New resource center designed to help the homeless
Kittleman helps cut ribbon at Jessup facility honoring civil rights activist Dorsey
Calling it “proof that good things happen,”
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman led ceremonies this past week formally opening the Leola Dorsey Community Resource Center in Jessup, a facility designed to assist the county’s homeless population.
The center, located near Guilford Road, includes 35 permanent residences and a first-floor day resource center operated by Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center.
The building replaces the Day Resource Center near the Laurel-Jessup line, which serviced an average of 80 people per day, according to Grassroots Executive Director Ayesha Holmes.
The Leola Dorsey Center will service an average of 100 to 120 people per day, officials said, and will provide services including hot meals, medical exams and counseling.
The formal opening this past Monday was attended by about 100 people including Kittleman, Howard County Housing Commissioner Peter Engel and state senators Gail Bates and Guy Guzzone.
Several speakers paid tribute to the building’s namesake, the late Leola Dorsey, a civil rights leader and activist in Howard County who grew up down the road from the new center and died in 2008.
Dorsey’s son, Charles Dorsey, who was among several family members at the event, said his mother would have “loved this building.”
Bates said she was “thrilled” that the legacy of Dorsey, a longtime friend, was being honored at the center. She spoke fondly of Dorsey’s life and generosity, saying the activist spent her life “doing things for people to make them feel special.”
“[She had] a heart as big as all outdoors,”
Bates said.
Several officials also paid tribute to former Howard County Housing Commissioner Tom Carbo, who died in November 2016.
Kittleman said the center would not exist without Carbo, who he said fought to ensure people had stable housing and basic needs.
Russ Snyder, president of Volunteers of America Chesapeake, recalled that he received his first email from Carbo about the center back in 2011, and that the former commissioner remained integral in the planning of the center until his death.
Engel said the new center will be able to help take care of at least half of the county’s homeless population on any given day. There were 214 homeless people in Howard County in 2016, according to state data.
See DORSEY, page4
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman led ceremonies this past week formally opening the Leola Dorsey Community Resource Center in Jessup, a facility designed to assist the county’s homeless population.
The center, located near Guilford Road, includes 35 permanent residences and a first-floor day resource center operated by Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center.
The building replaces the Day Resource Center near the Laurel-Jessup line, which serviced an average of 80 people per day, according to Grassroots Executive Director Ayesha Holmes.
The Leola Dorsey Center will service an average of 100 to 120 people per day, officials said, and will provide services including hot meals, medical exams and counseling.
The formal opening this past Monday was attended by about 100 people including Kittleman, Howard County Housing Commissioner Peter Engel and state senators Gail Bates and Guy Guzzone.
Several speakers paid tribute to the building’s namesake, the late Leola Dorsey, a civil rights leader and activist in Howard County who grew up down the road from the new center and died in 2008.
Dorsey’s son, Charles Dorsey, who was among several family members at the event, said his mother would have “loved this building.”
Bates said she was “thrilled” that the legacy of Dorsey, a longtime friend, was being honored at the center. She spoke fondly of Dorsey’s life and generosity, saying the activist spent her life “doing things for people to make them feel special.”
“[She had] a heart as big as all outdoors,”
Bates said.
Several officials also paid tribute to former Howard County Housing Commissioner Tom Carbo, who died in November 2016.
Kittleman said the center would not exist without Carbo, who he said fought to ensure people had stable housing and basic needs.
Russ Snyder, president of Volunteers of America Chesapeake, recalled that he received his first email from Carbo about the center back in 2011, and that the former commissioner remained integral in the planning of the center until his death.
Engel said the new center will be able to help take care of at least half of the county’s homeless population on any given day. There were 214 homeless people in Howard County in 2016, according to state data.
See DORSEY, page4
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