Community Responds, Donates to Blogger's Drive to End Homelessness in Howard County

"More than a blogger." 

That's what Tom Coale wanted to be in 2011.

Coale, a 29-year-old Ellicott City/Dorsey's Search resident who is a lawyer by day, has helmed the HoCo Rising blog for two years, commenting on and linking to news in Howard County and beyond, while debating and discussing the issues he sees as important.

The term "blogger" is still sometimes laden with stereotype and stigma, and often unfairly so, at that. Blogs have long since developed beyond the negative descriptors. They fill niches and serve communities – whether those communities are defined by boundary lines on maps or are extended via the truly worldwide nature of the World Wide Web.

Bloggers need not just react with words. They can respond with actions.

Coale wanted to be "more than a blogger" by starting an online campaign – one raising money toward a concerted county-wide effort to end homelessness in Howard County.

Since law school, he had been involved in various manners with agencies that deal with homelessness. And so when this county effort to eliminate homelessness was recently announced, it inspired him.

He hopes it will inspire others, too. 

"If you are a local blog, I need your help," Coale wrote online while announcing the start of the fundraising campaign. "For the past two years, I have been linking to your posts and doing my best to contribute to a vibrant blogging community. I need you to join me as team captains."

The blogs in Howard County – and there are many, with quality to go along with the quantity – didn't just react with words. They responded with actions.

He Asked, They Answered

This is what Coale asked for: $1,500 for Grassroots, a Columbia-based agency that, among other services, provides crisis intervention and runs shelters and a daytime resource center.

The fundraising target is equivalent to the amount that could subsidize one person's stay in a "sober house" for one year.

"Sober houses are some of the best vehicles for helping someone who is recovering stay recovered and go on to live a productive life," Coale said in an interview. "That effectively ends homelessness for one person. It's achievable."

He set that $1,500 goal for just the first three months. After that, there would be another target for the fundraising efforts, and then another, and so on, all in support of the plan to end homelessness.

"There are two facets: one is to raise money, two is to show the support that is there for ending homelessness in Howard County," he said. "The last couple times they tried to do estimates, it's been a little more than 200 [homeless] people.

"It's a transient population. It's hard to nail down. [But] compared to other jurisdictions and municipalities, we are in a better position than just about anyone along the I-95 corridor to solve this problem, and to create opportunities for other people to use our county as a model."

His blog post announcement went up on Friday, March 18, suggesting a donation of $15 per person.

The campaign had $825 from 21 donors by Saturday morning; $1,175 from 25 donors by Sunday afternoon; and had hit its $1,500 goal by Monday morning.

"The other bloggers provided a huge amount of support," Coale said. "They've posted about it on their own blogs. It is a community effort; it is not my effort. If I were to do it on my own, there's no way we would've reached this amount."

The local blogs each have their own audiences. The bloggers exhorted their readers to help:

Columbia 2.0: "These are real people, with real problems that will be helped through this effort."

The Rocket Powered Butterfly: "We actually have a chance to effect a ... needed social change because of our privileged status."

Sarah Says: "I want to help out in a fun little way. I will match donations up to $300 made in the name of 'anonymous.' " 

53 beers on tap: "This is a timely act and I think, at this level of maturity in the local blogosphere, an appropriate marshalling of the forces at the community's disposal. ... This is an incredibly worthwhile cause."

Frank Hecker: "I just donated $50 ... and I encourage you to donate, too, if you haven’t already"

Many local bloggers' names can be seen on the list of donations.

As of Tuesday night, the total had risen to $1,750 from 41 donors.

"They aren't donating because they like me," Coale said. "They're donating because they don't find homelessness to be acceptable in our county."

Coale said he is considering where the donations in these first three months above the first $1,500 will go, whether they will be directed to another facet of the plan to end homelessness.

"What we might do is look to accelerate some of our goals," he said.

And just as he wanted to be "more than a blogger," he wants to make sure that this is more than just an online donation campaign. 

He wants to widen the audience – "I'm not going to expect the people who've already donated to donate at each stage," he said. 

Homelessness in Our County

The county "Plan to End Homelessness" has brought more than 50 volunteers together, many of whom are already associated with agencies that work with the homeless population, according to Joe Willmott, a Columbia man who is coordinating the effort.

"Despite Howard County's affluence and extensive system of shelters and services, homelessness persists here," Willmott said. "More than 200 people are living in shelters or in the woods or in cars. There are also many families at risk of homelessness.

"The Plan to End Homelessness is intended to do just that," he said, "by providing prevention services for persons who are at risk of homelessness and by providing housing for persons who are currently homeless."

Sober houses are part of the plan, providing an environment for people who are recovering from substance abuse issues to stay sober. The people would live there with others, each paying a small amount for rent, and the remainder of the cost would be subsidized, Willmott said.

The website being used for the donations, called Crowdrise, takes 5 percent of what comes in. The remainder of the money is going to the target of Coale's first fundraising push, Grassroots, into the agency's housing fund.

The fund "is part of our efforts to locate, create and support other groups that are creating housing that can be used for the people that we're serving," said Andrea Ingram, Grassroots' executive director. "The sober houses are a priority. So much of the population that we're serving at Route 1 [the daytime resource center in Jessup] does have addiction issues, particularly those who are living outside."

Presently, there is only one sober house in Howard County, a privately run one in Columbia, Ingram said.

"We would just be delighted to see some group get up a sober house and turn this into a model we can follow," she said.

The money from this online fundraising push will only help. Ingram and Willmott are thrilled with the response so far – and not just because of the donations.

"I think it shows a great deal of community enthusiasm for this," Ingram said. "It's pretty encouraging, because one of the concerns we have is 'Are people behind this?' Yes, there are significant numbers of people out there who are behind this, and I don't know if they were necessarily people who were involved before this."

Said Willmott: "We can't expect government to do it all. Tom's effort is really a very effective way of involving others in the community and informing them about the Plan to End Homelessness and raising some actual money, which will be used to house people who are currently homeless."

He wasn't surprised at how effective the effort has already been.

"One thing I've seen in the last couple of years in Howard County is the homeless problem is largely invisible," he said, "but when it's brought to people's attention, they respond very compassionately – and generously."

To donate to the fundraising campaign, click here.