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Record of Proceedings

Committee and Culture Committee Presentation on Housing and Human Services - March 19, 2026

City Council Committee Meetings — Thursday, March 19, 2026

BodyFrederick, Maryland

SessionCity Council Committee Meetings

DateThursday, March 19, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:10:30

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

4:31

Good afternoon, everyone.

4:33

Welcome to the committee and culture committee meeting for Thursday, March nineteenth, two thousand twenty six.

4:38

Let us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

5:00

Approval of minutes for our March 5th, 2026 committee meeting.

5:04

Is there a motion?

5:05

I move to approve.

5:07

I second it.

5:09

Motion by Councilmember Taylor, second by Councilmember Hempel O'Rani.

5:13

All in favor?

5:15

Motion carries 3-0.

5:16

We have one item on our agenda for this afternoon.

5:19

That is a presentation from a housing and human services.

5:23

This item will be presented by the director of housing human services.

5:26

Stuart Campbell.

5:28

Welcome.

5:29

Thank you.

5:30

Good afternoon, everyone.

5:32

And as you said, I for the record, I'm Stuart Campbell, the director of the Department of Housing and Human Services.

5:40

And as important as affordable housing is, and it is definitely very important, I I am also very delighted to talk about all the other things that HHS does because we uh we do quite a bit.

5:56

So is there a clicker?

6:04

Stewart so pro at this.

6:06

Uh okay.

6:08

All right.

6:09

So I uh apologize to uh council members Taylor and Hempel Ironic because some of this will be redundant to some of the slides you have already seen, but um we are definitely going to be focusing more on the services side.

6:26

And I'm hopeful that we can have a uh robust discussion afterwards as well.

6:32

So I do like to start off by just pointing out that uh where HHS is currently housed, our headquarters, we actually are in um technically five different buildings.

6:45

Um, but uh the one that is our um sort of uh flagship building is a historic building.

6:54

Um so if you can go to the next slide.

6:57

Um it is a uh former train station is constructed in 1854.

7:04

Abraham Lincoln addressed supporters in 1862 there.

7:08

Um and it was uh apparently Frederick at the time was very popular for folks who wanted to get out of uh Washington.

7:16

Um so both Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ulysses S.

7:19

Grant used the station on trips when they came up here.

7:23

Next slide.

7:24

The agency itself is actually uh has some history.

7:28

Um it was created in 1968 as a nonprofit community center.

7:34

Um and it was uh remained a nonprofit for about eleven years.

7:40

Um and uh in 1979, the Frederick Community Center became an agency of the city officially.

7:49

Um in 1989, the Health Center for the Homeless was created.

7:54

In 1993, it became a federally designated community action agency for Frederick County, and it it it remains today, uh community action agency, one of 17 in the state.

8:19

Um who attend community schools, um, and really any student who is um it's welcome to seek primary services there as well.

8:31

Um the FCAA became the Department of Housing and Human Services in 2019, and then uh last year our second HHS location uh fully opened at 6040 New Design Road.

8:49

Um we have had a food bank just a a couple buildings down on All Saints Street, so um.

9:00

But this is our really our satellite, first satellite office that we've ever had.

9:07

So next slide.

9:10

Um kind of staying on um the location in uh new design road for a minute.

9:18

Um the uh in 2025 we opened New Design Road to uh create uh we created there, I'm sorry, uh a food pantry.

9:29

Um we have a computer lab that um we utilize uh or will be utilizing.

9:35

It is very brand spanking new.

9:38

Um we are just putting, we just got the the laptops last week and we'll be putting screens on the walls um very soon.

9:46

Um but that will be used by our team primarily to provide housing counseling, uh budgeting, any sort of training um that we want to uh provide uh both internally and externally.

10:02

And I'm hopeful that at some point it will be open to other nonprofits who want to come in and utilize the lab uh for any sort of community-based services or training that they want to provide.

10:25

And a majority of our administrative staff are also on New Design Road.

10:30

So it's really got a lot of folks now for a while.

10:34

It took a while to get up and running.

10:36

It is a former school and it needed quite a bit of work before it was able to be utilized by HHS.

10:48

We have about 75 full and part-time city employees and about 350 volunteers each year.

10:56

We have a director, assistant director of client services, assistant director of administration, a medical director.

11:04

We now have a housing policy advisor in on the leadership team, and then we have a number of division supervisors and of course our our frontline staff.

11:14

We uh in FY 2025, the last uh fiscal year we have numbers.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Homelessness███████████████████████████27%

Affordable Housing██████████████████████████26%

Mental Health Awareness██████████10%

Community Engagement███████7%

Transportation Safety█████5%

Federal Funding█████5%

Food And Nutrition████4%

Food Assistance Programs████4%

Energy Assistance Programs████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Committee and Culture Committee Presentation on Housing and Human Services - March 19, 2026

The Committee and Culture Committee of Frederick City met on Thursday, March 19, 2026, to receive a presentation from the Department of Housing and Human Services (HHS). Director Stuart Campbell provided an overview of the department's history, services, and current initiatives. The meeting included discussions on homelessness, food security, health clinics, federal funding risks, and future needs. No votes or decisions were taken beyond the consent calendar.

