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Open letter to county elected officials:

The Safety Net Coalition: One Voice for the Vulnerable is organizing to make sure that the county executive and County Council understand that the county budget cannot be balanced on the backs of the vulnerable in our community.

We are human service providers who represent children at risk, people experiencing homelessness, people living with mental illness, people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, seniors in need of services, the uninsured and the poor. We provide shelter, food, clothing, housing and treatment services to people who can't meet these basic needs without our support.

We have seen dramatic increases in the demand for our services as the number of vulnerable people in our community continues to rise as a result of this dire economic situation.

-Suicide calls to the Mental Health Association's Hotline are up by 50 percent this quarter.

-Manna Food Center experienced a 45 percent increase in demand between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2008, as compared to the same time period the previous year.

-There was a 50 percent increase in the number of adults served in the emergency shelter on Nov. 18, compared to the previous year.

-2,840 county residents with developmental disabilities are on a waiting list for state-funded services, many of them in crisis situations. Reductions in county funding that supports these programs would compromise services to more than 1,500 people receiving services and make it almost impossible to extend service to people who are in crisis waiting for services.

-Because of the increased demand for primary medical care for the uninsured, Mercy Clinic has an eight-week wait for an appointment for a new patient.

-For every $30,000 cut from the budget of St. Luke's House, 22 clients will lose services including medication management, independent skills training and job coaching.

As a coalition, we understand that cuts to the services we provide will only further erode the safety net, which is currently tenuous at best.

We understand the need for improving our roads, supporting our schools and providing for public safety but we also believe that now is not the time to cut the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services. Now is not the time to reduce funding to health and human service providers or homeless shelters or feeding programs.

Sharon Friedman, Mental Health Association of Montgomery County

Sharan London, Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless

Rebecca Wagner, Interfaith Works

Tim Wiens, Jubilee Association of Maryland