In times of crisis, The Community Foundation is our region’s philanthropic first responder. I first witnessed this when The Community Foundation’s donors came together 12 years ago to launch the Neighbors in Need Montgomery Fund. In response to the 2008 economic crisis, that effort galvanized support for a coordinated response to reach people who would otherwise have fallen through the cracks. By working together, donors could pool their resources to invest in trusted nonprofits addressing urgent needs in a smart, strategic way that maximized their collective impact. (The effort was so innovative, it was highlighted as best practice in a Brookings study about the suburbanization of poverty.)
When our Neighbors in Need Montgomery steering committee convened this spring to discuss the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, we realized there was a need to reboot that collaborative approach. We quickly launched the Neighbors in DIRE Need campaign and are partnering with four nonprofits which have strong track records of providing relief to people in dire need: Family Services, Identity, Inc., IMPACT Silver Spring, and Interfaith Works. This effort is working in complement to Montgomery County’s relief programs by helping organizations coordinate, prevent the duplication of resources, and maximize the impact of every dollar to reach deeply into the community.
To propel this work even further, The Community Foundation’s past Montgomery County Philanthropists of the Year honorees and their families teamed up to offer a challenge match to double the impact of contributions (up to $340,000). Each contribution will be matched $1 for $1 to generate $680,000 in funds to support our neighbors impacted by the public health and economic crisis. (Click here to read a message from the philanthropists about what compelled them to put up this match!)
Thanks to many generous donations received in support of this initiative, we’ve been able to release the first round of relief grants which our nonprofit partners redeployed directly to help families in need. We’ve been so deeply touched to hear those grants have made a difference:
Martha and her husband both contracted COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic and lost their jobs. With an emergency relief grant from Neighbors in Need Montgomery, they had the breathing room and peace of mind of one month’s rent paid for themselves and their three kids. Now Martha is paying that kindness forward as a volunteer community outreach worker by partnering with Identity and the Manna Food Center to bring food and resources to even more neighbors who are struggling in isolation.
Daysi is a mother of two from Gaithersburg who lost all her house cleaning jobs once stay at home orders began. With a grant from Neighbors in Need Montgomery supporting her rent, Daysi has been able to focus her energy on building mutual support networks within her community. She organized mothers in her apartment complex to take turns grocery shopping for each other to decrease exposure to COVID-19 while ensuring families have the food staples they need. Daysi also uses her own vehicle to pick up 70+ hot meals from Gethsemane Church in Ashton every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for neighbors struggling with food insecurity.
Even while celebrating the impact thus far, I realize that we just passed another first of the month rent deadline, leaving thousands more families wondering how they are going to survive.
Please give now to help us unlock additional matching funds that will help families in dire need to weather this crisis.