Human Services delivery in Howard County now enhanced with new Nonprofit Center

Howard County is creating a model of collaboration for the delivery of human services.  The New Howard County Nonprofit Center has opened at Patuxent Woods Drive in Columbia. My post about the plans for the Center is here.  The offices will soon be part of a larger Community Resources Campus when several Howard County government offices move to adjacent buildings. 

The Campus will be a one-stop shop for folks in need of assistance. It is centrally located at Broken Land and Snowden River Parkways, and is on several RTA bus routes. 

Proximity can serve to enlarge the world view among participants and foster innovation, for the benefit of the organizations and the clients. It requires the commitment of the agencies to make it happen, and our encouragement. 

Nonprofit center model comes to Columbia

by Fatimah Waseem (Columbia Flier), April 28, 2017

A vision floated more than two decades ago to bring local nonprofit organizations and human service agencies under one roof is materializing in a small corporate park in Columbia.

A dozen local agencies and organizations have moved into the nonprofit center at 9770 Patuxent Woods Drive, which will serve as their headquarters and as a one-stop-shop for clients they sometimes already share. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for June 9.

The nonprofit center model aims to reduce operating costs and create a more efficient and convenient place to receive services. Organizations share conference rooms, event space, printers and a mail room and collaborate on client referrals and programs.

I can’t imagine the experience of a client coming in. It’s a dignifying experience,” said Bita Dayhoff, president of the Community Action Council of Howard County.

The Howard County Housing Commission, one of two anchor tenants, holds the center’s master lease, while the Association of Community Services, a nonprofit organization that works with the county’s human service entities, manages the project. HopeWorks, a nonprofit agency that serves victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in Howard County, is the other anchor tenant, joining other organizations like the Howard County Autism Society and Bridges for Housing Stability. [Other tenants include Camp Attaway, Compass, Inc., MakingChange, Howard EcoWorks, United Way, and Volunteers of America Chesapeake.]

The nonprofit center is part of Kittleman’s vision to create a community resources campus in the same corporate park. His budget includes funds to help the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development, the county’s Department of Community Resources and Services and the Maryland Department of Social Services relocate to the same corporate plaza. [Community Action Council, a major Howard County service provider, will also be moving to the campus. Kennedy Krieger Institute has an existing satellite office there.]

for the rest of this article, go to: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-non-profit-center-open-0504-20170428-story.html

County Executive Kittleman’s announcement of the Community Resources Campus (April 3, 2017)

The County Executive seems genuinely excited when he announces the Community Resources Campus. This is an event at the County offices at Gateway rolling out the Innovation Center at Gateway.  Discussion of the Nonprofit Center begins at 4:53.

County Executive Kittleman in conversation with staff of organizations at the new Nonprofit Center

Howard County Multi-Service Center in Laurel-Savage was begun in 2006

The Multi-Service Center is operated by Howard County Office of Community Partnerships. It is located in the North Laurel/Savage community and was intended to create an integrated human service system that would help those in need of immediate crisis services.  Today it comprises 12 human service agencies with the collective mission “to enrich the lives of residents in our community by offering ready access to human services and supports for becoming self-sufficient.”

https://www.howardcountymd.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=edllDKDUn_w%3d&portalid=0