Information About Weinberg Housing & Resource Center Services

Catholic Charities shares Baltimore City’s vision of making homelessness in Baltimore rare and brief through the Weinberg Housing and Resource Center (WHRC). This low-barrier shelter houses 275 residents, providing each resident with case management, workshops and resource referrals, breakfast and dinner (lunch is served at Our Daily Bread, across the street), and a caring staff committed to the Catholic Charities mission of “Love in Action.”

The Center also houses a convalescent center operated by Healthcare for the Homeless. In this special unit on the third floor, people without homes who have just been released from the hospital can find a place to recuperate under medical supervision.

CONTACT WEINBERG HOUSING AND RESOURCE CENTER 667-600-3230
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Our mission is, “ Inspired by the Gospel mandates to love, serve, and teach, Catholic Charities provides care and services to improve the lives of Marylanders in need.” We at WHRC also value dignity, aiming to provide it in as many ways as possible to our residents, guests, volunteers, visitors and staff, through ‘ love in action.’

The WHRC is Baltimore City’ s largest overnight shelter, housing 175 men, 75 women and 25 individuals in the convalescent care dorm. We are open 24/7 –we never close for holidays, bad weather, etc. Catholic Charities has been operating, contracted through MOHS, the WHRC since July 1, 2013.

On any night, there are 100-200 people who do not have a bed here. These guests, as we refer to them, may choose to be added to the waiting list, but that wait could be a few weeks. In the meantime, guests may arrive at WHRC starting at 4 p.m. to take shuttles to “overflow shelters” in the city. Unfortunately, by the time most of those residents arrive at the overflow shelters, they have missed the dinner shift. Therefore, WHRC makes it a priority to serve food to them before they leave – at the minimum, a sandwich, though ideally a full bag dinner.

The building was built with a capacity based on the 2009 Homeless Census. As you can see, the issue of homelessness is still on the rise since many guests are on the wait-list at any time for a bed.

The Center houses 275 beautiful residents. These people are generally kind, caring individuals, grateful for the services provided at WHRC. Some of these clients may be:

  • Employed with low-income jobs
  • Affected by substance abuse
  • Veterans
  • From the the LGBTQ community
  • Suffering from a mental or physical disability

There are many ways you can help.

You can:

During the Christmas holiday, the Weinberg Housing and Resource Center strives to provide a Christmas gift to every resident at our shelter. Many of these individuals are separated from family and friends and they may not receive anything for Christmas otherwise. We aim to collect at least 275 presents for our residents for the Christmas season. Santa delivers the gifts on Christmas Eve after a special dinner served restaurant-style to all residents.

Will you join us?

You can adopt a resident as an individual or get together with you family, friends, co-workers, church, team or school!

  • In the first year Catholic Charities took over operations of the WHRC, we placed 168 people in housing! That’ s over double what we promised Baltimore City for one year.
  • We rely on volunteers and generous in-kind donations each month. We are so grateful for these donations which strengthen community, extend our resources and serve our clients.
  • On average, WHRC has 22 volunteers perday—about 12 residents and 10 outside volunteers. In the past six months, our volunteers served an average of 127 hours per day! In our third year, WHRC volunteers served over 53,000 hours!
  • We currently have about 30 Volunteer Resident Monitors (VRMs) serving about 600 hours per week. One of the most prominent tasks is running the laundry room—which saves WHRC $6,500 per week

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a resident here?

  • Residents and guests enter through the front door. Residents wear white name tags with a photo – guests wear yellow name tags.
  • Residents may stay here for as long as they need to. It is not “ home,” but we strive to provide a welcoming environment. They must leave by 6:45 a.m. and return by 8 p.m. each day– and they will return to the same bed each day. Residents may also store their belongings under their beds during the day.
  • A resident or guest may enjoy programming at almost any time of the day, ranging from life skills, Bible studies and art projects to grief, depression and substance abuse sessions. Residents or guests may also spend time in our dayroom from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
  • Residents eat breakfast and dinner at WHRC. Meals are purchased by WHRC at a low cost from Moveable Feast, a non-profit that makes meals for locations like WHRC (unless kind volunteers cook a meal for us!). As of May 1, 2014, breakfast is served continental-style and dinner is served restaurant-style (provided we have enough volunteers!). Residents and guests are encouraged to go across the street to Our Daily Bread for a hot lunch daily.
  • Residents are assigned a case manager who assists them with their goals of housing, employment and personal development. Case managers regularly meet with residents to encourage them in their housing and employment search. Guests may sign up for a walk-in slot, a few hours a week, with a case manager.
  • Linens are done for each resident once a week and residents also have the opportunity to do their laundry once a week. There is a schedule for both, based on bed number (emergency washes available). WHRC provides detergent at no cost to residents and Volunteer Resident Monitors run the laundry rooms.

We welcome visitors! Please call the Volunteer Manager to arrange a tour at 667-600-3236.