Community Assistance Network

60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. ❤️

As we celebrate 60 years of serving Baltimore County, we’re not only looking back at the programs and services that shaped CAN—we’re remembering the moments of joy and connection along the way, too. 🎃🍂

Over the years, celebrations like Halloween at CAN’s former Eastern Family Resource Center gave families a chance to enjoy something simple but meaningful: a day of costumes, treats, laughter, and fun together.

For families experiencing difficult seasons, these moments mattered. They created memories for children, brought neighbors together, and helped make CAN more than a place to receive services—it was a place to feel part of a community. ❤️

As we continue our 60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. journey, we’re celebrating all the ways CAN has touched lives over the decades—including the smiles, traditions, and special moments that happened in between.

🍁 Happy First Day of Fall from CAN!

And save the date as we make another memory together:

🎉 CAN’s 60th Anniversary Celebration
📅 Thursday, November 12
🎟️ Tickets are $60
🤝 Sponsorship opportunities are available
🔗 Register today — link in bio!

60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. ❤️

From our archives: 2000

Sometimes changing a life starts with giving someone the tools—and the confidence—to take the next step.

In 2000, CAN’s L.I.F.E. Program — Living Independently For Ever — brought participants together for 15 weeks of workshops designed to help individuals and families move toward greater independence.

The topics were practical because the challenges people faced were real: housing, health, budgeting, nutrition, computer skills, parenting, self-esteem, child development, résumé development and even dressing for success.

But behind every workshop was something bigger: opportunity.

CAN staff and L.I.F.E. coaches worked alongside participants as they learned new skills, explored resources and took steps toward the futures they wanted for themselves and their families.

More than 25 years later, these photographs remind us that programs may change, staff may change and community needs may evolve—but investing in people has always been at the heart of CAN. ❤️

To the staff, participants and community partners who have been part of that work over the past 60 years: you are part of CAN’s story.

And we’re not finished telling it.

🎉 Join us November 12 as we celebrate 60 years of helping people and changing lives.

🎟️ Tickets are $60
🤝 Sponsorship opportunities are available
🔗 Register today — link in bio!

60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. ❤️

From our archives: 1992–2002

A warm, safe home can change more than a utility bill—it can provide comfort, stability, and peace of mind for a family.

For a decade, CAN’s Weatherization Program worked to help Baltimore County residents make their homes safer and more energy efficient. These photos from our archives capture that work in action: crews learning, building, repairing, and improving homes throughout our community.

Weatherization was about more than insulation and repairs. It was about helping families reduce energy costs, creating healthier living environments, and making home a little more comfortable during Maryland’s cold winters.

These photographs also remind us that behind every CAN program—past and present—are people helping people. Staff, partners, and community members working together to make life a little better for their neighbors.

The Weatherization Program may be part of CAN’s history, but its spirit is still very much a part of who we are today:

Helping People. Changing Lives. ❤️

Follow along as we continue opening the CAN archives and sharing 60 years of service, impact, and community.

🎉 Celebrate 60 years with us on November 12!
🎟️ Individual tickets: $60
🤝 Sponsorship opportunities are available
🔗 Register today — link in bio!

60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. ❤️

From our archives: Building stronger communities in the 1970s

Long before we were known as Community Assistance Network, the Human Resources Development Agency (HRDA) was helping Baltimore County residents have a voice in the future of their neighborhoods.

Community development funding created opportunities to invest in the things that make communities stronger—from housing and neighborhood revitalization to public improvements, services, and economic development. But an important part of that work was making sure residents understood the resources available to them and had opportunities to participate in decisions affecting their communities.

A 1978 HRDA Housing Seminar brought together housing and community-development professionals to talk with residents about issues including tenant-landlord laws, neighborhood revitalization, housing assistance, and emergency services.

Looking through these materials nearly 50 years later is a reminder that CAN's history isn't only about providing help during a crisis. It is also a history of connecting people to information, opportunity, and a voice in their community.

The programs have changed. The funding has changed. Even our name has changed.

But the purpose behind the work has endured: helping people build greater stability and stronger communities. ❤️

As we celebrate 60 years of service, we're honoring the people, partnerships, and investments that helped shape CAN—and Baltimore County—over the decades.

🎉 Join us November 12 as we celebrate 60 years of service to Baltimore County.
🎟️ Individual tickets: $60
🤝 Sponsorship opportunities are available
🔗 Register today — link in bio!

