The Frederick County Chamber of Commerce is proud to have numerous nonprofit businesses in our membership. Learn more about our November Member of the Month, SHIP of Frederick County
The Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership (SHIP) builds capacity in students to reduce housing insecurity, homelessness, and their impact by breaking the systemic barriers facing Frederick County youth.
A conversation with Noor Alhomsi, Development and Marketing Manager.
Tell us SHIP’s story – how did SHIP start and what is SHIP’s mission?
Quite simply, we exist because there are students in our community that need our help. We are an open door to students in need.
They live in every city, town, and district in Frederick County. In the school year 2019-20, homeless students were found in 61 out of the 66 schools in the Frederick County Public School System (FCPS). This issue cuts across all grades and all ethnicities. The numbers continue to grow each school year.
The Frederick County community came together in late 2013 after learning that there were literally hundreds of children within FCPS encountering homelessness each year.
It began with the discovery that a 12-year old middle school boy who, living without parents, was in urgent need of a single pair of shoes to replace his broken down flip flops, and with winter approaching fast. Two days later, with the help of dozens in the community, we were able to provide much for this child, only to discover that he was only one of over 600 children in FCPS that were experiencing homelessness at that time.
This child’s dire need and our response became the genesis for what we now know as SHIP, the Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership of Frederick County, a non-profit public charity founded in early 2014. We chose our name with much attention to our collective intentions – we’ve taken the initiative as a community and have partnered with individuals, organizations, human service agencies, businesses, and government to advocate and provide for these forgotten and often-overlooked youth.
Youth Homelessness Awareness Month is November, what does that mean?
November was first declared as National Homeless Youth Awareness Month in 2007. Since then, November has been a time to acknowledge those children and families experiencing homelessness. As many as 2.5 million youth per year experience homelessness. By the time homeless children reach school age, their homelessness affects their social, physical, and academic lives. Homeless children are not simply at risk; most suffer specific physical, psychological, and emotional damage due to the circumstances that accompany episodes of homelessness.
While research on homeless children paints an overwhelmingly bleak picture of their current and future status, there is hope that with early and consistent intervention strategies, children can learn to overcome many of the detrimental effects of their poverty and homeless experiences. SHIP ourselves are working to intervene with programs such as New Horizons Frederick, a counseling and mentoring program providing area homeless high school students with direct access to existing community services.
SHIP is working to help alleviate the impact of poverty and homeless upon our local students.
What is the best part about being a nonprofit in the Frederick community?
The wonderful and inclusive community. SHIP provides food, new clothing, funding for extracurricular activities, and emergency housing for students and their families and we can always count on the support of the community to help provide our youth with these needs.
How has joining the Chamber helped SHIP’s mission?
We joined the Chamber with the goal to help spread our mission across the community. We take advantage of everything the Chamber offers, everyone has been wonderful sources of support and resources.
Our Executive Director, Melissa Muntz, is the Co-Chair for the Nonprofit Alliance through the Chamber and that partnership has benefited SHIP in numerous ways.
How can the community support SHIP?
Community support is key to achieving SHIP’s vision of equality across the systems that serve young people in Frederick County. There are many ways that you can make a difference in the life of someone experiencing housing insecurity.
- Provide hygiene items
- Set up a donation campaign on your Facebook page
- Sign up as a host with our Thrive Host Home Program
- Provide new clothing
- Make a donation
- Spread the word
Do you have any events coming up that you would like the Chamber membership to know about?
Homeless for The Holidays is our big event starting in November! During the months of November and December each year, SHIP collects hygiene items for Frederick County’s homeless youth through collection bins hosted by businesses throughout Frederick County. In 2021, over 12,000 pounds of supplies were collected and gifted to students in need.
We are always looking for businesses to partner with for charity events. If you would like to partner with SHIP, call (240) 415-8971 or email info@ShipFrederick.com.
Frederick Chamber Insights is a news outlet of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. For more information about membership, programs and initiatives, please visit our website.