This story was originally published in The Charles County Journal.
The hallways of LifeStyles headquarters were busy.
Board members, volunteers, staff and friends bustled around with eager anticipation. Among the crowd, Charlotte Brown, an 11-year old volunteer and advocate to end homelessness, patiently waits for two special guests, Rep. Steny Hoyer and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks.
“I started helping LifeStyles when I was four years old, with my grandparents. I’ve been helping ever since,” Charlotte shared.
She recently won the Junior American Citizens award at the state and local level for her work highlighting the efforts of LifeStyles, including its Walk to End Homelessness. She is now competing at the regional level.
Charlotte represents generations of service. She was introduced to community service by her grandmother, Linda Dent Mitchell, a LifeStyles friend and volunteer of over 20 years.
“Charlotte was taken by the number of homeless school-aged children and wanted to do something about that this year. In the past, she and her sister collected donations, Christmas presents… but Charlotte went all out this year. She wanted to bring attention to the homeless children in the tri-county,” Dent Mitchell said.
On this day, Charlotte and her grandmother stand with LifeStyles Foundation as they receive state officials, Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD-05) and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D.-Md, for a tour of the headquarters facility.
The facility tour includes Rosemary’s Closet, a food pantry, a pantry for essentials such as toiletries and tents, staff, volunteer, and intern offices and a point of oversight for all LifeStyles facilities where unhoused individuals come for a clean, safe place to rest and rebuild.
Also waiting with excitement is Jailah Hill, Fordham University graduate student and intern at LifeStyles.
“Now I pay attention more to politics and policies and understand how we can serve marginalized groups. This opportunity is definitely a passion of mine,” Jailah explained the lessons she’s learned as an intern. “We’re looking at the entire person, your mental wellbeing and improving your quality of life.”
LifeStyles has a legacy of giving back—not only through community service but by training generations to serve and build our community.
Charlotte greets the honored guests as Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD-05) (MD-05) and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D.-Md, enter the main doors, where many individuals and families who have been marginalized have often come for support.
They are welcomed with warmth and familiarity by Sandy Washington, CEO of LifeStyles of Maryland.
The tour is informal and personal. Congressman Hoyer shares friendly stories and personal insights, emphasizing the importance of service and hospitality.
“I tell people that work the front desk… people are going to think about LifeStyles based on your reaction. Smile and be welcoming and helpful—they’ll think LifeStyles is terrific. If you’re grumpy, they’ll think, oh, they don’t care about me. Yours is one of the most important roles in this place,” Rep. Hoyer said to the front desk receptionist.
Senator Alsobrooks followed the tour intently, studying the impact of the LifeStyles movement. They walk through the pantry, past donated goods, and through the transportation areas.
“We do three and are working on four routes to help the community to and from employment,” Dwayne Bydume, transportation manager shares about transportation services.
As they walk past a storage room for water, Washington adds, “We store water and take water to Nanjemoy—people don’t have indoor plumbing in Nanjemoy.”
The tour ends in the conference room, where the group gathers to hear the insight that would follow from Mrs. Washington, Rep. Hoyer, Sen. Alsobrooks and board members.
LifeStyles has remained consistent through political changes over the past 29 years. While Mrs. Washington shared that she didn’t initially think the political season would impact the work, she reveals the toll of funding freezes. “We received a notification about a grant—CDC funding that ended on March 24th. We still had $122,000 in that grant. People were still working, but we couldn’t bill for anything past March 24th.”
“I went to pay the rent and it said it shut down. My heart dropped. A moment of depression that I didn’t think I would pull out of,” she confessed. “We’re standing in front of a brick wall and a charging truck.”
Board members encourage Mrs. Washington that they will weather the storm. Yet the impact of the rocky economic climate is not lost on Hoyer or Alsobrooks.
“The people that receive services are American people. Some supported the administration and some didn’t—we are harming everyday people,” said Sen. Alsobrooks. “There is a concerted effort to attack the middle class. The cruelty has been really painful… and it’s not sustainable.”
Rep. Hoyer adds, “The American people have this story that there’s a lot of waste… but they’re not seeing the hungry child or the homeless. Or the child in school that doesn’t have a nutritional breakfast… If they knew the real life impact of these cuts… But for this program, this family would be going hungry or homeless.”
Mrs. Washington closes the conversation with honesty and urgency. “The people we serve—that’s where our story is. Tell our story about the real people being hurt every single day… the person that came here today for food, that court battle is not putting food on the table. The person trying to stop an eviction, that court battle is not.”
LifeStyles continues to build regardless of political and economic change. Because the purpose is not politics—it’s people. So that someone will have a place to sleep. So that others will have food to eat.
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