Close

Not a member yet?Register now and get started.

lock and key

Sign in to your account.

Account Login

Issues and Victories

PATH began in 2004, when clergy and lay leaders in Howard County came together to address the growing pressures on members of their congregations. The leaders wanted to create an entity that would enable them to act in the public arena without partisan ties and address the root causes of the issues affecting their congregations and neighborhoods. In April 2006, PATH was launched at an action with over 500 leaders.

PATH has continued to organize around the conviction that Howard County can do better for its residents and that when people come together with a desire for change, we can make it happen. PATH knows that effective and meaningful social victories in our lives and the lives of others start with active listening and then organizing people to press for change. Through individual, then small-group, and finally large-group relationship building, PATH enables people to effectuate change that could never happen if left to one or two people to do. In our young, but successful history, here are some of the changes we’ve accomplished:

  • Environmental Jobs

    PATH has won over $1 Million in the Howard County Budget over 2012 and 2013 to start a youth conservation corps—READY (Restoring the Environment and Developing Youth). This effort created 75 full-time, living wage summer positions for young adults who desperately needed summer employment to help pay for school or help their families make ends meet. These young adults installed rain gardens at congregations and large county facilities, addressing storm-water runoff on over 8 acres of impervious surfaces. READY has proven itself sustainable and an important part of the arsenal Howard County needs to address storm-water runoff—the only growing source of pollution currently threatening the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.

    During the 2012 legislative session, PATH worked with environmental groups to win a storm water runoff fee for the 10 largest counties and jurisdictions in Maryland. This will not only address the fastest growing source of pollution to our streams, lakes and the Chesapeake Bay; will provide thousands of local jobs for decades to come. PATH is building on this victory to expand the READY program in the years ahead.

  • Aging in Place

    PATH was key to securing an additional $13 Million in the 2013 Maryland State Budget to expand the Medicaid Waiver for Older Adults. Now, at least 300 additional seniors a year will receive the care they need at home rather than in nursing homes. The revenues will decrease the enormous backlog of people waiting for service, expand services, and increase home care workers' pay. Home and community based care provides better health outcomes, saves the state money in the long-term, and is what most seniors prefer. Thanks to our efforts, everyone wins.

  • Healthcare

    PATH signed up 405 people, who did not have health care coverage, for the Healthy Howard Plan and other government-run programs. In the first year of health care coverage, this brought about $2.4 million in benefits to Howard County citizens. Understanding the importance of face-to-face contact, over 300 PATH leaders made this happen by going door-to-door, speaking face-to-face with 4,380 County residents in one summer.

  • Children’s Health

    PATH has worked with the Horizon Foundation, and other concerned citizen groups to reduce health risks to our children through a campaign to reduce access to unhealthy, sugary drinks and snacks, while suggesting and promoting access to healthy alternatives, provide healthy breakfasts for all children, and increase exercise time in our schools.

  • Affordable Housing

    PATH pushed legislation through Maryland’s General Assembly to protect mobile home owners—people living in some of the last affordable housing in Maryland. Mobile home owners own their homes but not the land under them, so when a park closes they could lose everything. Now, thanks to PATH, park owners must compensate residents with 10 months of lot rent—about $6000 in today's market. This law provides a safety net for over 14,000 of Maryland’s most vulnerable residents, allowing them to successfully relocate if they lose their homes.

  • Head Start

    For a number of children in Columbia, their only access to a Head Start program was to travel by bus as much as an hour or more each way. This created a hardship for these preschool-aged children, and it made it very difficult for their parents to fully participate in the experience with their children—an important part of any Head Start project. PATH believed Howard County could do better. After several meetings with PATH leaders, and during and Action with more than 300 leaders, the County government agreed. PATH found space in the village of Long Reach in Columbia, centrally located and home to most of the children who previously had to commute for the new Head Start program—a win for young children who desperately want and need educational enrichment.

  • Women's Swimming

    For many Muslim women, swimming with their children and women friends can be difficult because they must remain fully covered in front of men. So when asked by one of our Muslim leaders if we could help women in Howard County find a place to swim without men present, PATH was there. We learned this was not only a religious issue but one that affected many women who wanted to swim but were not comfortable swimming with men. After exploring our options, PATH concluded the best action would be to work with the Columbia Association to negotiate a women’s only swim time at the Columbia Indoor Swim Center. And work we did! More than 50 PATH leaders braved the cold and rain just two days before Thanksgiving to assure victory. Members of the Columbia Association Board publically thanked PATH for our dedication, making it easy for them to decide in favor of women’s swim time.

  • Transportation

    Among our earliest actions, PATH worked to reduce Howard Transit waiting time from 60 to 30 minutes on buses throughout Howard County, and to keep commuter bus service from Columbia to Baltimore from being cut. With improved service, ridership is up and buses provide more reliable transportation in Howard County.