St. Mary’s Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the Homeless Women Crisis Shelter Home grant on March 25, allowing more than $200,000 to pass to the Three Oaks Center over a three-year period.

 H.S. Lanny Lancaster, executive director of Three Oaks, explained the grant approved by the County Commissioners must be renewed every three years and is part of the center’s recurring funding.

 
Executive Director H. S. Lanny Lancaster, right,
and Assistant, Jacalyn Hanley.

 Lancaster said the center began in 1996 when it served homeless men. Today, it has expanded into a full-service facility for men, women and children. Last year the center served 900 homeless individuals in St. Mary’s County.  Lancaster expects that number to exceed 1,000 in 2008.

 He noted the center has had trouble overcoming its identity as a homeless shelter for men. “We have articles written and done some advertising, but the perception that we are here for men only remains,” Lancaster said, adding last year two-thirds of the 294 individuals to whom the center provided transitional housing were women.

 When asked about the funding, Lancaster said, “We can get pretty innovative when we run out of money in one place,” Lancaster said, explaining that nonprofits often have to struggle for funds.  His managers, though, are adept at using funds to complete programs even when targeted funds run out in any given year.

 About the transitional housing aspect of the center’s services, Lancaster said the Lei Road facility provides transitional and emergency housing for men, and has a separate facility for women. Short-term housing is also provided for those forced out of their homes by catastrophic events like fires, hurricanes and unemployment.

 The lion’s share of the Three Oaks services, however, is for the homeless. Revenue to run the two primary programs serving those on the street is federally funded.

 The Project Assistance in Transition from Homelessness program, P.A.T.H., enables the center to help the homeless with serious mental illness by referring them to community mental health centers and providers.

 The Homeless Outreach Projects and Evaluation program, H.O.M.E, is sponsored by the Social Security Administration and enables Three Oaks to help eligible homeless individuals apply for and receive supplemental income and disability benefits. The center enables clients to complete their applications with and receive benefits faster then they could on their own.