Queen Anne’s County residents facing foreclosure and other crises can turn to the Community Care Project (CCP) for help. Project volunteers recently met with Beth Jacobson, Foreclosure Prevention Coordinator for Mid-Shore Pro Bono in Easton, to explore ways in which the two organizations can work together to assist CCP clients.
A growing number of residents in Queen Anne’s County and elsewhere on the mid-shore are facing the loss of their homes, utility disconnection, job loss and other economy-related crises. The information session with Mid-Shore Pro Bono, “Ins and Outs of Dealing with Foreclosure,” helped CCP volunteers learn more about legal assistance available in foreclosure and other situations.
Information will be available to the general public at a Foreclosure Prevention Workshop to be held at Mace’s Lane Middle School in Cambridge on Saturday, September 26, from 1 to 6 p.m., hosted by Rep. Frank Kratovil. Mid-Shore Pro Bono representatives will be on hand to help those struggling with burdensome mortgages to work with their lenders and avoid foreclosures.
The Community Care Project was founded in April to help its Queen Anne’s County neighbors in crisis, focusing on those adversely affected by the current recession. Volunteers provide one-on-one assistance for problems that may not fit within the scope of other community groups, or may require coordination among several agencies.
Its volunteers have already helped more than a dozen county families with a wide range of personal crises. They worked with a dispossessed family to find a car, arranged electric service for a mother with a premature newborn, and paid portions of overdue utility bills for those temporarily unemployed. The group finds temporary housing, helps prevent evictions and works on mortgage refinancing.
Many of these crises can involve legal issues within the scope of Mid-Shore Pro Bono. By working together, the two organizations can better serve clients in critical need of assistance. Pro Bono offers free legal services in civil matters to low-income residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties.
“Our volunteers act as advocates for individuals in crisis,” explained Joyce Fitzpatrick, the Project’s Director. “By building a referral network linking church and community service organizations and other nonprofit groups, we are able to provide our clients with a growing scope of services, including temporary transportation, critical medical and dental aid, legal assistance and mediation.”
Although monetary donations currently come from within its membership, limiting any direct financial aid that CCP can offer, the group finds community, state and federal assistance for clients.
Community Care Project welcomes new members who share a concern for their Queen Anne’s County neighbors. “We need volunteers,” said Fitzpatrick, “who can contribute time, energy, personal resources and, when urgent, financial support to our neighbors in critical need of assistance.”
For more information, contact Community Care Project at 410-827-8639 and Mid-Shore Pro Bono at 410-690-4890. Those interested in registering for the foreclosure workshop should call Tamara Brooks at Rep. Kratovil’s Salisbury District Office, 410-334-3072, or email Tamara_Brooks@mail.house.gov.