GLEN BURNIE, Md. — Stepping into the Doll Apartment complex in Glen Burnie is like stepping back in time, but the Sixties-era units will represent a new beginning for homeless families in Anne Arundel County.
“In our county, we have over 300 that on any given night are either experiencing homelessness, living on the streets or are in a shelter,” said Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman.
For each of those people, there are a hundred more waiting for rental assistance or Section 8 housing.
“Even now, as COVID had ended, the need has grown on our waiting list to over 30,000 families,” said Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County CEO Clif Martin.
The county is using $3 million from its share of the American Rescue Act to purchase the apartment complex just off Crain Highway, and it will spend a million more expanding and renovating it for homeless families at a time when inflation is cutting into help at the state and federal levels.
Rising building costs have priced out the state with 70 or its affordable housing projects across Maryland and those who have federal vouchers for rent are finding that many of those prices for rent have soared to the point where they’re of little use.
Unlike other subsidized housing, residents in these units will only pay what, if anything, they can afford for up to a year, while they seek jobs and permanent housing.
“You want to move into a normal apartment complex, they want to know what your last landlord thought of your rental behavior and did they pay the rent,” said Anne Arundel Affordable Housing Coalition Chair Trudy McFall. “That’s not the world that our homeless are living in.”
