Earlier this year, The Light House Homeless Prevention Support Center in Annapolis was seeing about 200 pickups from its food pantry per month. So far this month, it’s averaging 900.

Last year, The Light House provided emergency and transitional housing to 187 individuals and 18 families, including 34 children. Each person or family in our Residential Program is unique and brings individual strengths and challenges with them. During their time at The Light House, residents are provided with food, clothing, a safe space to live, a wide variety of programs, and integrated case management through their Client Advocate. Our Residential Program enables residents to rebuild their lives, address their barriers, and begin a path towards self-sufficiency. But what happens when they leave The Light House? The first year of independence can be extremely challenging, but our hope is that they continue to grow and become more self-reliant each day.

With this hope in mind, The Light House began the Open Table model to support our residents transitioning out of the shelter. Open Table is about offering transformational relationships to build a supportive community, called a “Table”, for one of our individual or family residents. Tables consist of 6-12 volunteers who make a one-year commitment to serve as life specialists, encouragers, and advocates for the individual being served (referred to as a “Brother” or “Sister”). Tables are made up of regular people – not experts – who have a desire to serve their Brothers and Sisters by being open, non-judgmental, giving and receiving friendship, and building trust that creates positive outcomes. The Table experience is life-changing for all who participate, and actively transforms communities through mutual relationships.

One of our congregations which has been paired with a former resident, shared the following letter about their experience working with Light House and Open Table.

My name is Fred and I’m a Mission Leader for Open Table through The Light House. Our “table” is formed out of Revolution Church in Annapolis with 9 people. We were matched with a “Sister” who has recently gone through the Emergency Residential Program at The Light House and is currently in transitional housing. We’ve been meeting with her as a Table since May of this year. Her stated goals include financial security, physical health, and general support in her life situations. We have assisted her in practical matters such as transportation and support regarding her job.

Open Table is a relationship-centered program and even though we have offered some practical suggestions over the last 4 months, our primary success has been building a sense of family and spiritual community with her. She is not our project. She is a person with unique assets and challenges and personality – as are the members of our Table. Trust and friendship have been our focus. Starting this month, we will be shifting to have our Sister set the agenda and lead the meetings, and we will also have new group-building and teaching times.

Through this process, we as a Table have grown as individuals, committed to love and respect, guarding simplistic solutions and “fixing.” We each have learned a lot about ourselves in this process.

Grateful and growing,

Fred

For additional information about the program please visit www.theopentable.org.

To learn how your group or congregation can support individuals or families as they transition out of The Light House, please contact Kris McNally, Director of Programs, at kmcnally@annapolislighthouse.org or (443) 569-4212.

Our food pantry is low on certain items and we need your help to ensure that we can continue to provide food to those struggling with homelessness and poverty.

To help, you can:

Donate online through our Amazon Wish List: https://bit.ly/2KDiVMf

Hold a food drive and download the flyer: https://bit.ly/2Ns201x

Purchase and drop off the following items:

• Cases of Bottled Water (16oz bottles)
• Fruit Juice (100% fruit)
• Canned Vegetables
• Canned Diced Tomatoes
• Pancake Mix
• Instant Mashed Potatoes
• Hamburger Helper

Donate anything in the list above, 24/7 by dropping them off at 10 Hudson Street in Annapolis. Thank you for your support!

“In 2013 I had moved to Maryland with desperation for a much-needed change in my life. Unwilling to fully surrender to my addiction I was lost and hopeless. My husband had just died resulting from a fatal overdose and with devastation in my heart I used drugs to cope. My life had become unmanageable to the point where I felt rock bottom had a basement. After successfully entering and completing treatment, I contacted The Light House and was accepted into the B.E.S.T. Culinary Program. I finally had career goals and my path made sense. Contacting The Light House was one of the best decisions I had made in a long time. I had the opportunity to learn and give back to others in need at the same time. That feeling was priceless…

“Thank you to The Light House for being a foundation to build on, to the volunteers for providing their time to a place of hope, and to the residents for showing me that no matter what obstacles you may be faced with, there’s always something to be grateful for…The Light House and B.E.S.T. Program have shown me that anything is possible if you are open minded and willing to learn. It can be done, I just did it!” – Rebecca, B.E.S.T. Culinary Graduate

Dear Light House Community,

We are deeply saddened by the tragic event at The Capital newspaper office yesterday where five lives were taken: Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith, and Wendi Winters. Our hearts go out to all the families and to our entire community which is shaken by this loss.

The Capital Gazette team works tirelessly to report on stories and issues that impact our organization and community. We honor those we have lost and the entire Capital Gazette team for their service to our community through true journalistic integrity.

Our staff, clients, and supporters would like to take a moment to remember Wendi Winters for her years of dedication to our organization. For many years, Wendi had been a caring and compassionate member of our Light House family. We are forever grateful for her volunteer work serving meals in our kitchen, and her heartfelt efforts and determination to tell the stories of those struggling with homelessness and poverty. She was also a frequent diner at our Light House Bistro.

Her many “Home of the Week” articles that featured Light House residents ( https://bit.ly/2KxcStE) were a window into the issues and people we serve every day. Her enthusiasm, generosity of spirit, and genuine kindness in her reporting of these stories will not be forgotten. The Light House cares for individuals and families when they are at their most vulnerable, and Wendi understood and respected this. She brought professionalism and an open heart to every interview. She cared deeply that our residents were shown as the valuable, beautiful, and complex individuals they are. We honor her today, and hope that her light will continue to shine through us.

As we grieve, our entire Light House community holds the family, friends, and loved ones of those lost in this tragedy in our hearts.

With love,
The Light House Family