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Residents and nonprofits press county for eviction support, food access, veterans services and animal shelter funding
Summary
Speakers at the District 7 town hall described rising rents and evictions, strained animal control and shelter capacity, food access programs operating without stable county funds, and requests for veterans commission support.
Several attendees used the budget town hall to press Baltimore County for expanded social services funding, including eviction prevention, food access, veterans services and animal shelter support.
Muriel Gray, chair of the Ministry of Kindness at St. Matthews United Methodist Church, said the community is seeing frequent evictions and that many residents lack resources to recover after being displaced. She asked the county to provide additional assistance for people who have been evicted and cited recent local cases where residents lost housing and had limited options.
Dr. Trofena Choti, CEO of AvriThrive, described a mobile food pantry and food access programs serving underserved families in Essex. Choti said the organization's mobile pantry and culturally appropriate food distribution operate without sustained county funding and that a federal funding award was recently rescinded. She asked for county support to renovate a building for cold storage and access to about five acres of land to develop community gardens and sustainable food projects.
Nancy Harris, representing the Baltimore County Commission for Veterans Affairs, requested continued support for veterans' programs, including a veterans treatment court, an annual resource fair and funding for outreach and small stipends to cover out-of-pocket costs for commission activities.
Speakers also raised concerns about animal control and shelter capacity, saying pandemic-era pet intakes have stressed staff and led to euthanasia of healthy animals; advocates called for additional funding and staffing for county animal services.
County staff at the event directed residents to department contacts for follow-up and said some programs have existing assistance through the Department of Social Services.
Why it matters: rising rents, food insecurity and stretched nonprofit and county social services affect health and housing stability in District 7 communities. Speakers asked county decision-makers to prioritize operating funds in FY26 to expand prevention and long-term supports.
