Meeting Ground History and Mission...

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being … including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services"
- Article 25, United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Meeting Ground came into existence in 1981 in Maryland and Delaware as a faith-based response to the growing epidemic of wasted human life, both in this nation and across the globe, and especially in the form that has come to be known as "homelessness."  Rooted in Christian values and inspired by various religious traditions, Meeting Ground grew from the concept of "shelter" to the reality of "home" for the homeless and those whose lives they encountered at the place of hospitality: volunteers, college & seminary students, mission-tripers, clergy, formerly homeless persons, and others from all walks of life.

Meeting Ground is...

community of faith...
a deep commitment to doing what faith requires
in work & word, sharing the good news of the beloved community
calling folks together to work for justice which brings peace

partnership...
with persons & families who have experienced homelessness
with the Presbyterian Church, exploring evangelism & mission
with churches and faith communities of many denominations

doing mission...
with youth volunteer mission groups
with and among other communities of faith
making real the table of God through providing homeless persons with housing, community, & tangible means to a new life
calling folks together in the work of community building & hospitality

hospitality, friendship, and new life...
emergency & transitional housing for homeless families, women, & men
"a place to call home" for many who have been homeless
the warmth of community, meals, fellowship, and the means of
empowerment to end homelessness in individual lives and in our world

Our Mission Statement

Meeting Ground's Ends Policies

OUR WORK

Our success is measured by the quality of our community life and the nourishment and hope it brings to those who are seeking or in need.

2007 Annual Report

Emergency & Transitional Housing & Support
for Families, Women, and Men Who Are Experiencing Homelessness:

CLAIRVAUX FARM: 21 Veazey Cove Rd., Earleville, MD 21919 A 20-acre residential facility with accommodations for 35 persons. There are residential buildings for families with children, women and men, a dining hall, chapel, community building, pavilion, offices and barns -- 13 buildings in all, most built by volunteers. 410/275-8990. Cynthia Wood, Director cynthia@meetingground.org   Udo Sommerhoff, Director of Operations udo@meetingground.org

WAYFARERS' HOUSE: 107 Delaware Ave., Elkton, MD 21921 A large 9-bedroom house, centrally located in town, with a capacity for 16 women with or without children. 410/398-4381. Marsha Mazza, Director wayfarer@meetingground.org

SETTLEMENT HOUSE: The Men’s Shelter of Cecil County. 168 E. Main St., Elkton, MD 21921. Centrally located emergency and transitonal residence for 16 men. 410/392-8066. Alison Windle, Director settlementhouse@yahoo.com

GEORGE PORTER HOUSE: 238 Mackall St., Elkton, MD 21921 A large duplex transitional house for 8 persons. 410/398-4381. Marsha Mazza, Director wayfarer@meetingground.org

ROTATING CHURCH-BASED WINTER SHELTER: from November - March, a 20 bed shelter housed in rotating Cecil County churches. Women, men, and families. Intake for women and families is at Wayfarer’s House and men at Settlement House from 3-5 pm daily during winter months. 443/617-0856. Tyra Parker, Director tyra@meetingground.org

MARY RANDALL CENTER: 401 North St., Elkton, MD 21921. A centrally located center for meeting, worship, Bible study, and help for all persons, focusing on those who are experiencing homelessness or who are otherwise struggling on the margins. 443/617-0856. Tyra Parker, Director tyra@meetingground.org

ConnecTreks -- CHILDREN & YOUTH AFTERCARE: For children and families who have experienced homelessness. Volunteers and mentors keep kids connected to help and support needed to achieve their success in life. 410/275-2936 Donna Hitchner, Director donna@meetingground.org

Each year we:
• Provided over 30,000 bed-nights of emergency and transitional housing.
• Served 45,000 meals
• Were available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for referrals, housing, and supportive services
• Since its inception in 1982, Meeting Ground has provided 431,065 bednights of emergency & transitional housing.

Education, advocacy & partnerships:

Each year over 350 volunteers in 20 - 25 groups participate in our volunteer mission trip and work camp program. Groups have come from churches from St. Louis to Cape Cod, from Bentonville, Arkansas to Grand Rapids, Michigan. They build housing for homeless, buildings for distribution of clothing and household goods, as well as for fellowship, study, and worship. Between digging, hammering, sawing, and mulching they also share fellowship with other members of the community. They learn firsthand what it means to be homeless, and how their own churches and groups can best offer real help and solutions to end homelessness in our country.

Loaves & Fishes is our nationally and internationally circulated bi-monthly newspaper,  Current circulation is 9,500 to individuals, churches, peace and justice fellowships, libraries, businesses, refugee groups, homeless shelters, advocacy groups, and supporting organizations. Loaves & Fishes is a charter member of the North American Street Newspaper Association.

We conduct numerous immersions, bible studies, and discussions with high school, college, church confirmation classes, and adult groups all year. We also receive a number of visits from churches and organizations who ask for information and guidance on establishing additional local ministries to help persons who are experiencing homelessness in their communities. In partnership with Salisbury University, Meeting Ground completed the first ever study of the root causes of Homelessness in Cecil County, Maryland with recommendations for housing relief (released in October, 2005).

