Montgomery offers services to evacuees

Officials: County can expect 1,000 from Gulf Coast

Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005

To read more, see The Gazette's coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

Nearly 600 Gulf Coast evacuees have reached Montgomery County, as the county government presses to find services to help them.

Most of the evacuees are living in private homes and in hotel rooms contracted by the county to serve as emergency shelters.

Others have been placed in public housing or have been taken in by religious congregations, said David S. Weaver, spokesman for County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D).

Disaster planners say the county could expect 1,000 survivors from Hurricane Katrina. If necessary, the county could house all 1,000, Weaver said.

The county has established its Crisis Center as a one-stop shop to aid the evacuees, offering Food Stamps, Medicaid, transitional housing, mental health screening, crisis counseling, health care screening and connection with treatment providers.

The center also can help families enroll children into Montgomery County Public Schools. About 100 children have enrolled in Montgomery County Public Schools, spokeswoman Kate Harrison said.

The center — 240-777-4000 — is at 1301 Piccard Drive in Rockville. It offers telephone and walk-in services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. American Red Cross volunteers are available at the Crisis Center seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The county has offered its help to Hurricane Katrina’s dispossessed in other ways. On Saturday, $22,300 was raised at the Silver Spring Jazz Festival.

More than 100 firefighters and police officers have been dispatched to the Gulf Coast and other areas because of the hurricane, said Pete A. Piringer, spokesman for the Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.

A number of emergency vehicles delivered the rescue workers to New Orleans and other cities in the region. One of the fire trucks will be donated the New Orleans fire department, Piringer said.

The Manna Food Center at 614 Lofstrand Lane in Rockville is receiving ‘‘remarkable” donations of food and cash.

‘‘Katrina helped motivate people and helped remind people of the need for food in Montgomery County,” said Amy Gabala, Manna’s executive director.

This week, Ride On bus riders who donate canned or nonperishable food and diapers to Manna Food Center will get a free bus trip.

The Hurricane Relief Hot Line — 240-777-2600 — has taken a number of calls from individuals and businesses trying to help. Spokeswoman Ann Evans said one man offered an apartment with six month’s free rent. Sparks Staffing offered to help evacuees write their resumes and prepare for job interviews. A Montessori school offered tuition free to two students.

Schools need help, too

Maryland schools continue to provide aid for survivors of Hurricane Katrina here and in the Gulf Coast region.

The state Department of Education has established Katrina’s Kids Education Fund as a way for corporations and individuals to make tax-deductible donations to help with the costs of educating students displaced by the storm.

‘‘Grants could go to individual school systems within Maryland that have taken on a number of these students [or] it could go to other states who have been affected,” said Linda Bazerjian, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.

How the money is spent is at the discretion of whoever receives the grant money.

The money could be used for textbooks, teacher or student supplies, desks, ‘‘anything that would assist in the immediate and⁄or long-term education of these students,” Bazerjian said.

More than 250 students displaced by Katrina have enrolled in schools in 20 Maryland counties and Baltimore city. About 100 students have enrolled in Montgomery County Public Schools.

For more information about the Katrina’s Kids fund, go to http:⁄⁄marylandpublicschools.org⁄MSDE⁄newsroom⁄hurricane_katrina, call 410-767-0011 or e-mail katrina.relief@marylandpublicschools.org.