COVID-19 pandemic strains Maryland groups helping homeless

 The coronavirus pandemic has increased the strain on groups that work to prevent homelessness in Maryland, with experts saying single mothers and people of color are being hurt the most. Multiple advocacy groups have expanded their programs to try to handle the surge in cases, as one agency said requests for help have nearly tripled from March to early October.

“It was already concerning last year because we had 239 clients total, all of 2019, and (as of Oct. 14), I have 600,” said Carol Ott, tenant advocacy director at the Fair Housing Action Center. “And the overwhelming majority of these people are Black, single women with children.”

Of all 2020 tenants through early October who needed financial assistance at the Fair Housing Action Center, 67% are women and 57% are Black. “Sadly, those two numbers rarely change much. We always see a majority of Black women, most with children,” Ott said. But the high numbers recently have been triggering a lot of alarm bells, she said.

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Source: The Washington Post