Office Of Community Partnerships Newsletter, January 2009, Issue 11
| |  Office Of Community Partnerships Newsletter, January 2009, Issue 11 | | | | | | | Yes Montgomery Can!
County Executive Ike Leggett and the Montgomery County Office of Community Partnerships, working in collaboration with the Montgomery Community Foundation, Manna Food Center, Jewish Community Relations Council, Impact Silver Spring and other community organizations, invite you to participate in the "Yes Montgomery Can! " campaign over the historic weekend of January 16-20. This is our chance to answer President-Elect Obama's call for a new spirit of service and sacrifice right here at home. You can make a difference. Yes, you can!
This campaign is your opportunity to help meet the challenges that we face as a community in these difficult economic times. We need to mobilize 1,000 volunteers to knock on 50,000 doors January 17-18 and 2,500 volunteers to work on community service projects on the January 19th Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service.
We hope to raise $100,000 to meet a generous challenge grant to the Montgomery County Community Foundation to help those in need and to collect food to refill the shelves at the Manna Food Center.
Our highest priority right now is to recruit volunteers to go door-to-door on the weekend of Saturday January 17 and Sunday January 18 to spread the word about our campaign to help our neighbors in need. Please sign up now to volunteer at volunteer@yesmontgomerycan.org.
For a full listing of ways to participate, please go to www.yesmontgomerycan.org. The phone number for volunteer registration is 301-348-7367.
Please distribute this email to others you believe will want to join our campaign. Thanks, Bruce Adams Director, Office of Community Partnerships | |  Leggett To Sponsor Five Budget Forums | Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett will sponsor five budget forums in January to seek input from residents about the challenges facing the County in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2010 Operating Budget. These sessions are hosted by the Regional Services Center Directors and the Regional Services Center Citizen Advisory Boards and are open to residents from any part of the County. Public Encouraged to Attend and Provide Input on the Upcoming Challenges Decision Makers Will Face.
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm Monday, January 12, 2009
Upcounty Regional Services Center
12900 Middlebrook Road, Meeting Room A, Germantown
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Wheaton High School
12601 Dalewood Drive, Silver Spring
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Long Branch Community Center
8700 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center
4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Eastern Montgomery County Regional Services Center
3300 Briggs Chaney Road, Silver Spring | | Regional Faith Community Meetings | | Rev. Timothy B. Warner African American and Faith Communities Liaison, Office of Community Partnerships On December 16th, 2008, more than 200 faith community, non-profit and government leaders gathered to talk about what how faith communities and government could better collaborate to help our neighbors in need in Montgomery County ( http://tinyurl.com/9drato). This meeting cast fresh vision, built productive relationships and spawned some new and exciting ideas. As a follow-up to this, regional meetings among faith leaders have been scheduled where region-specific dialogue can continue, issues with governmental interactions can be voiced and heard, and more specific ideas about how faith communities and government can better collaborate can be shared and formulated. It is hoped that by having these meetings at our County's Regional Services Centers, we can introduce them to the faith communities as valuable resources in the communities where they serve. Please call Rev. Timothy B. Warner, Community Liaison for the African American and Faith Communities at 270-777-2503 for further information. Registration information for these meetings is as follows: Pre-register at: www.montgomerycountymd.gov (scroll down). Regional Faith Community Meetings
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm UP-COUNTY: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 12900 Middlebrook Road, Germantown, MD 20874 for the following zip codes (20837, 20838, 20839, 20841, 20842, 20854 (northern part), 20871, 20872, 20874, 20876, 20877, 20878, 20879, 20882, 20886, 21771, 21797). Call 240-777-8000 MID-COUNTY: Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 2424 Reedie Drive, Wheaton, MD 20902 for the following zip codes (20832, 20833, 20853, 20855, 20882 (east), 20895, 20901 (west), 20902, 20906). Call 240-777-81000 EAST COUNTY: Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 3300 Briggs Chaney Road, Silver Spring, MD 20904 for the following zip codes (20860 (easternmost part), 20861, 20866, 20868, 20901 (east), 20904, 20905, 20707). Call 240-777-8400
