Services

Many hundreds of people come to the Samaritan Community each year seeking help, sometimes with a small problem, sometimes with an overwhelming crisis.  The Samaritan Community offers a variety of services and resources, listed below, to meet the diverse needs of our participants.  In all these ways, we provide not just an invaluable safety net for people in crisis, but also the tools that will help them to rebuild and improve their lives.

Emergency Food Pantry

Many people come to us initially for our emergency food program. In 2002, we furnished to those in need over 2,500 bags of groceries as emergency 3-day supplies. Food that we purchased at the Maryland Food Bank was supplemented by food provided through our continuing partnership with Giant Foods on York Road.  More was donated by area churches including Memorial Episcopal, Emmanuel Episcopal, Brown Memorial Presbyterian, and St. Christopher by the Sea. We were also able to furnish more than 200 holiday food baskets, and we distributed holiday gifts to 20 children.

Donated gently used clothing is also made available to those who come for food. Donated coats and bedding helped many of our participants through the cold winter months we experienced this past year.

For Christmas 2002, we initiated a new program for our participants -- a new way to share the gift of giving. Through the generosity of our supporters, we provided grants to cover our participants' utilities or housing expenses in December so that they were able to experience the joy of purchasing gifts for their family members. Buoyed by the terrific response to this pilot program, we plan to repeat it in 2003.

Crisis Intervention Counseling

Those who come to us for food are first interviewed by our full-time case manager, Sharon Krieger, or our social worker, Susan (Opie) Smeragliuolo. Participants' needs are assessed, and a custom-tailored program is established that provides personalized one-on-one support and advocacy for individuals or families. In 2002, we conducted close to 1,100 counseling and/or therapy sessions, as well as 70 home visits. The needs we attend to are varied, but they are generally concentrated in four areas:

• Financial Counseling
  We provide financial planning support to families and individuals, to help them achieve self-sufficiency.
  
  
• Employment Counseling and Referral
  We support individuals who are seeking employment. We provide transportation grants for job searches and travel until their paychecks begin. We connect participants to job readiness and training programs, and provide follow-up and support beyond the referrals.
  
  
• Assistance in Finding Homes and Shelter
  The challenges our participants face in this area have increased as the stock of affordable, safe housing in our area has continued to decline and shelters have become overcrowded. We help individuals and families find housing, and we support them throughout their transitions to their new living quarters.
  
• Advocacy for Social Services                                    Some services are available to people through governmental or other agencies, but accessing these services can be daunting. We advocate for our participants, helping them to learn about the options that are available and teaching them to become advocates for themselves.

• Housing
• Transportation
• Utilities
• Legal Bills (birth certificates, etc.)
• Medical Bills
• Employment Costs (shoes, uniforms, etc.)

Support Groups

The Samaritan Community fosters self-help through group settings. Regular morning support group sessions occur twice a week, and begin with an informal breakfast. These sessions address issues such as self-esteem, life skills, and sobriety, and encourage participants to grow in self-awareness and become involved in the community. After each Tuesday morning session, Guy Hollyday offers alternative healing to participants through zero-balancing. An afternoon women's group addresses the same types of issues, and more, from a woman's perspective. In 2002, we offered over 1,000 participant hours in our group settings, and Guy Hollyday contributed over 90 healing sessions.

Counseling: Therapy

Our social worker, Susan (Opie) Smeragliuolo, LCSW-C, has been a counselor and therapist since 1991. Prior to joining our staff, she worked first with children and their parents in Catholic Charities' Treatment Foster Care program and then with cancer patients and their families on a Bone Marrow Transplant service at University of Maryland Medical System. For our participants, therapy begins with a period in which some very concrete needs are addressed first.  Many people initially come to us with acute issues--e.g. homelessness, hunger, unemployment, or medical needs--and traditional therapy cannot effectively begin until some of these problems start to be resolved. Opie is particularly qualified to tackle these issues. Her training as a caseworker has provided her with knowledge of the health care system, and she also has experience with filing for Social Security benefits, accessing Social Services benefits, and advocating for legal or housing rights. Once our participants begin to feel some relief concerning their basic needs, they are ready to concentrate on communication and relationship issues. Private, individual discussions with Opie reinforce the group experiences that take place two mornings a week. Sometimes these discussions take place in the car on the way to appointments, but one way or another, problems are discussed and worked through. Through therapy counseling, some very positive changes occur in our participants' employment habits and attitudes, family relationships are strengthened, and individuals begin to regularly utilize medical therapies to improve their quality of life.

Family Support Project

In 2002, we inaugurated a new program for families with children: the Family Support Project. Each month, we have sponsored an event that allows families to do something new together, and expand their life skills and experiences.

The Project has emphasized strengthening family relationships. Participants have been families that we have known and served, who live in nearby neighborhoods. We have brought together small groups of parents, grandparents, and children for enrichment, fellowship, and a nutritious meal. By offering a variety of experiences in settings not typically available to the families, we have promoted interactive encounters that spark curiosity, communication, and excitement. The participants have developed an awareness of the world beyond inner-city Baltimore. Adults have cultivated new parenting and nurturing skills. Novel experiences have provided the children with opportunities to develop new vocabulary, to observe positive interactions, and to learn healthy coping mechanisms. All of the participants have increased their self-confidence and thus bolstered their capacity to take advantage of future opportunities independently.

Activities to date have included orienteering and a picnic in a Baltimore County park, an afternoon of fishing at Sandy Point State Park, participation in the Fall Fun Festival at the Maryland Historical Society, an African dance event, and a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium.

The Samaritan Residence

Most of our participants are able to move on independently with their lives once we have assisted them with resolving their crises. But some participants, for various reasons, continue to need our affirmation, nurturing, and support. Often these are individuals who are struggling financially, using almost all of their income for housing.

The opening of the Samaritan Residence four years ago, made possible by the donation of a vacant house, has allowed us to provide affordable housing and engender a supporting family for several otherwise unrelated individuals. These individuals combine the random strengths and weaknesses of any biological family, with two vital needs in common: the desire for a permanent, secure place to live and the need for a family to come home to.

Since 1999, the Samaritan Residence has been home to an evolving "family" of two to four residents, each living within his or her financial means. Indeed, the Samaritan Residence is nearly self-supporting. A healthy community has been formed, and we are both pleased and amazed by the strength of the residents' commitments to one another.