Maryland
Commentary: We need to do more to help our neighbors – Maryland Matters
By Courtney Hall
The writer is CEO of Interfaith Works (iworksmc.org), a nonprofit based in Rockville serving 35,000 Montgomery County residents annually with programs that provide emergency shelter, supportive housing, essential needs like free clothing, food and utility assistance, and vocational services.
Our neighbors are struggling. The expiration of COVID special assistance programs combined with skyrocketing costs and job loss have left more people homeless and in poverty. We must support strategies based on broader access to affordable housing and helping people get through times of crisis.
Interfaith Works serves residents of Montgomery County, the second wealthiest community in Maryland. We serve people who cannot afford their rent, cannot feed their families, and cannot find jobs that provide wages adequate to live a life of dignity. Our programs provide emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness, supportive housing, essential needs, and vocational services. We help over 35,000 people a year.
In our work, we see signs that things are getting worse and require sustained attention, more solutions, and investment. If that is the case in our “rich” county, it is a sign that things likely are the same or worse for other Maryland communities.
Access to housing
In our experience, programs that divert individuals and families from the shelters and streets and rapidly rehouse them can make a big impact. Interfaith Works has achieved significant success as one of the providers implementing Montgomery County’s Rapid Rehousing Program, which moves people off the streets or out of shelters and into permanent housing, giving them space and stability while they find jobs. Overall, the program has achieved a 93% rate of success in moving people into independent living situations.
But there are barriers. Despite enactment of the HOME Act of 2020 to address discrimination, our clients frequently encounter situations where landlords set the bar out of reach by requiring high credit scores and/or monthly income that is three times the monthly rent — requirements that the average renter does not have to meet. In other instances, landlords refuse to rent to our clients at all because their income for the next year comes from a subsidy despite the fact the client is in a program specifically aimed at helping them find a job and becoming economically stable within that timeframe.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) has offered a new housing agenda that would expand access to affordable housing. It also includes a much-needed plan to strengthen protections for renters. These initiatives can offer enforcement protection to our neighbors experiencing homelessness, who are getting stuck in emergency shelter environments due to the lack of affordable housing and resistance from some landlords to rent to them.
The renter proposals include: rent control measures; protections to prevent unfair evictions; regulation of security deposits to ensure they are reasonable; expanded resources to support tenant representation in court; and a host of measures to promote expanded development of affordable housing.
We are encouraged by these initiatives and look forward to bold action. People cannot move forward if doors are closed to them.
Prevention-based programs
Our neighbors are struggling to stay afloat. They are challenged by the high cost of groceries and other essentials, high rents, lack of access to sustaining jobs, and the end of special pandemic assistance programs.
We must invest in programs that are built on prevention of homelessness.
Our Connections program links people with essential resources, including financial assistance to cover unpaid utility bills and overdue rent. Demand is on the upswing. The number of households receiving rental assistance jumped from 218 in fiscal year 2022 to 358 in fiscal 2023.
However, our ability to help has been hamstrung by inconsistent funding. From September to December, we had no funds to provide any rental assistance. We had to say no to 300 families who were behind on their rents. We referred them to other sources of assistance, but those programs have higher barriers to qualify, which means many likely were left out in the cold. Luckily, generous donors stepped in to fund the program, but not before families were negatively affected.
Our vocational services program is achieving great success connecting people with sustainable jobs once they overcome many barriers, including lack of access to affordable childcare and transportation. Over the past four years we have helped place nearly 400 people in jobs, earning more than $10 million in initial annual wages. But the demand for these services is more than our current team can meet. We now have a wait time of up to 16 weeks to engage with new clients.
Giving people sustainable options and resources for housing and employment can go a long way to ensuring our neighbors find ways to move forward, not slide backward. As a state, we must invest in programs that are built on the principles of prevention and diversion to ensure that everyone has a chance to find a pathway to stability.
The state said the five recently traveled together to “a location in the U.S. experiencing an active measles outbreak.”
Maryland health officials confirmed five more measles cases, all in Carroll County.
“These individuals recently traveled together to a location in the U.S. experiencing an active measles outbreak,” the state Department of Health said in a release.
The agency said others may have been exposed on the afternoon of July 13 in the emergency department waiting room at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster.
Another measles case recently prompted warnings from health officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District. On June 17, a Maryland resident traveled through Dulles International Airport and visited a D.C. urgent care clinic.
Measles is highly contagious. It can spread through the air through coughs, breathing, and sneezes. Early symptoms can include fevers of over 101 degrees, coughs, runny noses, watery eyes and face or body rashes.
It can take up to 21 days after exposure for the first symptoms to appear, and those who are not fully vaccinated or otherwise immune to measles are especially vulnerable.
The five new measles cases in Maryland bring the state’s year-to-date total to nine. The state health department confirmed three cases in 2025, and one in each of the previous two years.
“All Marylanders should review potential exposure times, watch for symptoms, and confirm they are up to date on their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations,” the health department said.
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Baltimore may be under an extreme heat alert, but residents can dream about autumn, as tickets are now on sale for the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show returning to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in October.
