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Loretta Offutt had been living on the streets for nearly seven years until she was able to live in her own apartment near Germantown.

Thanks to the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless Creative Housing Initiative and help from Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous — she had no support from family or friends — she has a roof over her head and said she is living comfortably.

Offutt wrote poems about her homeless experience and spent half her life savings self-publishing her first book of poems, "Hurt, Homeless, Yet Inspired."

A line from her favorite poem, "Dreams," best sums up her experiences and the next stages in her life: "After being said I could never amount to anything, look at me now. Hah! God has fed my body; He has changed my mind; He has saved me; it was right on time."

Offutt was one of the faces of formerly homeless men and women whose stories were featured as the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless celebrated its 20th anniversary last week. The anniversary dinner drew more than 300 people to the Bethesda North Marriott & Conference Center on March 3.

The Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless started as an informal group of religious and business leaders, government officials and community members in the 1980s in response to the growing number of people living homeless. It was formally incorporated as a 501c3 nonprofit organization in 1990, which allowed the organization to hire staff members, raise funds and operate its own programs. Executive Director Sharan London arrived in 1996.

Anthony Martin was another Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless client who was featured at the celebration. Five years ago, Martin was living from hotel to hotel in rooms that the county had set up for him. The mother of his children had lost her home and Martin took care of their two sons.

Times were tough, particularly for Martin's children, whose grades and attendance suffered in school due to the constant shifts in location. But Martin said he "swallowed his pride" and never gave up. He and his sons continued to stay in hotel rooms from week to week until the coalition was able to secure temporary housing for them. Now he has a full-time job at Criswell Automotive and more permanent housing in Gaithersburg thanks to the coalition's Partnership for Permanent Housing program.

He said he enjoys art and producing music and spends quality time with his sons, who are earning A's and B's in school.

"I'm just totally happy and my kids are totally happy," Martin said.

In 1996, the homeless coalition received its first grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the amount of $1.8 million to open three safe havens, which provide transitional housing for homeless women who had chronic mental illnesses.

London said the organization was still "really, really bare bones" when she was hired in April of that year. At the time, men's emergency shelters in the county were operating from temporary sites — construction trailers — on Gude Drive in Rockville. They offered overnight accommodations during the winter months.

"The winter shelters were always running and overflowing with people," London said. "They got so full. We had volunteers there from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. passing out coffee and blankets to everyone.

"We would have 30 men lying down on the floor with one blanket to cover and one to lay on," she added.

The organization acquired several more trailers to accommodate the homeless population in 1999. With continuous support from the county and individual donors, the coalition developed more emergency shelters and transitional housing for the homeless throughout the county. Assessment centers and vocational services were established.

"We've come a long from two blankets and a cup of coffee," London said.

London's main concern for the next few years is working with the county to figure out how to shelter people next winter with budget cuts and shortfalls looming. The Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, along with other social service care providers, all took 10 percent cuts in state funding midyear.

London said her organization will know by Monday what fiscal 2011 will look like

"I am concerned on how the county is going to define safety and support next year," she said. "We've never turned anybody away this whole winter. If there wasn't room at one shelter, we would direct them to an alternative location. We didn't turn anybody away."

London said several winter emergency shelters are closing down by the end of March, leaving a void of several hundred beds.

"There are a lot of people sheltered right now who will only be sheltered in the spring," London said.

Coalition board and senior staff members remain hopeful about the organization's mission to help the homeless population, they said.

"We're looking towards improving our programs, improving our services and ultimately putting ourselves out of business by ending homelessness altogether," board president Elizabeth Homan, a spokeswoman at Montgomery College.

In the meantime, Offutt said she is grateful for help and support from the coalition. She is an active member of the Interdenominational Church of God in Gaithersburg and she continues to volunteer in the community. She is also a sponsor for three individuals in the Alcoholics Anonymous program.

"I'm just so blessed right now, and I am not going to let anyone steal my joy," Offutt said.