Dear Friends,

We hope this letter finds you well. We’re writing to you because you are a supporter, partner, advocate or friend of The Religious Coalition, and we’re excited to tell you about a historic change we’ve made.

For over four decades, The Coalition has worked to prevent and alleviate the effects of poverty on the residents of Frederick County. Throughout this time, we’ve prided ourselves on ensuring that residents of Frederick can either retain or regain their housing stability through the evolution of the vital services our organization provides. This execution, day after day, highlights how deeply committed we are to our mission and how intentional the expansion of our services has been.

Our work would not be possible without your help. We are grateful for the ongoing support the amazing Frederick community has shown us, and invite you to continue to walk with us as we head into a future where financial security continues to be elusive for many. With households facing ever-increasing challenges, we stand ready to help face down those obstacles that block the path to get home and remain home.

As we prepare for that future, it is our job to make sure the organization is well-positioned for success. In addition to understanding the variety of challenges those suffering from poverty face so that we may better serve them, we also have to understand the challenges facing our own organization now and in the future.

Myself, our Board of Directors, and a select group within our leadership team have spent the past two years engaged in a rebranding evaluation—a wide-ranging review of the organization’s perception, identity, and brand—and what we discovered was fascinating. We discovered that for some, our long-standing name can be a deterrent to accessing critically needed services.

It quickly became apparent that the perception of the Coalition, both by those who support us and those who rely on us for support, is greatly varied. Throughout the rebranding process we heard from many of you who have reinforced your decades-long dedication. We also heard understanding from each constituent we spoke with as to why a rebrand and a new name for the organization were needed.

There are several essential reasons why we needed to make this change, including creating a more meaningful sense of equality for those in need, clearing up confusion about what we do and who we are, and removing barriers that prohibited us from accessing critical funding opportunities.

We arrived at a name that is as much a marching order as it is an ideology. We wanted something that calls back to our rich history and also allows us to expand into the future.
We needed a brand that encapsulates what our mission has always been and will always be.

We’re proud to introduce Beyond Shelter Frederick to the community!

The name Beyond Shelter will sound familiar to those of you who followed our family shelter campaign back in 2021. Beyond Shelter was our most successful capital fundraising effort in the organization’s history. Taking that success and focusing our efforts on creating meaningful offramps from homelessness, we will now continue our vital work in this county.

For many in Frederick and throughout the nation, emergency shelters will never be obsolete. Unfortunately, there are enough contributing factors that cause homelessness that we’ll never prevent it entirely from occurring. That said, we can certainly affect it, reduce it, and negate it with robust programming and dedicated staff who all work toward the goal of getting and keeping our clients Beyond Shelter.

The concept of Beyond Shelter is as important, if not more so, for the residents in our programs to understand. A shelter bed is not an end destination, and their journeys don’t end on Degrange Street or Hayward Road. This is a detour in their lives that allows us to provide respite and recovery to get back to self-sufficiency, and to regain independence. We’ll never overlook our sheltering programs; we’ll only work to make them better.

To do our work effectively, we’ll continue to need all of our dedicated partners and advocates to stand beside us in the fight against poverty and homelessness. Our name has changed, but the reason we exist, the mission to help those in need, and our commitment to this amazing Frederick community will not alter and will not waver.

We thank you for your continued partnership and invite you to join us as we go Beyond Shelter.

Be well,

Nick Brown, Executive Director
Beyond Shelter Frederick Inc.