Ronnie Vaughn stands as proof of the good work of Arundel House of Hope.

“They showed me that they really cared,” said Vaughn, 58, one of the first men to enroll at The Fouse Center — the nonprofit’s transitional-housing program for homeless men — in 2001. “They showed me the kind of love I needed.”

Today, Vaughn is a program aide with Arundel House of Hope, consulting men who find themselves in the same position Vaughn was in several years ago.

Arundel House of Hope started in 1992 as a movement by several area churches that wanted to provide temporary shelter for the homeless.

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“We really started as a group of people in the community who wanted to make a difference,” said Mary Alexander, director of development for Arundel House of Hope.

The nonprofit has grown over the years, with 10 employees and more than 2,000 volunteers and five major housing services.

The services help the homeless as well as taxpayers, Alexander said, because it costs taxpayers about $40,000 a year in services for each homeless person.

“We can work with people from the minute they become homeless,” said Phil Bailey, director of the winter relief program and Resource and Day Center.

“The support has been phenomenal,” Bailey said. “What you get back out of this is so powerful and life-changing.”

Arundel House of Hope

514 N. Crain Highway, Suite K, Glen Burnie, MD 21061

410-863-4888, arundelhoh.org

Services include:

» A winter relief program with emergency shelter for 222 people for more than 147 nights during the cold months.

» Transitional housing for about 10 homeless men for six to nine months in the Fouse Center.

» The Resource and Day Center on North Crain Highway provides several services to homeless men and women, including computer, television and mail access as well as consultation from on-site case managers.

» Safe Haven Supportive Housing, opening soon, will provide housing for single, homeless women.

acannarsa@baltimoreexaminer.com