Throughout our daily activities, we may encounter an individual who may need assistance or witness an emergency involving someone who may be homeless.  Here's how you can help.

First, if you believe that there is an emergency, then CALL 911!  

However, if you believe that someone may need assistance but it's not an emergency (for example, someone is sleeping on a bench and you want to make sure they're okay), then call the nonemergency line for the City of Frederick (301-600-2100) or, if outside the City of Frederick, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office (301-600-2171).  Dispatchers will deploy appropriate resources. 

Actions may include, but are limited to:

• Officer dispatch
• Mobile Crisis Team dispatch to provide non-uniformed intervention
• Emergency medical team dispatch
• Dispatch of appropriate community resources

In addition, we occasionally observe instances where litter and personal items have been abandoned.  On commercial streets in Downtown Frederick, an Ambassador may be available to assist with trash pickup Wednesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.  Please call 240-805-3076 to reach an Ambassador on duty.

It is essential to treat every human with the dignity that they deserve, no matter their circumstances.  Emergency personnel, the police and Ambassadors have an ongoing positive relationship with FCCCC and its members.  Each response will be specific to the situation and each is designed to direct the affected individuals to the resources that are appropriate.  Responses may vary widely depending on the situation at hand.

For additional resources, call 211 or 866-411-6803.  211, hosted by the Mental Health Association of Frederick County, is the community's information hotline.

If you wish to support homeless individuals, then please consider a contribution to a homelessness provider.

As described by United States Government's Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), “The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed to promote community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and State and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness; promote access to and effect utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.”

Each community's Continuum of Care has a governing body and a Collaborative Applicant.  In Frederick County, the governing body is the Frederick County Continuum of Care Collaborative and the Collaborative Applicant is the City of Frederick's Department of Housing and Human Services.

Periodically, funding is available by HUD and through the Continuum of Care.  This page will list current funding opportunities and deadlines.

FCCCC's Board of Directors is comprised of leadership from service providers, community funders, representatives from local government and members of the community.

The work of the Frederick County Continuum of Care Collaborative is possible with the knowledge, skills and experience from the community's outstanding service providers.  The below list is a sampling of providers in Frederick County.  This list changes often; all providers are welcomed to participate in the Collaborative's work.  In fact, we'll be more effective with each provider's input.

The HUD Point in Time (PIT) count is an annual count of people experiencing homelessness in Frederick County on a single night in January. It includes people who are in shelters, transitional housing, or places not meant for human habitation. The count is conducted by Frederick County Continuum of Care Collaborative (FCCCC) and the City of Frederick. The count is used to distribute resources, identify service needs, and track progress toward ending homelessness.

In many respects Frederick County, Maryland is quite fortunate. Both the unemployment and poverty rates for Frederick County are lower than the rates for Maryland and the United States.  And yet, homelessness still exists. The Coalition believes that any level of homelessness is unacceptable in Frederick County, and we are dedicated our efforts to ending it.

Under the leadership of Todd Johnson, FCCCC's Chairperson (2012-2015), FCCCC initiated the strategic planning process in 2013 by establishing a Strategic Planning Committee that was empowered to develop a strategic plan with regular reports back to the entire membership of the FCCCC. Betsy Day, President/CEO of the Community Foundation of Frederick County agreed to serve as the chairperson of the FCCCC Strategic Planning Committee.

As part of the strategic planning process, the FCCCC Strategic Planning Committee undertook an extensive asset mapping process and worked to catalog all services, programs, and resources that are available for homeless individuals and families. Central to the Strategic Plan is the a system of care (known as the “Continuum of Care”) which starts at one end of the continuum with homelessness prevention and outreach services, then moves to emergency shelter followed by transitional housing, and finally to permanent housing or permanent supportive housing. Supportive services like case management are provided along the “continuum” and help people to move from one resource to the next as they work towards self-sufficiency.

The 2015 Strategic Plan can be found here.  Note that FCCCC underwent a name change in 2022.  Its preceding name was Frederick County Coalition for the Homeless.

United Way of Frederick County (UWFC) provides this webpage to Frederick County Continuum of Care Collaborative (FCCCC) as a complimentary service to the Frederick County community, those struggling with homelessness and those at risk of or emerging from homelessness.

UWFC's role is to mobilize the caring power of the whole community to improve lives.  Making homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring is a major community challenge and is directly aligned with United Way's mission. 

However, FCCCC is independent of United Way.  While United Way is fully invested in ending homelessness, FCCCC's strategies, decisions, activities, endorsements and/or responsiveness lies, without exception, exclusively with FCCCC and its leadership.