, Kirk said many Bethesda Cares clients didn't plan on using them Tuesday night. With overnight temperatures expected to drop 10-15 degrees with wind chills of -5 to 5 degrees, Kirk expressed concern for those who would brave the elements. "It’s …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Bethesda Row's Ten Thousand Villages will donate 15 percent of purchases made from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday to the outreach group.
This holiday season, many of us are thinking about ways to help out the community's needy and ways to give back to friends and family with the perfect gift. Thursday, you can do both at the same time by shopping at Bethesda Row's Ten Thousand Villages. The shop will donate 15 percent of all purchases made from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6 to Bethesda Cares, a local advocacy group that works to help and house the community's homeless. The group offers services to those living on the street in Montgomery County and Washington, DC. It also helps needy residents with eviction prevention and works towards permanent housing for the homeless, many of which have been living on Bethesda's streets for years. The group recently helped house a 72-year-old …
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
New data shows medically vulnerable homeless people spend an average of 7.47 years on the street.
Medically vulnerable homeless residents in the Bethesda area have been living on the street for an average of 7.47 years—nearly two years longer than the national average, according to new data released by homeless advocacy group Bethesda Cares. The data was collected through outreach assessments led by the group as a part of the 100,000 Homes Campaign, a nationwide effort aimed to house 100,000 of the most vulnerable homeless individuals by July of 2013. The campaign asks communities to canvas homeless individuals to determine who are most at risk of dying on the street, and prioritizing housing for those people. “These are not shelter beds—these are permanent apartments where you can lock the door,” Jake Maguire, a spokesman for the …
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Calvin Walker, 72, who once slept at the Bethesda Metro, moved into his new home last month with the help of Bethesda Cares and Pathways to Housing.
Veterans across the country were recognized for their service this week. But one Bethesda veteran received a special honor—a home of his own, following decades of life on the streets. Calvin Walker, 72, moved into his new apartment in Washington, DC, in late October, with the help of homeless advocacy groups Bethesda Cares and Pathways to Housing. “I have files on Calvin dating back to 1996,” said John Mendez, Bethesda Cares outreach specialist. “We suspect he’d become homeless in the 1980s. This is an individual who was in that cycle of chronic homelessness, out on the streets for a long time." Bethesda Cares identified Walker, who suffers from heart disease, liver disease and chronic frostbite, as a medically vulnerable homeless person—…
Monday, October 1, 2012
Survey effort, a part of the 100,000 Homes Campaign, geared to house the most vulnerable homeless.
Volunteers will once again take to the streets of Bethesda this week to survey the community’s homeless, part of a continuing effort to house the most vulnerable. Advocacy group Bethesda Cares is heading up an initiative to place homeless men and women into permanent housing as a part of the 100,000 Homes Campaign, a nationwide effort aimed to house 100,000 of the most vulnerable homeless individuals by July of 2013. The campaign tasks communities with creating a by-name registry of homeless individuals in order to help service providers match them with resources and assist them into permanent housing. The initiative focuses on placing the most vulnerable “chronically homeless”—those most at risk of dying on the street—into permanent …
Monday, June 25, 2012
Bethesda Cares received boxes filled with personal items for clients.
Homeless outreach group Bethesda Cares was one of three Montgomery County nonprofits to receive 280 boxes of supplies on Thursday to distribute to clients. The boxes were among more than 2,000 filled with personal and emergency preparedness items as part of the United Way of the National Capital Area’s inaugural Shoebox Project. “The Shoebox Project offers Bethesda Cares an opportunity to partner with United Way to get supplies to folks who are medically vulnerable and homeless. Many of the people living on the street are long-term mentally ill and/or have substance abuse issues and lack any social support," said John Mendez, Bethesda Cares outreach specialist, in a statement. "They are living in parking garages and sleeping at metro …
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Bethesda Cares client Christopher Page was found dead on the streets of Bethesda May 27.
A 33-year-old homeless man was found dead on the streets of Bethesda days before he was set to move into permanent housing, according to advocacy group Bethesda Cares. Christopher Page, a Bethesda Cares client, was found dead May 27. He died of ethanol and methadone intoxication, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. Page was set to sign off on the paperwork for his new apartment in Wheaton June 4. An Army veteran, Page suffered from mental health and substance abuse issues, and had been living on the streets for about seven years, according to Bethesda Cares outreach specialist John Mendez. In Bethesda, Page usually slept near Cordell Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue. Recently, however, Page had received a housing…
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Purchase produce, bring food or make a donation to benefit Bethesda Cares this Saturday.
The Bethesda FRESHFARM market is gearing up to launch for the season this weekend, and market organizers have been busy preparing for opening day Saturday. “People always think our busiest time of year is mid-summer when the market is in full swing, but for market managers, the busiest time of year is right now,” said Laura Genello, markets and program manager for FRESHFARM. The non-profit runs 11 producer-only farmers markets in the region, and the market in Bethesda – along Norfolk Avenue, between Fairmont and St. Elmo Avenues – launched in 2010. Run in conjunction with the Bethesda Urban Partnership, the markets take place on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., from May 5 through Oct. 27. Drawing on local farmers and producers, FRESHFARM…
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
John Mendez works to house the homeless in Montgomery County.
John Mendez's military service sent him as far away as Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Now, his service to the homeless here in Montgomery County will put him before President Barack Obama to hear the State of the Union Address. Rep. Chris Van Hollen has invited the North Bethesda resident and Bethesda Cares outreach specialist to accompany him to tonight's address, and Mendez said the opportunity is a great honor. "It's kind of a lifelong dream to be able to attend the State of the Union," he said. "When I got the invitation, I thought about the places I've been, the theaters of operation I've served in, and it hits home to be in this situation where you can be a part of a significant part of our democracy." Mendez, who was honorably …
Paisley Mint
6:01 pm on Saturday, November 24, 2012
Thank you for your continuing coverage of this issue. If you live and work downtown, you know that the chronically homeless are as much part of life here as the restaurants and rich people. Props to Bethesda Cares and Montgomery County for taking a seemingly more proactive stance, i.e., their canvassing and housing first approach. But let's see if numbers of homeless actually go down as a result. more ›