 On September 24th, Community Action Board Vice Chair Timothy Robinson joined Executive Director Shantá Johnson at a special event celebrating the County’s recent investments in Early Childhood Education (ECE), including Head Start. The event, which took place at Academy Child Development Center at Stonemill Elementary School in North Potomac, included remarks from County Executive Marc Elrich, County Council President Kate Stewart, Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor, DHHS Director Dr. James Bridgers, and DHHS Early Childhood Services Senior Administrator Jennifer Arnaiz.
Gloria Musiimenta, Chair of the Head Start Parents Policy Council, shared remarks about the tremendous impact of Head Start and the importance of having a birth to five program, which the new Head Start grant includes. Ms. Musiimenta is pictured above (photo credit).
 Pictured above, left to right: Antonio Hernandez, President of the Latino Child Care Association; Gloria Musiimenta; County Executive Marc Elrich; Community Action Board Vice Chair Timothy Robinson; County Council President Kate Stewart; Dr. James Bridgers; and Jennifer Arnaiz.
Learn more about the County’s ECE initiatives. The event was featured in local news outlets, including Bethesda Today and MyMCMedia.
Volunteer with the Community Action Agency’s VITA Program
 The Community Action Agency’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is recruiting volunteers for the upcoming tax season (mid-January through mid-April). Volunteers serve in numerous roles, including IRS-certified tax preparers, appointment schedulers, greeters, interpreters, and quality reviewers. All VITA volunteers receive free training. The minimum time commitment required for volunteers is four hours per week throughout the 12-week tax season. Volunteers are needed at our Rockville, Silver Spring, Gaithersburg, and Wheaton sites.
Volunteering with VITA is a great way to give back to your community and ensure that taxpayers in low- to moderate-income households receive the tax credits they have earned. If you are interested in volunteering with VITA, please complete this registration form. Orientation sessions for volunteers will be online on November 12th at 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
 The Pre-kindergarten and Head Start Programs are requesting donations of new coats for students in need. Hats, gloves and boots for young children are also welcome. Donations for boys’ and girls’ coats in sizes 4, 5, and 6 are most needed. Suggested items may be found on the Head Start/Pre-K Amazon wish list.
Items can be dropped off at Rocking Horse Road Center, 4910 Macon Road, Room 141, Rockville, Md., 20852. You may drop off items in person from 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday, or you can order online and have items delivered directly to Rocking Horse Road Center.
For questions, contact Lisa Conlon at Lisa_W_Conlon@mcpsmd.org or 240-550-2615.
Registration continues for Prekindergarten/Head Start in the 2025 - 2026 school year for children who will be four (4) years old on or before September 1, 2025, in low-income families who qualify. Free pre-kindergarten and Head Start programs are held in Montgomery County Public Schools.
Go to www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org and search “Head Start” for more details.
Fliers direct families to one link if they are new to MCPS, and another if they already have a child attending MCPS. Fliers in English, Spanish, French, Amharic, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Vietnamese are posted on: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/OCA/CommunityAction/HeadStart.html.
Applications are accepted:
- Online via www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org
- In-person at Rocking Horse Road Center, 4910 Macon Road, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
The office phone number is 240-740-4530. List of the documents needed to complete a Head Start application.
Do you have questions about Head Start? Check out the Common Questions.
  Community Action’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program offers free tax help through October 29, 2025 for prior year, amended, and current year state and federal returns. Appointments for County residents with household incomes of $67,000 or less are available in-person on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 1401 Rockville Pike, Suite 320, from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Virtual appointments are available on Thursdays from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
There are a few appointments still available! Appointment scheduling is available online or by calling 240-777-1123. Please check the CASHBACK website for more information, including a list of documents needed for appointments.
 The Community Action team was excited to welcome Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr, Chair of the Montgomery County House Delegation, to the Takoma-East Silver Spring (TESS) Community Action Center on September 16th. Joined by Angela Martin, Executive Director of the Maryland Community Action Partnership (MCAP), and Timothy Robinson, Vice Chair of the Community Action Board (CAB), the visit included a tour of the Center. Staff members also highlighted services offered at TESS, the Whole Family/2-Gen model utilized by TESS and our Navigation Team, and all of our agency’s programs.
