University Park Church of Christ participates with more than 40 churches in Prince George’s County partnering with Community Crisis Services, Inc. (CCSI) to provide shelter to homeless individuals and families. Our congregation has been part of this effort for a number of years. CCSI provides trained staff and offers homeless persons an opportunity to begin the long road towards housing stabilization.

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The pandemic caused a huge increase in the number of people unable to afford housing. CCSI received funding to secure one location to house all their guests. The facility allows guests to quarantine and follow CDC guidelines, which could not be done in the churches where the guests previously were housed.

Participating churches did, however, continue providing meals for guests of the program.  When it was the turn of University Park, we were blessed to be able to provide nearly 900 lunches, all prepared while our members followed CDC safety guidelines.

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While the COVID-19 experience may change the way CCSI houses homeless persons in the future, we have renewed our commitment to provide meals for program