Words, Meet Actions: HoCo Holler!

There's an excellent piece in the Howard County Times about the Rev'd Heather Kirk-Davidoff and the congregation of Lake Kittamaqundi Church. I guess you could say it falls under the category of good news for the holiday season except that, once you read the article, you'll see that this is a far broader mission than one season of the year.

Entitled "Columbia church helps end homelessness one condo at a time" it outlines the evolution of the church's commitment from providing emergency winter shelter one month of the year to taking on the responsibility of proving permanent housing for a member of the Howard County community.

I know Rev'd Kirk-Davidoff as a member of the Oakland Mills community, where she is a positive voice and an involved school parent. I visited her church once with my daughter. It's amazingly non-traditional in a delightfully Columbia old-school way. Her preaching is engaging and insightful. Beyond Oakland Mills, beyond her own congregation, Kirk-Davidoff works cooperatively with area congregations in areas of shared concerns and participates in ecumenical services.

But wait, that's not all. She took on the responsibility of raising funds for an Oakland Mills student who needed, but could not afford, a tablet device for school. Using her time and talents she put out the message on social media and baked cookies and pies to bring in ten- and twenty-dollar donations. Her method brought a wider community participation to the "village" supporting this child.

Now we read about her congregation's purchase and ongoing support of a condo in Long Reach which is providing a home for a working single mother and her two children.

"'The solution to homelessness, remarkably, is well understood,' Kirk-Davidoff said. "We don't know how to cure cancer, we're not sure what to do about global warming, but homelessness is cured through a house.'"

Want to learn more? Here's the website for Help End Homelessness Howard County. And here's the website for Lake Kittamqundi Church.

A huge HoCo Holler! to Heather Kirk-Davidoff for her vionary leadership and her continuing hard work to end homelessness in Howard County.