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With Winter fast approaching, it has been weighing heavy on my heart just how many unsheltered individuals in Cecil County, Maryland, are without provisions for shelter and food! Not to mention, 100's more in New Castle County, DE. The needs are many and we realize the lack of funding plays a huge part. IN Cecil County alone, the inability of agencies to work together cohesively and collaboratively is appalling. Example: Unsheltered individuals go without access to meals from Friday's at noon to Monday mornings! And, M-F noon they can receive a meal, IF they can navigate their way to the location providing the meal. Delivering a box of donuts, bags of chips, or a case of canned goods, is only putting a bandaid on the problem - not only unhealthy, but many do not have can openers, or provisions to cook within the encampment communities. Through our partnerships with High Roads Schools, Bethel Church, and other Cecil County resources, we are actively trying to develop a solutions-based, sustainable approach to address the needs of the unsheltered. These individuals are not "toss aways", and do not deserve to freeze or starve to death. Without programs, there are no successful outcomes - many want to work, but lack the resources necessary to obtain or sustain employment. Heartlight recently was able to obtain employment for 2 individuals living on the streets - both are working 40 hours a week, and consistently going to work while continuing to live unsheltered (primarily due to lack of available housing)! Doesn't it just make sense an individual who is working moves to the top of the list for sheltering/housing? Not the case - individuals who choose not to work, are not engaged in any type of outcome based program, are provided with shelter and 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, and have no motivation or programmatic criteria to "move on"! It's time for a CHANGE! Sheltering facilities need programs and criteria in place to move the unsheltered back into being productive members of their communities! Agencies need to be held accountable for outcomes and not just number crunching and providing a "revolving door" of increasing learned dependencies. It appears "nice" for 3 or 4 agencies to provide meals on Tuesdays, however, they can't change their schedules to make sure all the days of the week are covered, as "well, they know we are always here on Tuesdays", "they are used to our consistency" - SO WHAT!?! Let one agency be consistent and always be there for them on a particular day of the week, but spread it out to cover an entire week, and decrease the duplication of provision. IF you are reading this, reach out to us, and let's make our tax dollars make a difference - not waste them on additional duplication of services and lack of accountability, repetitive visits to the ER and jails, and meet these individuals as "people first" with a research and solution-based approach. The needs are great and the workers who are truly passionate about the work and dedicated to seeking solutions are few!