May 2010 (pdf) - Hampden Community Council
May 2010 (pdf) - Hampden Community Council
May 2010 (pdf) - Hampden Community Council
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10 historic hampden happenings • <strong>May</strong> <strong>2010</strong><br />
historic hampden happenings • <strong>May</strong> <strong>2010</strong> 11<br />
The Best Kept Secret from Seniors: St. Mary’s Outreach Center<br />
By Fran Brown<br />
On a cold January day, senior citizens gather<br />
at St. Mary’s Outreach Center at 3900 Roland<br />
Avenue to learn if they qualify for food stamps.<br />
Sandra Simmons, executive director, had<br />
arranged for representatives from the Maryland<br />
Food Bank to come to the <strong>Hampden</strong> location to<br />
make it easier for neighborhood senior citizens,<br />
something that Sandy, as she is known, spends<br />
most of her time doing: making lives easier,<br />
warmer, healthier for seniors in the <strong>Hampden</strong><br />
neighborhood and surrounding communities.<br />
Among those waiting, a group of women form a<br />
small circle and share stories of frustrating visits<br />
to agencies and perplexing paperwork. Diane<br />
explains that many seniors aren’t able to take the<br />
two or three buses or afford the cab that could<br />
take them to social services. So Sandy makes the<br />
calls, follows through on the details, fills out the<br />
paperwork with them, and assures the paperwork<br />
is mailed. “Sandy is marvelous,” offers a man<br />
waiting with his wife. He has learned only<br />
recently of Sandy and St. Mary’s Outreach Center,<br />
and she helped the couple apply for the Qualified<br />
Medicare Beneficiary program.<br />
Sandy’s passion and dedication to serving<br />
seniors stems from her own experience taking<br />
care of elderly parents. Finding assistance was<br />
difficult; where and how to apply more difficult.<br />
She found the system frustrating. When her<br />
parents died, Sandy launched her career serving<br />
seniors as an assistant director of a fairly large<br />
senior center in Baltimore. Her journey carried<br />
her to St. Mary’s Outreach Center where she has<br />
served thousands of citizens: 4,913 in 2009.<br />
Over the past two years, the outreach center<br />
has returned almost $800,000.00 to the<br />
community. Some of the areas include<br />
$118,190.00 for energy assistance; Medicare<br />
ABC/supplemental, $1,378; Medicare D/SPDAP<br />
and extra help, $114,543; renters/homeowners<br />
tax credit, $100,000; water bills, $9,424.<br />
The outreach center is housed in the church<br />
building that was formerly St. Mary’s Episcopal<br />
Church. In partnership with AIM (Action in<br />
Maturity) the Resource and Referral Service<br />
at the Outreach Center provides free and<br />
confidential services to men and women (ages<br />
62+) who are in need of assistance. Sandy’s<br />
goal is to spread the word that friendly, caring<br />
people provide help with energy bills counseling<br />
services, legal aid, prescriptions and drug<br />
coverage, eviction notices, food pantries,<br />
Medicare/Medicaid, benefit packages, taxes<br />
and tax related issues, homeowners’/renters’<br />
tax credits, access to housing, transportation.<br />
Mary is among the small circle of women waiting<br />
and hoping to qualify for food stamps. If she<br />
qualifies, she many not have to decide between<br />
food and heat. “St. Mary’s is a blessing for the<br />
seniors of <strong>Hampden</strong>,” Mary says quietly.<br />
The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland (www.ang-md.org)<br />
is a Christian community of 22,000 households in 117<br />
congregations covering 10 counties and Baltimore City.<br />
The Episcopal Church is a community of 2.4 million<br />
members in 100 nationwide dioceses, 10 overseas<br />
dioceses and six extra-provincial territories; (www.<br />
episcopalchurch.org). The Anglican Communion (www.<br />
anglicancommunion.org) is a global community of 77<br />
million Anglicans in 38 member churches/provinces,<br />
including The Episcopal Church.<br />
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