User:Auroraborealiswolf/Edward reginald bloom

Edward Reginald Bloom was born on April 3, 1936, in Toronto, Canada. He received a bachelor's degree from American University and a masters' degree in social work from Howard University. Bloom worked for the Maryland Department of Human Resources for 44 years, serving as the Director of Anne Arundel County Social Services from 1980 until he retired in 2004. Bloom earned numerous awards for his many noteworthy contributions to social service in behalf of the citizens of Anne Arundel County. He enjoyed music, the outdoors, and spending time with his family. "He was smart enough to be anything he wanted, but gave his career to helping the neediest among us," said Jennie Bloom, his wife. "He was an advocate for the most vulnerable among us. He really believed in that."

Early life
During the summers of his youth he would go to the country, where his grandmother would work picking fruit. That led to a love of the outdoors he never outgrew. He loved the coast of Maine, where he would take his family in the summertime for kayaking, canoeing and fishing. Bloom also was quite an audiophile, listening to all sorts of music -- jazz, folk, classical -- and enjoying a wide range of styles. "He said it made him appreciate all the differences," Jennie Bloom said. Like many young adults, Bloom wasn't sure what to do after high school. He wasn't ready for college, so he want to Northern California and took a job surveying. He was nearly killed on the job when a car hit him, but it was his recovery from that near-fatal accident that nudged him toward a career helping others, he told a Capital reporter years ago. His six-month stay in the hospital brought out a knack for listening to people and their troubles. It also opened his eyes to a world of suffering people, not just physically injured and diseased on the hospital ward, but people walloped by circumstances and needing help. He moved to Washington, D.C., and completed his recovery. There he earned a degree in psychology from American University and later a master's degree in social work from Howard University. After finishing school he took a job as a caseworker in Montgomery County, where he stayed until moving to the Anne Arundel County job in 1981.

Work
Bloom ran Anne Arundel County's Department of Social Services from 1980 to 2004. He wrote the original grant for Sarah's House, a shelter for battered women and their children, created Mary's Mount a shelter for families, and got numerous other programs off the ground. Preventing child neglect and abuse was one of Edward R. Bloom's top priorities, before any child was placed in foster care, he must be notified directly. He grilled the social worker to ensure that everything possible has been done to keep a child with the parents or extended family. Since 1991, the annual number of children placed in foster care has dropped from 148 to 60. But Bloom wanted to force the numbers down even more by locating and offering intensive services to families before children need such services. In one case he sent four social workers to a small census tract in north Anne Arundel to help reduce the 74 cases of reported child abuse near Van Bokkelen Elementary School in the last year. Bloom served the underprivileged through periods of major change in the way the nation deals with those needing a hand. First there were the funding cuts during the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Then there was the wholesale shift in the approach to welfare and other programs in the 1990s. All the while he kept trudging on, finding a way to get that last dollar to a needy mom, child or senior citizen, colleagues said. "No matter what they do to the budget," he told The Capital in 1982, "the decision makers don't see that there are still those who need help."

Bloom also was one of the forces behind the founding of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. Reggie Broddie, the chief professional officer of the clubs, said Bloom was a force and a spirit that will be sorely missed. He recalled Bloom would make sure that the most needy children would always have a seat at the best tables at the Boys and Girls Clubs' annual dinners and other affairs. "That was really very special because it made those kids feel so special at our biggest events of the year," Broddie recalled. Broddie said Bloom also would keep up his spirits and help him stay the course. "When I questioned whether we were doing enough, wishing we could do more, he would tell me to keep going, one day at a time, and someday that day would come," Broddie recalled.

Anne Arundel's success has attracted attention from throughout the nation, with more than 400 social service workers making the pilgrimage to the quaint streets of Annapolis in the last 18 months to see what is so special. Right up until his retirement in 2004, his dedication to the homeless and poor never wavered. Former county executive Janet S. Owens, who was to speak at a service for Bloom this morning, said one of the saddest days of her administration was when he told her he had to retire. "He was truly one of the unsung heroes of Anne Arundel County," Owens said. "He was such a quiet man. He had a particular passion about serving the needy. Unless you knew Ed, on first blush you would not be aware of that. A department award is now named for him.

Family
He was preceded in death by his parents Geraldine Gronski and Emanuel Bloom; and one daughter, Caitlin Dunleavy Bloom. Bloom is survived by his wife of 33 years, Jennie Dunleavy Bloom; three daughters, Lauren Dunleavy Bloom and Cassie Dunleavy Bloom both of Annapolis, and Dai Polcari of Pa.; two sons, John Edward Bloom and Colin Marten Bloom, both of Rockville; one sister, Sara Granzotti of Fla..; one brother, Richard Bloom of Va.; and four grandchildren Carissa Jayne Bloom, Christina Polcari, Jason Alexander Trevor Bloom, and Jeannine Polcari.

Death
Bloom died Monday, September 29th following a long illness. He was 73. He succumbed after a four-year fight with Lewy body disease, a form of dementia complicated by physical symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease.

A memorial service was held 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Blue Heron Pavilion at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, 1211 South Villa Ave., Annapolis, 21401.