BETHESDA-CHEVY CHASE: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 4805 Edgemooor lane, Bethesda, MD 20814 for the following zip codes (20812, 20814, 20815, 20816, 20817, 20818, 20850, 20851, 20852, 20854). Call 240-777-8200 SILVER SPRING: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 8435 George Avenue, Silver Spring, Md 20910 for the following zip codes (20901, 20903, 20910, 20912). Call 301-565-7300 | | County Executive Visits the American Chinese School | | Lily Qi Asian & Middle Eastern Americans Liaison, Office of Community Partnerships 
County Executive Ike Leggett and Asian/Middle Eastern Community Liaison Lily Qi visited the American Chinese School in Rockville on Saturday, December 20 at the School's 2008 year-end celebration. Mr. Leggett congratulated the American Chinese School for its tremendous success, growing from 80 students to over 400 for the past four years, and encouraged the teachers and students to continue promoting cross-cultural learning. The School offers youth and adult classes in English and Chinese in response to the growing demand for language and cultural education. | | Centro Familia Celebrates a Year of Accomplishments Family Style | | Karla Silvestre Latin American Liaison, Office of Community Partnerships Centro Familia held its end of the year celebration on Saturday December 13, 2008 with a standing room only crowd of parents, children, board members and supporters at the First Baptist Church of Wheaton's hall. The evening event featured awards for graduates of its Child Development Associate program in addition to a family style dinner and a piñata for the children. Centro Familia's mission is to provide caring, high quality, free education and related services to at-risk children and families in their own neighborhoods to empower them for success in school and life.  This non-profit founded in 1998 has built a reputation for training and developing leaders among Spanish speaking child care providers, providing bilingual and bicultural child care services, and advocating for the needs of all children in the County and regionally. In a county where the use of informal/unregulated child care among Latino families is rampant, this agency provides critical culturally and linguistically appropriate educational services to Latino families to help them thrive in our community. For more information on Centro Familia, visit their website at http://www.centro-familia.org/index/home.htm
| | VISTA Spotlight | Anna Anderson
AmeriCorps VISTA
Sponsor Agency: CASA de Maryland, Inc.
Written by Volunteer Maryland
"If you look too much into the weakness of an individual," says Anna Anderson, "you will never see their strengths."
Anna, a Volunteer Maryland VISTA member serving at CASA de Maryland, learned this lesson at the Gudelsky Swim Program in Rockville, Maryland. As a high school student, Anna volunteered as a swim instructor to children and adults with physical and mental challenges. For over a year, she worked regularly with a 12 year-old boy with severe autism - a boy whose eyes lit up when the lifeguard said "jump in." Anna saw the strength in him; he was a capable individual who gained confidence in the fluidity of the pool.
Anna continues to see the strengths in people as she works to integrate Maryland immigrants as a Citizenship Coordinator with CASA de Maryland. After graduating from college in May 2008, Anna knew she wanted to help the Latino community living in the United States. She struggled to decide if she wanted to help people directly or on the policy level, or work in the nonprofit sector or the federal government. Then, one day before the application deadline, Anna saw an advertisement for a "VISTA New Americans Initiative Coordinator" with CASA de Maryland. She sent in her resume and received an interview request just two hours later.
Now five months into her term of service, Anna says that she has found the perfect fit in VISTA. "I have voluntarily put myself at five percent above the poverty line to serve the Latino community in Maryland, and I couldn't be happier. I was very passionate about the issues I am working on prior to becoming a VISTA, but I have learned to become a spokesperson for my community." Anna's service is enabling legal permanent residents to become naturalized citizens, which makes it possible for them to become more active community members, contributing to Maryland's economy and enriching the lives of families and communities throughout the state.
From the Gudelsky Swim Program to CASA de Maryland, Anna's passion for serving others is clear. As a VISTA, Anna has coordinated a Citizenship Fair for over 70 applicants, registered more than 40 individuals for citizenship classes, drafted a workbook and teacher's guide for citizenship classes, and proven invaluable in the overall program development of the New Americans Initiative.
