Carroll commissioners to hear appeal for grant to help homeless in the county

Continued help for the homeless population tops the agenda at the Board of Carroll County Commissioners’ meeting on Thursday.

Staff from the county’s Department of Citizens Services will ask commissioners for approval to apply for a federal 2024 Continuum of Care grant of $583,371. Staff will also ask the board to approve a required county match of $50,037, for a total budget of $633,408.

The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care Program, which provides funding to nonprofits and local governments to help provide housing to homeless families and individuals.

The program seeks to end homelessness by providing funding for efforts by nonprofit groups.

Carroll County organizations help between 500 and 600 homeless people annually, according to a county briefing paper. Some require “more intensive” help, and they include adults over the age of 62, youth and the chronically homeless.

The county’s Circle of Caring Homelessness Board, established in 1997, solicits agencies to apply for the grant each year.

“The Circle of Caring Homelessness Board’s mission is to empower all citizens of Carroll County to be self-sufficient and to have stable housing and a safe, healthy life by maximizing community collaboration,” the briefing paper states. “The Circle’s strategic goals include a focus on preventing and ending homelessness among veterans, the chronically homeless, and for families, youth and children.”

The county has been awarded several grants and funding opportunities in the past to help the homeless in the county.

This includes a $1.5 million loan from the Maryland Shelter and Transitional Housing Facilities Capital Grant Program to fund a new family shelter in Carroll, and $22,133 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for emergency food and shelter programs.

The commissioners’ agenda also includes proposed changes to the county’s ethics ordinance.

In the 2021 legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly approved revisions to the state ethics law, which requires that the changes be incorporated into local ordinances.

The commissioners will be asked to approve changes that would prohibit the use of confidential information obtained in office or county employment from being used for an employee’s economic benefit. The revisions would also require that all names of outside businesses be made available, provide additional protections for whistleblowers, and require the disclosure of gifts over $20 from the Maryland Association of Counties and the Maryland Municipal League .

The county commissioners’ meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., in Room 311 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., in Westminster. The meeting is live streamed at youtube.com/@CarrollCountyGov . Anyone can make public comment at the meeting, in person or online. Those wishing to attend online should call 872-240-3212 and enter access code 317-923-893 to join the meeting.

Have a news tip? Contact Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@baltsun.com and 240-315-7029.