Activities or events that the Calvert Interfaith Council (CIC) is involved in can be classified in one of two ways: activities that the council sponsors and activities that its member organizations support.
Activities that CIC Sponsors
National Day of Prayer
The first Thursday in May is the National Day of Prayer. Calvet Interfaith Council members lead prayer during this event which is held on the lawn of the Main Street Courthouse in Prince Frederick at noon.
The Annual International Day of Peace Celebration
The International day of Peace was established by the United Nations in 1981. It takes place throughout the world on September 21st. The concept is to inspire people to embrace compassion, to respect life and to live in harmony with one another, celebrating diversity rather than using it as a reason for conflict.
Calvert Gives Thanks: The Annual Thanksgiving Interfaith Gathering
Sharing perspectives and worship of the Abrahamic faith traditions. Other traditions of members of our community may be shared.
Activities that CIC Members Support
CommUNITY Prayer Walk
Community members walk to various locations and stop to pray. A number of church leaders and Calvert Interfaith Council members lead prayer at the various stops with 2023 being the 20th year anniversary of this prayer event.
Community Ministry of Calvert
CIC has organized this program to fill the gap in services for those in the community who need financial assistance. The success of this project depends on both volunteers and financial support. Our mission is provide assistance to those in need in emergency situations either directly or in cooperation with other agencies. This effort grows out of a belief in the basic dignity of all. We believe that all who live in a society are connected to one another by our common humanity. We recognize that for some, difficult or even insurmountable barriers stand in the way of this simple goal of a decent life. We believe, as stewards of God’s abundant creation, we have a shared responsibility to reach out to assist others in distress, sharing from that bounty.
The churches currently participating in Community Ministry of Calvert are:
| All Saints Episcopal Church |
| Patuxent Friends Meeting |
| Smithville United Methodist Church |
| St. Edmonds United Methodist Church |
| St. John Vianney Catholic Church |
| Trinity United Methodist Church |
Calvert Hospice
Hospice believes that each of us matters to the very last day of our lives. The quality of those last days can be enhanced with compassionate medical management and multidisciplinary support.
Calvert Collaboration for Children and Youth, Inc.
It focuses its energies on increasing volunteer and financial resources dedicated to programs for children and youth, and on building community awareness of youth issues. It supports the efforts of many outstanding child and family organizations
Community Mediation Center of Calvert
Mediation is an opportunity to manage conflicts differently. With the help of mediators, you can discuss issues and talk about your concerns. In mediation, you — not the mediator — control the decisions and the outcome. Mediation is convenient and free. You make your own decisions about how to deal with the conflict. Solutions that you arrive at will be far more satisfying and lasting than anything imposed upon you by others. Over 90% of people who have used mediation feel that they have improved their situation.
Daughters of Abraham
Because we believe that it is inherent in the nature of women to reach out in cooperation, the Daughters of Abraham of Southern Maryland seek to inform and to promote friendship and understanding among women of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the three great Abrahamic faiths. By nurturing our friendships we seek to overcome prejudice and bias, thereby strengthening not only our local community but also contributing to the peace and well-being of our world community. It is not our purpose at any time, to proselytize, to persuade, or to debate the merits of one faith over another. Our coming together is founded on our shared belief in the One Merciful God. Created in 2002, just after and because of 9/11/01, any woman from southern Maryland is invited into the Daughters’ conversation. Over the course of the year we meet at various locations. Women, food, and conversation combine to become key ingredients in wishing the world right. For more information contact: Roseanna Vogt, Convener, 301-778-3848, director@circleofangels.org
End Hunger in Calvert
October has been declared End Hunger Month in Calvert. End Hunger in Calvert County exists to change lives. We work with individuals to create permanent solutions that move them from dependency to self-sufficiency. There are more and more people needing help. Find out how your can help. And find out more about The Farms of End Hunger program.
