More News

Under a large tent staked out in her driveway in Sandy Spring, Hattie Washington, founder and president of Aunt Hattie's Place, was joined by more than 50 local politicians and supporters last week to break ground on the third addition to her Baltimore-based nonprofit home for foster boys.

After nearly three years of negotiations and compromises with the county Planning Board and some resistance from neighbors, plans for a 4,700-square-foot addition were approved by the board last December.

The sprawling home will house eight boys between 12 and 19 years old with a wide variety of psychological and behavioral problems. Washington's original plan was to house 12 boys, but she reduced the number when she learned a special exception would be needed to build on the site.

The 7,500-square-foot home on Norwood Road was left to Washington by Robert H. Hill, president and founder of the Sandy Spring Construction Company and former player with Negro League Baseball. Hill built more than 500 homes in the Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia area and loaned many African-Americans money to finance the homes he built for them.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), County Councilmen George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) of Takoma Park and Donald Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of Calverton, and Dels. Karen S. Montgomery (D-Dist. 14) of Brookeville and Herman L. Taylor Jr. (D-Dist. 14) of Ashton all made appearances and offered support for the project.

They agreed that projects like this are more difficult — if not impossible — without a strong individual like Washington at the helm.

"It's a tribute to one dedicated individual," Leventhal said. "She's an inspirational figure."

The County Council has already given $250,000, but Washington still needs to raise about $1 million to complete the project, he said.

"Funding is always an obstacle," Praisner said. "But trying to convince people to give something is even more important."

The project, however, is not without its detractors.

Some neighbors on Norwood Road and in the adjacent Bancroft community are unhappy with the size of the group home. They said that while the number of boys was reduced, the size of the building did not get substantially smaller.

"I find it to be arbitrary and capricious that the exact same project is compatible," Eric Bailey, a Bancroft resident, said in his testimony to the Planning Board last year.

Basil Whitaker, president of the Bancroft Home Owner's Association, said residents were disappointed with the board's decision to approve the plans.

"I hoped they would've looked at all the facts and not weigh in on the emotional side of the issue," Whitaker said in December.

But the mood at the groundbreaking was positive and hopeful.

"This is a fitting tribute to all of Bob's generosity and leadership," Leggett said, referring to Hill. "It reflects what Montgomery County is really about — this is a caring community, a caring county."

"My wife used to say buildings are nothing but bricks and mortar," Praiser said, referring to his wife, the late District 4 County Councilwoman Marilyn J. Praisner. "It's what's inside that counts."

Others agreed.

"I'm the parent of a son with autism who lives in a group home," Montgomery said. "Without that group home, I would not be here now, literally, or be a delegate. We need to do what we can to help support group homes."

Community activist Carolyn Snowden also spoke of the need for such facilities.

"I'll be 84 in a few days, and from 3 to 16 I was in foster care part of the time," said the founder and former president of the Sandy Spring Civic Association. "This has always been such a wonderful place to live because of the kindness of others."