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United Way Gives Family Stability Program Grant to Grassroots

Homelessness Prevention Funding Helps Keep Families in Own Home and Children in School

The United Way of Central Maryland (UWCM) has selected Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center to receive a Family Stability Program grant of $110,000 to operate a Homelessness Prevention Program serving Howard County from Jan. 1, 2021-June 30, 2022, Grassroots Executive Director Dr. Mariana Izraelson has announced.

“We are grateful for this support from United Way,” Izraelson said. “Grassroots has been serving families facing housing instability and other crises for over 40 years. This grant will allow us to increase our capacity through an addition to the case management staff.”

Columbia-based Grassroots provides 24-hour crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and support to individuals and families with a mental health, substance use or homelessness crisis.

The UWCM Family Stability Program helps families at risk of losing their housing to regain self-sufficiency so that can stay in their homes and so that their children can avoid a disruptive school transfer. UWCM provides funding to program partner organizations, such as Grassroots, to realize these goals through case management, as well as linkages of clients to other community resources.

The desired outcome of the Family Stability Program and its grantees’ efforts is to increase the number of families served, prevent those served from becoming homeless, and keep families stable in their housing at the conclusion of services. Efforts are directed at the needs of children, parents, and the family as a whole instead of focusing exclusively on the needs of the head of household.

During the last year, Grassroots served 340 people in its shelter programs and 921 individuals at the Grassroots Day Resource Center, handled 33,474 calls to its Hotline, and made 2,825 face-to-face contacts. The Mobile Crisis Team made 721 community responses, and 143 clients were enrolled in the Substance Use Treatment program.

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Joe Eldred

Director of Homeless Services

Joe Eldred joined Grassroots in 2023 as director of Homeless Services where he oversees the emergency shelter programs and the Grassroots Day Resource Center. He started his career in homeless services nearly 20 years ago, having previously worked in education, after participating in a homeless count in Seattle. He has held every position in affordable housing from Onsite Property Manager to Director of Housing and Property Management.

Over his years, Joe has run all types of housing offerings including those for individuals experiencing homelessness and substance use issues, seniors, farm workers, and those with disabilities and HIV/AIDS. He has also worked with many different types of funding programs including HUD, PRAC 202, PRAC 811, USDA Rural Housing funds and funding services designed to break the cycle of homelessness like Continuum of Care and the Maryland Homelessness Solutions Program. Joe has had the opportunity to see how housing programs differ throughout the country, working in Seattle, Chicago, Harrisburg, PA and Ventura, CA, among others.

Nancy Campbell

Sr. Director of Operations & Corporate Compliance Officer

Nancy Campbell supervises the operations of Grassroots, including HR, finance, emergency shelter, homeless services, case management and facilities. She has more than 30 years of experience in managing organizations’ operations activities, mostly in the human services field. 

Community support is a passion for Nancy. She feels that mental health and homelessness often co-occur, and her goal is to develop strong strategic plans that meet the needs of Grassroots’ clients. She looks to make a difference by effectively working with our programs and staff to explore what we can offer to the community. She pays special focus on efforts that help individuals adjust while in the emergency shelter, as well as those that help them achieve stable housing. Nancy has her PMP, master’s degree in Psychology and MBA, and is currently in school to pursue a Doctorate in Leadership and Organizational Management.

Laura Willemin, LCSW-C

Sr. Director of Clinical and Crisis Services

Laura Willemin oversees all of the clinical and crisis services at Grassroots, including the crisis line, walk-in services, 988 crisis chat and text services, Mobile Crisis Team, substance use disorder program, urgent care mental health services and Outpatient Mental Health Clinic. She joined Grassroots in 2021 having previously served as manager of the Child and Adolescent Mobile Psychiatric Services for the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington. She also worked in Prince George’s Child Protective Services, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children in the community.

Laura’s career has been concentrated in intense, fast-paced, high-acuity, safety-related and high-risk areas of practice. She appreciates the opportunity to support individuals and families during the most difficult or intense circumstances they may experience through the lifespan. She has a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Social Work and is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW-C).