Bethesda Cares

I am so pleased to have met and know some of the amazing people that work at this organization.

Bethesda Cares mission is to prevent, end, and ease homelessness. When searching for a non profit in the area to try and help support- I thought to the most basic needs of a human's life. Shelter, Water, Food. Nobody should be without a home. And Bethesda Cares feels the same way.

Not only do they offer lunches throughout the week, they provide shower facilities, daytime shelter, and mail services. To prevent those from becoming homeless, they work with people who are in apartments but are in danger of having their utilities shut off, or people who are possibly facing eviction.

They are truly angels - and contrary to the name- Bethesda Cares serves those through the county.

There are more than 800 chronically homeless citizens. Some with mental and physical health issues. As a community of millions, we should be able to ban together to help Bethesda Cares in it's mission and end homelessness in the region.

I will continue to help them whenever I can, and I hope that these amazing people are blessed in each and every part of their lives.

Bethesda Cares is the best non profit organization in the County. The dedicated small staff there, and particularly the Executive Director, Susan Kirk, work tirelessly to ensure every homeless county resident can get into housing. Their belief that people need housing as a base for getting stabilized, is well grounded in research.
Bethesda Cares works on a small budget, and they keep costs down, so 95% of donated dollars go directly into housing people. They are dependent on donations, and are appreciative of every dollar donors give to them.

I'm not sure if I'd call it a pretense of Caring, or discrimination, or a disdain for working with people that need help. But my experiences were not at all pleasant and left me in a much greater state of despair than I felt previously. There are limited resources in the area, and this organization didn't even attempt to do anything to help me.

First, a year ago, I arrived in the Bethesda area from out of state and had no idea who to turn to for help finding a place to live. I had no friends or family here and didn't know where anything was. I spent 2 days trying to find and travel to their office. The heat wave and a major disability made things more difficult, and I eventually ended up in the emergency room for my trouble. When I did finally make it to their office, it was empty, but for the receptionist who reluctantly relayed a note to a social worker, who weeks later called me to say they couldn't help me since I never had permanent housing in the state.

Second, fast forward 9 months, at that point, the VA had managed to get me a housing voucher and I'd gotten an apartment unit in downtown Bethesda. That was all the VA was willing to do. I still didn't know where anything was and my disability had worsened, making it extremely difficult to complete basic tasks and take care of myself. I wanted to give Bethesda Cares another chance (as I only lived a few blocks away), but couldn't make it to their office. I'd lost 25 pounds from malnutrition and I couldn't make it to Rockville or DC since Mana and Nourish Now are both more than an hour away, let alone carry heavy bags of food back. It got to the point where just standing up made me feel like I would pass out. After 3 months I finally made it to the Bethesda Cares office, again it was empty. Again the receptionist (a different one) without so much as a brief intake, said no one could talk to me, and suggested I seek help in Silver Spring--both organizations therein were more than hour away. I ended up walking out the door, feeling more hopeless than ever.

In summary, two times they invited me to visit their office. Two times I struggled to get there. Two times they turned me away at the door.

I continue to struggle to survive--failing more times than succeeding--and I find it insulting that an organization like this continues to operate and pretend to care.