Project ECHO
ECHO (Ecumenical Council for the Homeless) is supported by several places of worship in Calvert. It is a nonprofit agency that provides emergency assistance to homeless people in our community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. ECHO offers a safe, sober place to stay overnight to homeless men, women, and children on a short-term basis. The new shelter has a capacity of 40 beds. Clients are required to actively pursue goals for housing, employment, treatment, education, etc. as needed. Meals are also provided; dinner is supplied by volunteers each evening.
Patuxent Habitat for Humanity
Patuxent Habitat for Humanity (PHH) is dedicated to providing decent affordable housing in Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties.
It builds houses and sells them to qualified families at cost with no down payment and 30 year interest free mortgage. The cost is minimized by accepting donated land, building material, and volunteer help. The homeowners are required to help build their own home by working 200 hours of “sweat equity” for each adult in the family. Since 2003 PHH has built 9 homes serving 35 children, 4 in Calvert County and 5 in St. Mary’s. 2 are currently being built in St Mary’s and 3 are planned to start in Calvert early next year. PHH also operates a “Re-Store” in Lexington Park which sells building materials donated by builders and lumber and hardware stores at approximately half the retail price. You can help the PHH by organizing volunteers to help build houses or perform administrative help, arrange fund raising, provide lunches for builders, or keep PHH in your prayers. 12 local churches have joined together to form an “Apostle Build” to build Habitat Houses.
Safe Nights Program
Faith congregations in Calvert County take turns in sheltering the homeless for 22 weeks throughout the cold weather months beginning in November and ending in April. The Safe Nights program is dedicated to protecting the homeless from the cold by providing shelter in a clean and safe environment. The consortium of Calvert County faith congregations participating in the Safe Nights program are dedicated to a compassionate response to homelessness in Calvert County. We share a common goal of reaching out to help those who need it the most. Approximately forty churches/congregations are participating in the program. Safe Nights of Calvert County, Inc. is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization. It is operated entirely with volunteers and is funded entirely through donations. For further information click here.
Where Would You Go If…
You Lost Your Home
The Shelter Was Full
The Air Was Cold
There was Nowhere to Turn?
The Answer is Safe Nights!
Safe Nights of Calvert County is an interfaith consortium of churches that open their hearts and churches to the homeless. The Safe Nights program brings together citizens from all faiths and civic organizations that are dedicated to a compassionate response to the plight of the homeless in Calvert County. The Safe Nights program is dedicated to protecting the homeless from the cold by providing shelter in a clean and safe environment.
When Does Safe Nights Begin?
Safe Nights shelters will be November – April.
Safe Nights is beginning its 7th season of providing shelter to the homeless of Calvert County. Shelters are held in churches throughout the county 7 days a week from 7 pm to 7 am. Guests of Safe Nights must pass a background check and meet eligibility requirements. Anyone seeking shelter must call 443-486-8670 to schedule an appointment for an intake. Intake appointments will begin November 1. Please email: calvertsafenights@gmail.com
What Does Safe Nights Provide?
Host shelters provide a cot and three nutritious meals (breakfast, dinner and a bag lunch) in a safe environment. Transportation, to the extent possible, will be provided from Prince Frederick to the outlying areas.
What Are The Shelter Hours?
Shelter hours are from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., 7 days a week, beginning in November and ending in March or early April. Program beginning and ending dates may vary.
Who Qualifies for Safe Nights?
Individuals Must:
Be Homeless
Show Identification
Furnish proof of residency in Calvert County
Be ambulatory & capable of self care
Be over 18 Year of Age, Unless Accompanied by a Parent
Sign the Guest Shelter Agreement and Agree to Abide by its Provisions
Be Drug and Alcohol Free
Pass a Background Check
How Do Individuals Register?
Register by calling for an appointment: Safe Nights of Calvert County. Call (443) 486-8670
All interviews are by appointment only – No walk-ins accepted. A one-time in person registration is required for the season.
How is Safe Nights Funded?
Safe Nights gets no funding from the Federal, State or Local Governments. Safe Nights is a volunteer-driven program, but there are still expenses for transportation and supplies. Monetary donations from individuals and businesses help offset those expenses, and are 100% tax deductible. Safe Nights is a non-profit. 501(c)(3) corporation.