This three-day celebration of home and garden takes place from Friday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Expect hundreds of exhibitors, local makers, home improvement experts, family-friendly experiences and celebrity guests. The show offers everyone the chance to explore the very latest in home improvement, landscaping, outdoor living and decor, the chance to take part in hands-on experiences, and do some holiday shopping all under one roof.
This year’s show will have more than 300 exhibitors, including more than 100 crafters from around Maryland in the Makers Market. There will be unique exhibits, stage presentations and a special appearance by Chase Morrill, Ashley Morrill-Eldridge and Ryan Eldridge from Magnolia Network’s hit series “Maine Cabin Masters.” The three will have two Main Stage appearances, one on Friday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. and the second on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12 p.m.
“As temperatures start to drop and the holiday season comes into view, the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show is a place to gather ideas, meet local experts and get inspired before the busy season begins,” said Dave Paul, show manager, in a statement. “Whether attendees are planning a home project, looking for outdoor living ideas or getting a head start on holiday shopping, the show brings together resources and experiences for every kind of homeowner, maker and DIY enthusiast.”
In addition to the Makers Market and stars of “Maine Cabin Masters”, the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show will have a petting zoo, a Kids Market where attendees can shop from local children, and much more.
Tickets are available online and at the door. Prices are as follows:
Online:
- Adults: $8
- Senior Citizens (60+): $6
- Children (ages 6-12): $4
- 4-Pack Online: $30 for four tickets, valid for one admission each and one day only
At the door:
- Adults: $10
- Senior Citizens (60+): $8
- Children (ages 6-12): $4
- Friday & Saturday: $4 after 4 p.m. at the door only
Special Offers:
- Active and retired military personnel, veterans, firefighters and police officers receive free admission all weekend, along with one guest, with valid ID at the box office.
- Attendees who show a CharmPass app, Light RailLink ticket or eligible transit pass at the box office receive free admission any day of the show. One admission is available per pass.
The Maryland State Fairgrounds is located at 2200 York Road in Lutherville-Timonium.
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Maryland
Maryland police arrest alleged bank robber wielding stolen cat: ‘Tried to use her as an accessory’
Law enforcement agencies are accustomed to dealing with cat burglars – but now a Maryland police department is saying it grappled with a cat-wielding bank robber.
The Prince George’s county police department said its officers arrested a man suspected of stealing a cat and then taking the animal with him to a PNC bank branch in the local community of Beltsville to rob the establishment on Monday morning.
“The cat was returned” after the suspect was arrested, the police department said in a statement to the Guardian on Tuesday. The agency said no injuries were reported, and it declined to name the suspect or release additional details, saying the case – bound for a spot in the annals of bizarre reported US crimes – remained under investigation.
Nonetheless, a social media post from rescue shelter Beltsville Community Cats provided more information.
A Beltsville Community Cats Facebook page post on Monday identified the cat at the center of the alleged botched caper as Magnolia, a three-and-a-half-month-old tuxedo kitten. The shelter recounted how the suspect first snatched Magnolia from her “adoption habitat” at Beltsville’s Pet Supplies Plus store, took her across the parking lot to a PNC branch, and “tried to use her as an accessory in [an] attempted robbery”.
“He asked the bank manager to hold the kitten while he wrote a note, then handed the note to a teller demanding all the cash,” the post continued. “Thankfully, the robbery was unsuccessful, the suspect was arrested, and Magnolia was found safe and sound in the bank manager’s office, where the two had bonded over their shared ordeal.”
Pet Supplies Plus store employees told the NBC affiliate in nearby Washington DC that Magnolia’s cat napper had come in daily for about two weeks and focused on the kitten each time.
Finally, on Monday, he managed to use a key to open a cat adoption area and whisked Magnolia away, store employees said to the outlet, WRC.
Store manager Aaron Kurkowski told WRC that Magnolia’s thief “came in and saw none of my team was nearby the front – and he just went right to her and ran right on out”.
According to WRC, Stephanie Stullich of Beltsville Community Cats then received a call from a pet store employee who alerted her to Magnolia’s plight.
That prompted Stullich to run over to the store, where she said to WRC that she “immediately saw all of these police cars and … thought, ‘Wow, that’s a heck of a response for a stolen cat’.”
“But then I realized they all were going down to the bank,” Stullich recalled to WRC. “They came back out a few minutes later and said, ‘Yes, there is a cat inside the bank.’”
Two days before her catnapping, Magnolia was the subject of a Beltsville Community Cats Facebook post inviting people to see her at Pet Supplies Plus and consider adopting her.
Magnolia as of Monday was still waiting to be adopted, Beltsville Community Cats said in its post detailing the bank robbery.
The non-profit organization offered members of the public the opportunity to apply to adopt Magnolia by emailing rescue@beltsvillecats.net.
Beltsville Community Cats’ post also joked that Magnolia’s “brief ‘life of crime’ is behind her” – except for undoubtedly “stealing” hearts, treats, toys and cuddles wherever her forever home may be.
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