Montgomery County Community Action Agency 1401 Rockville Pike, 3rd Fl Rockville, MD 20852 240-777-1697 (main)
Head Start Registration Open for 2021 – 2022 school year
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) continues to register three-year-old and four-year-old children for Pre-kindergarten/Head Start for the 2021-2022 school year. The registration process is online and no in-person contact is required. Parents can begin their registration online by completing a survey or call 240-740-4530. Informational videos to help parents navigate the registration process remotely are available in English, Spanish, and Amharic.
TESS Invites Seniors to Register for 'My Groceries to Go!'
Montgomery County Seniors living in the Takoma Park/East Silver Spring area are invited to register for "My Groceries to Go!" program of the Maryland Food Bank. Participants pick up a food box once a month from the Takoma-East Silver Spring (TESS) Community Action Center, 8513 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring, MD 20901. The grocery boxes contain dried and canned staple foods and are distributed on the second Thursday of each month. Please call 240-773-8260 to register.
Community Action Partner Spotlight: Food Access Programs
Community Action is an active partner in the Montgomery County Food Council’s strategic plan to work towards food security for all county residents. CAA monitors Montgomery County funding to several nonprofits that distribute food to county families, including contracts with: Manna Food Center, Women Who Care Ministries, Kids In Need Distributors, the Caribbean Help Center, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, and Community Health and Empowerment through Education & Research. At the end of Fiscal Year 2021, these partners reported the following data on the number of people or households served and the pounds of food distributed or, from KIND, the number of gift cards for purchasing food.
The Caribbean Help Center is located in Silver Spring and serves French Creole and French-speaking county residents. In FY2021, the center distributed 12,393 pounds of culturally appropriate staple foods to 459 households.
The Catholic Charities site in Wheaton turned to distributing food outdoors in FY2021, providing 1,390 households with 22,910 pounds of food.
Community Health and Empowerment through Education & Research, better known as CHEER, participates in a network of providers distributing food at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School. In FY2021, 820 households of up to eleven people each received 227,815 pounds of food. The site serves families in nearby Zip codes in eastern Montgomery County.
Manna Food Center served 11,502 households across the county at multiple pick-up sites. An approximate total of 2,321,874 pounds of food was distributed. Families receiving boxes from Manna receive an average of 48.25 pounds of food each month.
As part of the MCPS Weekend Backpack Coalition, Community Action partners Manna Food Center, Women Who Care Ministries, and Kids In Need Distributors are weekend food providers for students enrolled in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). During the Covid-19 pandemic, coalition members moved their meeting schedule from quarterly to monthly to address updates and issues in serving MCPS students.
In FY2021, Manna Food Center’s Smart Sacks program served 5,724 children with 939,080 pounds of food across 33 schools, one spring break child care hub, and one summer camp.
Women Who Care Ministries’ Helping Kids Eat Weekend Meal Program served 332,558 children/households with 1,829,084 pounds of food. WWCM served students at seven elementary schools, five middle schools, twelve high schools, seven day care or apartment building sites, and two other community service sites.
Kids In Need Distributors (KIND) provided for 2,455 students at 27 MCPS sites--twenty elementary schools, six middle schools, and one learning center. In FY2020, when bulk grocery buying was limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic, KIND pivoted to providing grocery store gift cards for families to buy food, a practice which continued through FY2021. Gift cards are valued at $20 during the school year and $10 during the summer, per student.
In FY2022, Community Action continues to partner with these agencies to enhance food security among Montgomery County families.
Resources:
Montgomery County Ride On buses continue free rides through January 2022.
Covid-19 Rent Relief, Phase 3
Covid-19 Economic Impact Payment and American Rescue Plan Act information
CFPB Your Money, Your Goals
CFPB Financial Education Tools in Multiple Languages
Montgomery County COVID-19 information website
Montgomery County COVID-19 Vaccine Site
Montgomery County COVID-19 hotline in English: 240-777-1755, and in Spanish: 301-270-8432
Asian American Health Initiative's COVID-19 Resource Guide
Latino Health Initiative Covid-19 Information
African American Health Program Covid-19 Resources
Food assistance information during the emergency
Montgomery County Public Schools Meals Distribution Sites
Information from Protecting Immigrant Families about immigrant eligibility for public programs.
Unemployment Insurance
Office of Home Energy Programs – Utilities assistance
WSSC water & sewer bill assistance in English and Spanish. Call Center Advisors: 301-206-4001.
Family violence prevention
Diaper distribution
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