Checks can be made payable to:
Safe Nights of Calvert County, Inc.
P.O. 3707
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Current and Former Participating Congregations:
All Saints Episcopal
Bethel Way of the Cross
Calvary United Apostolic Church
Calvert County Baptist Church
Chesapeake Church
Christ Episcopal Church
Congregation Beit Chaverim
Coopers United Methodist Church
Dunkirk Baptist Church
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Emmanuel Seventh Day Adventist
Emmanuel United Methodist Church
First Lutheran Church
Full Gospel Assembly Church
Grace Brethren Church
Greater Mt. Zion Church
Healing and Deliverance Church
Huntingtown United Methodist
Jesus the Divine Word Catholic Church
Jesus the Good Shepherd Catholic Church
Middleham/St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
Mt. Harmony United Methodist Church
Mt. Olive United Methodist Church
Olivet United Methodist Church
Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church
Patuxent Friends
Patuxent United Methodist Church
Peters United Methodist Church
St. Anthony’s Catholic Church
St. Edmond’s United Methodist Church
St. John Vianney Catholic Church
St. John’s United Methodist Church
St. Nicholas Lutheran Church
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
St. Paul United Methodist Church
Smithville United Methodist Church
Solomon’s United Methodist Church
Trinity United Methodist Church
Universalist Unitarian
Water’s United Methodist
Without Volunteers Safe Nights could not exist!
The faith community can help by:
– Hosting a one-week shelter.
– Assisting a host church during their shelter week.
– Providing transportation to and from shelters.
Here are some ways individuals can help:
Setup and Breakdown Shelters:
Assist in setting up and taking down cots and tables and chairs.
Preparing Food:
You may be asked to prepare food at home and bring to the shelter, or help prepare the food in the shelter kitchen.
Serving Food:
Food servers usually are asked to arrive an hour before breakfast and dinner is to be served. Some host churches have the food brought to the shelter, and some prepare the food at the shelter. You will assist in getting the meal ready and serving the meal.
Be an Overnight Monitor:
As a monitor, you get to know those we are serving. While you are there to greet the guests, you also have responsibilities to enforce the rules. All volunteers who have contact with the guests receive training and sign a confidentiality agreement. We ask that you treat all guests with respect and courtesy, but set boundaries.
One male and one female Monitor must be present while guests are at the shelter. Monitors serve a full shift from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. or partial shift, usually, from 6:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. or 12:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Cleaners:
Shelters need cleaning too. Volunteers will be asked to clean the bathrooms and tidy up the shelter room.
Laundry:
At the end of the shelter week, the bed and bath linens need to be washed at the local laundromat.
Transportation of Supplies:
Up to 20 cots and other supplies need to be transported to each shelter.
Transportation of Guests:
We are always in need of church vans or buses and drivers to transport the guests from Prince Frederick to the outlying churches and return on a daily basis.
Contact Information: 443-486-8670
calvertsafenights@gmail.com
There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.
– John Andrew Holmes Jr., American writer and minister
Closing the Gap Coalition
– https://www.ctgc-closingthegapcoalition.org/ to address educational disparities in the Calvert County community.
TRUST
– https://www.facebook.com/TRUSTSoMD formerly known as Southern Maryland Action Coalition is an organization dedicated to justice and promoting equality and respect in Calvert County.
Mission/Vision: We are people of many faiths, compelled by our shared values to address the needs of the citizens of Calvert County. As agents of change, we will advocate, invite, organize and empower in the name of economic, political, and social justice and reconciliation, as we seek to build a sustainable and inclusive community.
TRUST and the Community Mediation Center of Calvert (CMCC) co-sponsor a Diversity Workshop, which is held at various time throughout the year. The workshop is a full day of guided learning and conversation with the purpose of building a stronger community across divides of race and class.
CIC Ongoing Essay Contest
Please click here to enter the CIC Essay Contest.