Staff & Volunteer Stories
Washington Post Documents LifeStyles Efforts to Reach the Homeless During Point-in-Time
The Washington Post joined us this week as we set out across Southern Maryland to engage with homeless individuals and families during the annual Point-in-Time Homeless Survey.
Corae Young Promoted to Chief Operating Officer
Corae Young has been named LifeStyles of Maryland’s Chief Operating Officer.
The promotion is a recognition of Young’s vital role within the organization and the latest milestone in her tenure with LifeStyles, which began in 2005 as a temporary fill-in while the receptionist was on vacation.
Annual Point-in-Time Survey Aims to Quantify Homelessness in Southern Maryland
The annual Point-in-Time Homeless Survey began across Southern Maryland on Wednesday, part of a large, nationwide effort that attempts to quantify the numbers of sheltered and unsheltered individuals and families. As part of its Continuum of Care (CoC) application for...
Honoring Xavier Bean and a Life Lost Too Soon
Anyone wishing to donate to the Children’s Miracle Network to purchase a new cardiovascular ultrasound machine, dedicated in honor of Xavier Bean, can learn more and donate here. Our hearts are hurting. Tragedy struck the extended LifeStyles family last week when...
LifeStyles Welcomes the First Residents at the New White Plains Emergency Shelter
The doors swung open, and the first families walked in. Men, women and children, each of them arrived wide-eyed and knowing that stepping inside this building meant that they did not have to worry about where they would sleep on Thursday night. Or the next night. Or...
Congressman Hoyer Visits Southern Crossing to Announce Funding Boost
Southern Crossing got a powerful nudge toward the finish line on Friday. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer greeted LifeStyles of Maryland CEO Sandy Washington with a warm hug outside the doors of our planned transitional housing facility. He came for a quick tour and...
Community Spotlight: Gus Proctor Unites the County to Support Each Other
Gus Proctor’s “retirement” lasted all of two weeks. He had only just stepped aside from his role as a sergeant in the Charles County Sheriff’s Department in late August, when he re-joined the department in a new role — the perfect position for him. As Community...
Doing Our Part to End the Pandemic with Vaccinations and Testing
A year and a half since the COVID-19 pandemic turned our world upside down, we are still fighting at every level — city, county, state, nation … planet — to come out on the other end. For LifeStyles, the pandemic has affected everything we do. We can’t serve those in...
Sisters of the Fort Washington Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Are United in Service
It’s a sisterhood that began at Howard University in 1913. Their mission then was simple: To promote academic excellence and to assist those in need. Today, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. has grown to include 300,000 members across more than 1,000 chapters around...
Maryland Market Money Helps Low-Income Shoppers Access Healthy, Local Foods
Strolling through the La Plata Farmers Market is always a fun experience. The tables are lined up with colorful fruits and vegetables, farm fresh eggs and a lot more. It’s a place to connect with your community and fill your fridge with healthy, local foods. Now, it’s...
Volunteer Spotlight: Archie Verdiglione Always Delivered
He smelled something burning not long after he turned from Route 5 onto 488. In his rearview mirror, he saw the flames. Pulling a full trailer, less than 15 minutes from his destination, Archie Verdiglione had a problem. He pulled to the shoulder of the road and...
Staff Spotlight: Coordinating Shelter During the COVID-19 Pandemic
If anyone ever needed a reminder of how important it is to provide a hypothermia shelter for the homeless, the recent stretch of winter weather has provided it. As the temperatures plummet below freezing and some combination of snow, sleet and rain falls from the sky,...
Volunteer Spotlight: Discovering the Rewards, Challenges and Complexities of Serving Others
It was January, almost exactly 8 years ago now. Cyndi Modlin and her sister-in-law had just finished dinner a La Tolteca, and as they drove home along Washington Avenue in La Plata, they saw her. A homeless woman in her early 30s, bundled against the cold, sitting...
Staff Spotlight: A Passion to Serve the Homeless
Shavonna Butler grew up as a military kid with a father in the Navy. In that world, volunteering in the community was a part of life and one that she always found fulfilling. So years later, when she went from Navy daughter to Air Force wife, it was no surprise that...
Volunteer Spotlight: Working with LifeStyles Helps Teacher Stay Connected with Students
Lisa Barrett is the type of teacher who doesn’t stop caring when the bell rings to end the day. When the pandemic arrived and the schoolbuses full of children stopped pulling into Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary each morning, Barrett, a kindergarten teacher, felt...
Volunteer Spotlight: A Marriage Built on Faith, Service and Love
Before the day’s volunteer work began, the group gathered for a prayer. A short safety rundown came next, and then Anthony Anderson stepped up to speak. He had something to say to all. More importantly, he had a question to ask of one. Anthony knelt down in front of...
Staff Spotlight: Corae Young Brings the Passion to Serve Into Focus
The receptionist had gone on vacation. So Corae Young was assigned to LifeStyles of Maryland as a temp tasked with filling the void for one week. On the Friday that was to be Young’s last day, Executive Director Sandy Washington approached her and asked if she’d...
Volunteer Spotlight: What Keeps Karen Reed Coming Back and Giving Back
Karen Reed, right, now volunteers four days a week to help LifeStyles serve those in need. Karen Reed had not been retired long on the day she sat in New Life Wesleyan Church in La Plata and saw Sandy Washington stand up before the congregation and begin to speak....