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Greenbelt Cares presents counseling, GED and senior programs; emergency relief fund low, eviction aid limited
Summary
Greenbelt Cares staff told council they provided 110 formal counseling cases in FY26, served 3,077 people through food distribution, ran GED and ESOL programs, and helped 31 people with eviction relief this year; staff said the emergency relief fund balance is "several hundred dollars."
Greenbelt Cares director Dr. Liz Parks and staff described a broad set of community services during the council’s quarterly update, from counseling and substance‑use assessments to GED tutoring, ESOL classes and senior services.
Parks said the Youth and Family Services Bureau provided 110 formal counseling cases in the year and 153 people served by counseling programs overall; she described crisis support coordinated with the police Crisis Intervention Team and noted a community school grant partnership with Spring Hill Lake Elementary for parenting classes. "We have the education and workforce development component," she said, and Deja Iyoku reported 56 students attended GED classes in FY26, with 21% completing their GED and 55% completing at least one GED test.
Parks also discussed eviction assistance and emergency relief: staff recorded 507 eviction‑related requests (not all Greenbelt residents) and said they were able to help 31 people with available funding. When asked by council, she described the emergency relief fund as having "several $100 right now" and noted that donations and grant cycles vary; staff said ARPA funds were used to expand some food distributions and that the city has a separate community fund (GILA) that supports emergency grants.
Crystal Beatty described the Gail program and senior services: the program reported serving 262 individuals, delivering roughly 840 service linkages, distributing over 18,000 diapers, and providing 3,077 food distribution encounters that reached about 1,195 Greenbelt family households.
Council members praised the department’s outreach and asked staff to continue sharing data on who is served (residence, geographic distribution) and whether ARPA or other funds were being used for eviction relief; staff said more detailed OPERA/ARPA reporting is available online and can be printed on request.
Greenbelt Cares asked for continued council support as the department pursues the organizational step of establishing a 501(c)(3) to support some programs and for additional funding to maintain services as demand remains high.