Consent Calendar

The committee approved the minutes of the March 5, 2026 meeting by a 3-0 vote (motion by Councilmember Taylor, second by Councilmember Hempel O'Rani).

Discussion Items

HHS Overview: Director Campbell described HHS’s history dating back to 1968, its designation as a community action agency, and its expansion to a second location at 6040 New Design Road in 2025. The department has about 75 full- and part-time employees and 350 volunteers annually. In FY2025, it served over 16,000 individuals in 8,600 households, with 41% of clients being county residents outside the city.
Homeless Services: The outreach and case management team engages individuals in encampments, building trust. Permanent supportive housing includes 15 units with 24-hour staff, but Director Campbell noted the need far exceeds capacity. Federal threats to reduce permanent supportive housing funding from 90% to 30% of Continuum of Care awards pose a risk. Rapid rehousing was discussed as an effective alternative for most experiencing homelessness.
Food and Nutrition: Two food pantries serve about 950 households per month. A new client-choice model was introduced. The community table provides a daily hot meal, with an estimated 30,000 meals served in FY2025. Programs also include child and adult care food programs and summer meal distribution at parks.
Health Services: The community health clinic is a federally qualified health center with sliding fees. Two-thirds of funding comes from the city. Medical director Dr. Jacqueline Duchet is working to increase reimbursements. The school-based health center at Hillcrest Elementary and a mobile clinic are part of the services. Mental health services are limited, with partnerships to address severe cases.
Housing Policy: The Sold on Frederick downpayment assistance program provides up to $25,000 for first-time homebuyers, but rising home costs have reduced its effectiveness. The housing policy division focuses on increasing affordable housing stock.
Federal Funding Concerns: Councilmember Taylor highlighted that over half of HHS funding comes from federal sources. Director Campbell noted that while court challenges have prevented immediate cuts, the city may face increased responsibility if federal reductions occur. Nonprofits are particularly vulnerable.
Future Needs: Director Campbell's wishlist included expanded permanent supportive housing, a health clinic on the Golden Mile, enhanced mental health services, secure lockers for belongings, and tiny home communities integrated with amenities and transit.
Prevention and Communication: Discussion included eviction prevention programs and the need for better outreach to inform residents about available services. Councilmember Hempel O'Rani noted challenges in marketing services.

Key Outcomes

No formal decisions or votes were taken beyond the consent calendar. The presentation served as an informational session to inform future policy and budget discussions. The committee plans to develop work plans based on these overviews.
The meeting was adjourned without further business.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the committee and culture committee meeting for Thursday, March nineteenth, two thousand twenty six. Let us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Approval of minutes for our March 5th, 2026 committee meeting. Is there a motion? I move to approve. I second it. Motion by Councilmember Taylor, second by Councilmember Hempel O'Rani. All in favor? Motion carries 3-0. We have one item on our agenda for this afternoon. That is a presentation from a housing and human services. This item will be presented by the director of housing human services. Stuart Campbell. Welcome. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. And as you said, I for the record, I'm Stuart Campbell, the director of the Department of Housing and Human Services. And as important as affordable housing is, and it is definitely very important, I I am also very delighted to talk about all the other things that HHS does because we uh we do quite a bit. So is there a clicker? Stewart so pro at this. Uh okay. All right. So I uh apologize to uh council members Taylor and Hempel Ironic because some of this will be redundant to some of the slides you have already seen, but um we are definitely going to be focusing more on the services side. And I'm hopeful that we can have a uh robust discussion afterwards as well. So I do like to start off by just pointing out that uh where HHS is currently housed, our headquarters, we actually are in um technically five different buildings. Um, but uh the one that is our um sort of uh flagship building is a historic building. Um so if you can go to the next slide. Um it is a uh former train station is constructed in 1854. Abraham Lincoln addressed supporters in 1862 there. Um and it was uh apparently Frederick at the time was very popular for folks who wanted to get out of uh Washington. Um so both Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ulysses S. Grant used the station on trips when they came up here. Next slide. The agency itself is actually uh has some history. Um it was created in 1968 as a nonprofit community center. Um and it was uh remained a nonprofit for about eleven years. Um and uh in 1979, the Frederick Community Center became an agency of the city officially. Um in 1989, the Health Center for the Homeless was created. In 1993, it became a federally designated community action agency for Frederick County, and it it it remains today, uh community action agency, one of 17 in the state. Um who attend community schools, um, and really any student who is um it's welcome to seek primary services there as well. Um the FCAA became the Department of Housing and Human Services in 2019, and then uh last year our second HHS location uh fully opened at 6040 New Design Road. Um we have had a food bank just a a couple buildings down on All Saints Street, so um. But this is our really our satellite, first satellite office that we've ever had. So next slide. Um kind of staying on um the location in uh new design road for a minute. Um the uh in 2025 we opened New Design Road to uh create uh we created there, I'm sorry, uh a food pantry. Um we have a computer lab that um we utilize uh or will be utilizing. It is very brand spanking new. Um we are just putting, we just got the the laptops last week and we'll be putting screens on the walls um very soon.

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