The Assistance Center of Towson Churches is planning to expand its facility in downtown Towson in an effort to better serve an ever-growing client base.
"Last year we served 900 people in September," said Cathy Burgess, ACTC director. "This September it was 2,000. The beginning of October is usually slow, but we have been giving out boxes of food right and left."
ACTC combines the resources of 48 area churches to provide emergency help to poor and needy families in the community regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof.
Burgess said the assistance center has outgrown its one-story building off the alley behind Calvary Baptist Church at 120 W. Pennsylvania Ave., she said. The site is part of the church property.
"We're looking into the possibility of rebuilding on the same site, but we're still working out the details of the plan," she said. "We hope to have an announcement by the end of the year."
The demand for services from ACTC has grown dramatically since 1985, when 14 churches joined together to open the center as an effective and efficient way to meet the needs of people coming to them requesting help.
The founders couldn't have anticipated that in 2010, the center would assist 19,790 people, give out $1,100 in back-to-school supplies, $169,092 in financial help, and 3,000 Thanksgiving baskets for families, as well as 467,684 pounds of food valued at $319,137.
Refilling the pantry has become an issue, Burgess said, because the building lacks the necessary storage space.
Currently, most of the food has to be stored in the undercroft of nearby Trinity Episcopal Church, which requires the volunteers to climb up and down a steep flight of stairs lugging boxes. Some of the food is also kept at Immaculate Conception.
"We used to restock (the pantry) twice a week," Burgess said, "Now it's almost twice a day. We can't keep enough in for a week."
In addition, the building affords little privacy as the team of trained volunteers interview each applicant to determine their specific needs, she said.
"We need more space to make them comfortable," Burgess said.
Considering the value of land in downtown Towson, "we're pretty much forced to look vertically," she said, noting that the center is considering razing the current building, and replacing it with a two-story modular structure.
The first floor would have a bigger footprint and several enclosed rooms. The second floor would be used for storage of supplies, she said.
"But anything we do would be fairly modest" because of monetary constraints, she said.
Another option would be moving to another location. But it wouldn't be easy to find a new location as central to bus lines as the current one is, she said. And considering the conflict that can result when facilities serving the poor are proposed for a neighborhood, she would prefer to stay put.
"The community accepts us here," she said. "I don't want to move where we are not welcome. We need good will to carry out our mission."
The Towson Rotary Club, which has been a strong supporter of the assistance center for years, is ready to help once the decision is made, according to Vernon Sevier, former chair of the Rotary Foundation.
"ACTC is one of our target programs," he said. "It's an outstanding organization.
"We've said that when they have a plan and are ready to do something, we will be part of it in some way," Sevier said.
In the interim, assistance center volunteers will continue to help the needy cope with emergencies by providing food, clothing referrals, financial help with prescriptions, medical attention by a nurse practitioner, transportation for stranded travelers and assistance with eviction prevention and utility cut-offs — as well as bus tokens for verifiable medical appointments and job interviews.
Those who would like to help ACTC help others can drop off food at the center Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Money can also be donated. Call 410-296-4855.