Soon-to-come Laurel shelter will bolster Howard County's homelessness supports

Ground was broken on Wednesday on a first-of-its-kind homeless shelter in Howard County.

Numerous county leaders gathered on a stretch of Lynn Buff Court in Laurel to celebrate at the site of the future non-congregate shelter.

A non-congregate shelter provides private rooms for individuals and families. This one will also connect people right away to resources.

The shelter is part of the county's strategy to curb homelessness in five years.

A non-congregate shelter

The spot where the new shelter will be located looks more like a forest at the moment.

But in about 18 months, a 16,000-square-foot, 22-room facility will be completed. It will not only provide private rooms and bathrooms, but it will also become a vital connection point for resources.

The shelter will provide housing resources, mental and behavioral supports, among others.

Kelly Cimino, director of the Howard County Department of Housing and Community Development, said on any given night, there are approximately 102 county residents facing homelessness.

She said it's important that this new shelter is built by another vital community hub, the Leola Dorsey Community Resource Center, as well as by the Route 1 Corridor.

"This is an area where we see more of our unsheltered population staying," Cimino said. "We have seen, in the past, some encampments. We have seen people in this area who are showing us the need for this type of facility."

The non-congregate shelter is being paid for with a mix of county and American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said the overarching goal with all of this is to give families and others experiencing homelessness an opportunity.

Ball said success will be measured "in families who sleep safely, children who no longer fear losing their home as they work on their homework. Parents have a chance to rebuild and help their next generation live out their dreams, and neighbors who are met with dignity and not judgment."

Cimino and many others who celebrated the new shelter said they're ready for the ribbon-cutting.

"To see the plans actually come to fruition and see that we will be able to address the need in our system, following the completion of our new [homelessness strategy], this is a critical component of that path," Cimino said.

Construction for this shelter is slated to be done by summer 2027.

Path Toward Zero Plan

This non-congregate shelter is a key part of Howard County's Path Toward Zero Plan, which aims to curb homelessness in five years to functional zero. 

Functional zero is when the number of people experiencing homelessness consistently falls below a given community's capacity to house them.

To help with the plan's goals, Grassroots Crisis Intervention's emergency shelter in Columbia recently completed a renovation to increase the number of beds from 51 to 88.

The non-congregate shelter in Laurel will act as overflow for this shelter as well.

You can see the full Path Toward Zero plan here.