To respond to needs voiced in the Howard County health and human service providers community, The Horizon Foundation launched this web resource, HorizonHelp in 2002. This information and referral site was developed with the help of the United Way of Central Maryland, Association of Community Services in Howard County, the Howard County Department of Citizen Services and the Office of Children's Resources.

This database is populated with provider data from organizations that serve residents of Howard County and is visited  by over 7,000 visitors a year. Our hope is that you, as a provider, 1) will find current information on other providers that may help you and your clients, 2) keep your information current and up to date, and 3) find this resource a good tool for referring and tracking clients as they call you for assistance.

How to update your listing:

Update your own listing by contacting the Horizon Foundation at 410-715-0311 or via email for your organization's ID number/password. You can then go into the database and follow the link on the bottom of the first page that says "Click here if you are a service provider." Follow the instructions to edit and update your organization's description.

How to remove your listing from the database:

To remove your listing from the database, contact us via email with the exact name of your organization, and the listing will be removed within 1 business day.

How to add listings to the database:

If your organization is not listed in the database and it fits the Criteria for Provider Inclusion, email us for an application in order to fill out your program and location information.

For training on the Referral program:

Training provides an overview of the mechanics of changing your listing online, as well as how to use the associated software which runs off the database. What are some of the benefits of using the entire HorizonHelp system?  Increased efficiency in conducting referral sessions, tracking clients over the phone and maintaining an up-to date- internal database are some. This software is available at no cost to all Howard County providers, and on-site demonstrations are available. For more information and/or to schedule a demonstration, contact Marla Shaivitz via email or phone at 410-715-0311.

In 2004, the Howard County Office on Aging was selected to administer a federal Aging and Disability Resources Center (ADRC) grant in Howard County. The ADRC grant seeks to create a trusted and visible source of information for seniors and adults with disabilities looking for services.  It also seeks to use technology to make finding and applying for services more streamlined. To satisfy this condition of the grant, the Office on Aging partnered with HorizonHelp to provide a searchable, online database of aging resources to the community.

The program, called Maryland Access Point, initially provided staff to review the current resources in the database in the aging and disability topic area, then hired a permanent staff member. This part-time staffer continues to manage these resources by checking the currency and relevancy of provider information as well as seeking out new resources to add to the database. Maryland Access Point has contributed over 300 additional resources to the database, making it the most up-to-date online collection of aging and disability resources in the County.

In addition to using the web-based database HorizonHelp, the Office on Aging is using The Resource House suite of software to record information and assistance activity within the agency (the Referral program), as well as to report information on these client calls back to the State (Report program).  This software package is under the umbrella of HorizonHelp and is available to all providers in the Howard County community free of charge, as is training.

In the summer of 2004, Office on Aging staff received two-half days of training on the system, and launched Maryland Access Point in August.

Kim Albert, Director of Maryland Access Point says about the software, "Both staff and administration liked Resource House.  Staff were thrilled that it made capturing client data easier for them.  Administration was pleased that they defined what was captured and could report out to funders necessary information."

For more information or to schedule an on-site demonstration, contact Marla Shaivitz via email or phone at 410-715-0311.