Pictured above, left to right: Monica Goldberg, Program Manager for the Navigation unit; Maureen Larenas, TESS Manager; Angela Martin, MCAP; Timothy Robinson, CAB; Shantá Johnson, Community Action Agency Executive Director; and Del. Julie Palakovich Carr, Maryland House of Delegates.
Effective July 1, 2025, the Women Who Care Ministries (WWCM) food distribution program came to an end. Under the leadership of Ms. Judith Clark (pictured at left) and the WWCM Board of Directors, Women Who Care Ministries has been a steadfast partner in Montgomery County for 24 years, providing non-perishable food items totaling over a million meals for underserved children and families. WWCM started the Helping Kids Eat Backpack Weekend Meal Program, providing healthy weekend bags in 38 Montgomery County Public Schools and reaching approximately 2,613 students annually. In the County’s Fiscal Year 2024 the program evolved into the Helping Kids & Families Eat Meal Program.
These award-winning programs have played a vital role in addressing food insecurity in the County. With a commitment to ‘no child in our community going to bed hungry’, the agency brings passion and enthusiasm to the services they provide. Working with community, WWCM continues to respond to the evolving community needs through holistic, sustainable services towards their ongoing mission to uplift and empower the children and families of our County.
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Board Visits Catholic Charities in Wheaton
 On September 25th, Board members and staff visited Catholic Charities in Wheaton. At this location, the Montgomery County Family Center provides short-term case management, crisis intervention, and referrals for essential services, such as assistance with utilities, rent or mortgage, and food. On-site case managers help families in need prevent displacement and homelessness, and connect families to longer term crisis recovery services, including employment case management and parenting workshops. Families are also referred, as needed, to adjacent on-site services such as dental services and immigration legal assistance. Montgomery County funding monitored by the Community Action Agency supports, in part, four Montgomery County Family Center case manager positions and two on-site Lighthouse service navigators for newcomers.
Those present for the visit in Wheaton included, above from left to right: Community Action Board member Erika Conner; Community Action Board Vice Chair Timothy Robinson; Will Kenlaw, Board member; Leah Goldfine, staff liaison to the Board; Claudia Simmons, Board Secretary; Shantá Johnson, Community Action Agency Executive Director; Ashley Uribe, Catholic Charities Program Manager; Nathalia Magri, Deputy Director of Catholic Charities Newcomers Program; and Mary Bridget Klinkenbergh, Director of Catholic Charities Newcomers Program.
 The Community Action Agency was saddened to learn that Kim Broidy, a 2019 Community Advocacy Institute (CAI) graduate, passed away last month. Kim was a longtime Silver Spring resident and a strong advocate for her community. She was an active participant in the CAI and helped promote the program to other residents over the years. The Community Action Board extends its deepest condolences to Kim’s family.
From CAI participant Freida Williams:
With deepest sympathy we share the untimely passing of Ms. Renita K. Broidy, 2019 CAI Graduate, affectionately known as “Kim.” She lived in Montgomery County more than 25 years and loved the Silver Spring community. Kim inspired several people to participate in the CAI over the years and she was a longtime community advocate. She had a passion for equality in education, a vibrant voice for social support of disenfranchised individuals and often showed compassion to the homeless. She genuinely loved people, enjoyed seafood, and frequently shared laughter to uplift those around her. Kim will be remembered for her bright personality and determination to represent social equality through advocacy. The family would like to express gratitude to the Community Action Agency for their kind condolences.
 From August 26 - 29, Community Action Board Chair DaVida Rowley, Community Action Agency (CAA) Executive Director Shantá Johnson, and CAA Program Specialist Melissa Ferguson (above left to right) participated in the National Community Action Partnership conference in Detroit. Highlights included federal legislation updates from National Community Action Foundation Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder David Bradley, connecting with peers from Hawaii to Puerto Rico, and attending a local celebration of grantees working with Wayne Metro Community Action Agency and including speeches by Dearborn, Michigan Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib.
 On September 17, several Community Action Agency (CAA) staff members gave back to the community at the Clarksburg Closet. Representatives from the Navigation, TESS, and Contracts & Grants teams donated clothes, sorted and hung clothing by size and type, and fulfilled requests for clothing packages for adults and children in need.
Pictured clockwise, starting in back on the left, are: Gabriela Salazar, Trica Young, Rodolfo Nogales, Melissa Ferguson, Aizat Oladapo, Monica Goldberg, Paola Lopez, and Diana Preston.
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