Our community has a long history of public advocacy for persons and families experiencing homelessness. The scene above is from our 2004 Elkton observance of National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day. This December event is organized by Meeting Ground each year in partnership with others. This march and gathering serves to bring the larger community together in a rededication of our effort to end homelessness in all ways possible.

We are partners with the National Coalition for the Homeless, participate annually in legislative lobby day in Annapolis, and are endorsers of many fellow efforts for justice such as the National Housing Trust Fund. Over the years Meeting Ground has taken leadership initiative in such causes as the Sanctuary Movement to assist refugees from Central America and the Wilmington Festival of Shelters project, among many others.

Through our publication, Loaves & Fishes, we provide clarity and draw connections regarding root causes of homelessness. We have also, from our beginnings, insisted that those most capable of speaking to the point are those most disastrously affected, the homeless themselves. We have not done this work alone. Meeting Ground has drawn participation from dozens of local congregations and from scores of individuals, religious communities, and groups from all over the country. We have helped initiate and become a continuing partner to new endeavors, such as Friendship House in Wilmington, Delaware, BorderLinks in Tucson, Arizona, and the Cecil County Men's Shelter and the Community Kitchen in Elkton, Maryland.

Partnerships:

Since 1982, Meeting Ground community has taken significant leadership in helping to gather partnerships to begin new programs. These have all developed from needs which our community has encountered as it has come to know persons experiencing homelessness, and seeking to find ways better to meet their need, and answer the challenge which they presented to us as a community. Among these partnerships are:

Friendship House was organized by Meeting Ground as a thrift store in 1985 on south Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware. It was a response to the high percentage of persons and families from Delaware who were having to cross into Maryland to find emergency housing with us. To prevent their loss of benefits we decided to establish a Delaware office and thrift store (to make it self-supporting) to allow residents the opportunity daily to return to Delaware to relocate. In 1987, in response to a growing crisis, Friendship House began providing emergency overnight shelter as well as a day center. As the work expanded, a partnership was formed with several Wilmington churches, and Friendship House was re-organized as a ministry in its own right.

BorderLinks In 1986, our community was asked by a church to provide emergency housing to two refugees from El Salvador. It was our introduction into the special problems of refugees from Central America who were fleeing for their lives from civil war. Many were deeply religious, and under suspicion as subversives because of their connection to the martyred archbishop Oscar Romero. In an effort to assist increasing numbers of refugees who were asking for help, Meeting Ground helped to gather a partnership which became CASA (Communities Aligned for Sanctuary Assistance.) This new group sponsored the Border Outreach Project which supported two local volunteers to work with refugees at the U.S./Mexico border in Tucson, and maintain liaison with our community as well. After a year this project was re-organized as "BorderLinks"in partnership with Tabernacle United Church in Philadelphia, and Rick Ufford-Chase was recruited to initiate the project. Under his leadership BorderLinks developed an outstanding program of education and community building. We continue to stay connected through the mutual publication of "Loaves & Fishes."

Elkton Community Kitchen - In a rural setting, persons experiencing homelessness are likely to remain invisible and isolated, living in the woods, cars, vacant buildings, and doubled-up with friends and relatives. In 1999, Meeting Ground community helped to gather a partnership to organize a weekly community kitchen for Cecil County in Elkton. This was a response to the growing need of homeless persons to have a place to gather regularly to find help and remain a part of the fellowship of a larger community. Meeting Ground continues its active participation and support of the expanding partnership which includes churches, schools, businesses, scout groups, social service agencies, and homeless and formerly homeless persons.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Groups & Workshops: • Chapel Service (weekly) • Bible study group • Parenting/communication class • GED class • Nutrition workshop • Financial planning workshop • Children's Hour
• Self-esteem workshop • Craft/Art workshop • Rolling Readers

Homeless prevention: • Emergency food assistance • Clothing, furniture, appliance help • Food clubs (Hope Program) • Rainbow Fund for medical assistance • Legal Assistance Fund • Savings account program • Follow-up visitation

Education & Advocacy: • Loaves & Fishes (Bi-monthly newspaper) • Ups & Downs (a publication of Wayfarers' House)
The Meeting Ground Reader • Web Site: www.meetingground.org
• Mission Trips Program (work/study - @25 groups, 400 volunteers / year)
• Retreats for Confirmation Classes, etc. • Workshops on homeless-ness • Gatekeepers Bible Studies
• Conferences: "Homelessness & the church"
"New Ways of Being Church"
"Standing Together: Building Justice into a World Economy"
"Helping, Not Fixing: Practical Roots of Compassionate Action"

Continuing membership/partnership in: • National Coalition for the Homeless • North American Street Newspaper Association • National Homeless Persons Memorial Day

How to reach us...

Main Office:

Meeting Ground P.O. Box 808 Elkton, MD 21922 / (410) 275-2936
Fax:  410-275-9441

E-Mail: info@meetingground.org