As funding slips, social work runs on volunteer power

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

Last Wednesday night at St. George's Episcopal Church in Valley Lee, more than 30 volunteers from six area churches were debating plans for the church's turn to host St. Mary's County's homeless residents in March.

They questioned whether they should again provide a bag lunch to their clients, even though other churches participating in the WARM Nights program had not.

The Rev. Meredith Syler, wife of St. George's pastor Greg Syler, put the debate into perspective.

"We're a group of Christian people," Syler said. "We're not shooting for the lowest common denominator here; we're shooting for the kingdom of heaven."

Such generosity of spirit may be desperately needed in the coming months as the social services budgets of St. Mary's County and Maryland continue to absorb cut after cut.

At a Thursday meeting of the St. Mary's County Human Services Council, the county's human services director, Bennett Connelly, announced that his department is facing state and local cuts that will slash his $640,000 budget nearly in half. Meanwhile, 14 new families contacted the St. Mary's County Department of Social Services in January, looking for help.

A conversation about how to find efficiencies quickly ensued.

Council member Constance Walker, president of the Southern Maryland chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, questioned whether the county would make similar cuts to "sacred cows" such as aid to watermen and funding for the summer River Concert Series at St. Mary's College of Maryland.

Council member Kathleen O'Brien, director of Walden-Sierra, asked if the human services department could cut some jobs, sending more money directly to nonprofit organizations.

"When you have dwindling dollars, is that the best use of those dollars?" O'Brien asked.

Connelly responded that two of the department's positions would be eliminated in the new fiscal year, starting in July.

As government agencies are cutting jobs and budgets for social services, churches are trying to recruit more volunteers and locations to pick up the slack. And the volunteers are quickly learning the ropes, sometimes the hard way.

The WARM Nights veterans at St. George's spent much of the meeting sharing tips on how to serve dinners (family style), how to prepare cots (put a blanket on the bottom, so guests stay warm), how to choose movies (nothing rated R), and assorted minutiae such as adjusting the thermostat and using the commercial dishwasher.

jfriess@somdnews.com