60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. ❤️

From our archives: Early 1980s

Long before email, websites and online applications, sometimes connecting someone with help meant simply knocking on a door.

These photographs from CAN’s archives capture home visits in the early 1980s—a glimpse of what community action looked like more than four decades ago.

There is something especially meaningful about these images. They remind us that this work has never been only about programs, paperwork or services.

It has always been about people.

It’s about sitting down with someone. Listening. Understanding what they are facing. Helping them find resources. And making sure our neighbors know they don’t have to navigate difficult circumstances alone.

The way CAN delivers services has changed considerably over the years, but that commitment to meeting people where they are continues today through our outreach, housing, food assistance and other community-based services.

Sixty years of service is really sixty years of moments like these—one neighbor, one family and one conversation at a time. ❤️

We’ll continue sharing pieces of CAN’s history every day as we count down to our 60th Anniversary Celebration.

🎉 Celebrate 60 years with us on November 12!
🎟️ Individual tickets are $60
🤝 Sponsorship opportunities are available
📅 November 12, 2026 | 5:30–8:00 PM
📍 7900 E. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21224
🔗 Register today — link in bio!

60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. ❤️

From the archives: 1981

Sometimes history is found in the simplest things—like a handwritten moving flyer.

In 1981, the Human Resources Developing Agency (HRDA), which would later become Community Assistance Network, was preparing to relocate its offices from Eastern Avenue to Merritt Point Elementary School.

It may look like a simple notice, but more than 45 years later, it reminds us of something that has remained at the heart of CAN’s work: meeting people where they are and making sure they know where to turn for help.

The addresses have changed. Our name has changed. Our programs have grown and evolved. But the commitment to being a resource for Baltimore County residents has carried forward through the decades.

And the story is still being written. ❤️

Follow along each day as we continue opening the CAN archives and counting down to our 60th Anniversary Celebration on November 12th.

🎉 Join us as we commemorate 60 years of service to Baltimore County.
🎟️ Individual tickets are $60
🤝 Sponsorship opportunities are available
📅 November 12, 2026 | 5:30–8:00 PM
📍 7900 E. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21224
🔗 Register today — link in bio!

60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. ❤️

From our archives: January 27, 1982

More than 44 years ago, Baltimore County residents gathered to receive food assistance through the Human Resources and Development Agency (HRDA), the organization that would eventually become Community Assistance Network.

This clipping from The Evening Sun captured residents receiving part of 47,000 pounds of surplus cheese being distributed to people in need throughout Baltimore County.

The photograph may be from another era, but the need it represents—and the importance of neighbors helping neighbors—still resonates today.

Over the decades, our approach has changed. Today, CAN’s Community Choice Pantry gives Baltimore County residents the opportunity to select food that works for their households, helping make food assistance a more personal and dignified experience.

The boxes may look different. The programs may have changed. But for more than 60 years, the heart of the work has remained: being there when our neighbors need us. ❤️

As we count down to CAN’s 60th Anniversary Celebration, we’ll continue opening our archives and sharing the people, programs and moments that have shaped our history.

🎉 Celebrate 60 years of service with us on November 12! Get your tickets today! Link in Bio
🎟️ Individual tickets: $60
🤝 Sponsorship opportunities are available.

60 Years. 60 Stories. 60 Days. ❤️

Sixty years ago, a new organization was established with a mission to serve the residents of Baltimore County. The document you see here is part of that beginning—the Articles of Incorporation for the Baltimore County Community Action Agency, approved in November 1965.

The name, programs and communities we serve have evolved over the decades, but that commitment to our neighbors continues today as Community Assistance Network, Inc. (CAN).

Today, we begin a 60-day journey through CAN’s history as we count down to our 60th Anniversary Celebration on November 12.

Every day, we’ll share something from our story—historic photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, programs, milestones, memories and the people who have helped shape CAN over the past six decades.

We hope you’ll follow along, share your memories and celebrate with us as we honor 60 years of service to Baltimore County.

🎉 60th Anniversary Celebration
📅 November 12, 2026 | 5:30–8:00 PM
📍 7900 E. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21224
🎟️ Individual tickets are $60 – Link in bio to reserve your spot
🤝 Sponsorship opportunities are available - Contact April Stevens [email protected] Cell: 667-515-8437

Follow along for the next 60 days—and join us on November 12 as we celebrate where CAN has been, the lives touched along the way, and what comes next.