Brightside: Talbot Interfaith Shelter
EASTON, Md. – Sometimes people find themselves in situations where they can’t make it on their own and need a bit of help, and this next organization is lending a helping hand. This week’s Brightside, brought to you in part by Choptank Electric, the Talbot Interfaith Shelter is lifting up lives in their community.
Suffering Strikes
Homelessness can strike anyone at any time, and when it does people rely on shelters to make it through those difficult days. Founded 2008, the Talbot Interfaith Shelter’s Executive Director, Julie Lowe believes no one should have to sleep on the streets, in the woods, or in a car, because they can’t find housing.
“The people that we serve are really trying to better themselves so to speak, to actually be self-sufficient and take care of their families on their own.” “We give them shelter, we give them a room, and the family shelter we have rooms with on suite bathrooms, so they don’t have to share a bathroom with other families.”
Understanding the Un-Housed
Julie Lowe has never been homeless, but she understands the ways someone can become un- housed. “It’s a beautiful home, it’s very comforting, and it just elevates their spirits, because they’ve probably been couching surfing for a while, or living in their car, and now they have a stable place to work from.
She goes on to say, “Perhaps someone dying in their family, spouse dies, or they have a divorce. Or they have some serious health issue, lost their job, they’re in a patch where they need a safety net and for whatever reason, they might not have one of their own.”
Rules and Respect
Dinner is at 6 to build community, and rules and respect build the path forward. Families are housed separately each person is given their own bed, and common areas have plenty of room for activities. Lowe says over the years their 17 transitional apartments helped so many people.
She says a family from Puerto Rico comes to mind. “They just hadn’t really gotten their stride yet. The mom didn’t even speak much English at all. When they came back last week, they were so grateful, so thankful. She is now a teaching assistant in Ohio. The kids have grown and blossomed. The young man who was 11 when he was with us, is now graduating from high school, about to go into the army. And he just loves Maryland.”
Shelter-Stability- Support- Success
The S-4 program helps establish routine and discipline, and Lowe says those who follow it, see great outcomes. “We talk money management, we talk about how we go into poverty, how we can access resources, and then once we’ve gotten to a certain place, we can wean ourselves off of those resources, and become self-sufficient…”
She says, “Hopefully they will be able to access market-rate housing or maybe subsidized housing, but we try to help them get jobs that will help them be independent. You can’t do this on a minimum wage job.”
Counting On Community
Lowe says the shelters names says it all. “We not only accept people from all faiths, we embrace all faiths, we do not try to proselytize our faith to anyone… We do encourage them to have a support group, whether it is a religious support group, a mental health support group, or a peer support group, because that’s very important, you need to have community to help you get better. It takes a village, and sometimes it takes a whole country.”
The Talbot Interfaith Shelter Looking towards the bright side. The Interfaith Shelter doesn’t take any funding from the federal government and relies solely on donations. So, if you would like to help their cause, visit their website.