When her VISTA term is complete, Anna hopes to find an opportunity in the federal government. From there, she would like to attend law school. Wherever her path leads, it is certain that Anna will continue to make a positive difference in her community. "After VISTA," says Anna, "I know I will continue speaking passionately about my community." | | Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick Area Named Healthiest in United States for Women | "Self" magazine has named the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick corridor at the top of its 2009 list of America's Best Places for Women, ranking above San Francisco, Honolulu, Nassau-Suffolk Counties (NY) and Cambridge, MA that rounded out this year's top five.
Factors helping the area to the top spot were one of the nation's lowest rates of smoking, obesity, cancer, depression and heart disease, as well as 34,000 acres of parks and 100 miles of trails. Another contributing factor was the area's smart transportation planning, including Metrorail, that allows women to "live, play and work without a car."
Bethesda was also noted for its farmers markets, with locally-grown produce and its many restaurants, a great number of which meet the local demand for healthy meals.
The annual survey began nine years ago as a "tool to help [the magazine's] readers become more active in their communities." It also publicly recognizes cities throughout the country that have made strides to help women live a healthy lifestyle.
Responding to the survey, Judith Vaughan-Prather, executive director of the Montgomery County Commission for Women, said, "The number of women in lead positions in county government, the sensitivity of the leadership to the concerns of women and the emphasis on quality of services, along with cooperation with the private sector, all add up to livable, healthy and safe communities. This very favorable rating by the "Self" magazine survey validates all that is being done by all sectors to provide local communities conducive to healthy lifestyles."
On the other side of the coin, the survey also noted that the area has one of the longest average daily commute times - just over 70 minutes per round trip.
In another part of the survey that ranked the Happiest (least stressed) areas, Bethesda was listed as the area with the lowest unemployment, giving it runner-up status in the category to Cambridge, MA. These and other results from the 2009 survey are in the December issue.
Now in its 29th year, "Self" magazine, a Condé Nast publication, is described as "a blueprint for the woman who wants to stay informed, get inspired, grow and achieve her personal goals." | | No One Is Too Poor to Give | | Michael Josephson, Josephson Institute
When Teresa, a widow with four young children, saw a notice from her church for all members to gather to deliver presents and food to a needy family, she took $10 out of her savings jar and bought the ingredients to make three dozen cookies. She got to the church parking lot just in time to join the convoy going to the home that was to receive the congregation's help.
The route was familiar, and she was stunned when the cars pulled up in front of her house. When the pastor saw her, he said, "We never expected you to join us, Teresa. We know it's been a great struggle since your husband died, and we all wanted to support you."
Although she was uncomfortable being the object of charity, Teresa didn't want to embarrass anyone so she cheerfully said, "Well, at least I can share these cookies with our friends."
This parable teaches us that no one is too poor to help others and that true charity is rooted in love and compassion. Poverty of spirit is worse than economic distress. Teresa's story reminds us that very few of us give as much as we could and should.
My friend Larry Rosen, president of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, introduced me to the concept of "sacrificial giving" - giving in abundance to a point where one must sacrifice something that is desired.
You can start out easy. Take whatever amount you were thinking of giving to charity, then double it. If that's too much, increase it by 50 percent instead. The idea is to stretch yourself. It will mean a lot to those you help, but it will mean as much to your heart.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
| | Advisory Groups | | County Executive's Ethnic Advisory Groups In the summer of 2008, County Executive Ike Leggett established six ethnic advisory groups: African American, African, Asian, Caribbean, Latino and Middle Eastern to advise him on issues concerning these growing communities. Made of active community members and leaders from these communities, the advisory groups are in a unique position to bring together the diverse ethnicities, languages, religions and national origins to tackle the common challenges facing these new communities in the County.
An important charge to these advisory groups is to ensure that the County government implements the recommendations from the Leadership Summits held in the fall of 2007 hosted by County Executive Ike Leggett. At its December 9, 2008 meeting, the County Executive's Multicultural Leadership Council -- which includes representatives of all six of the ethnic advisory groups -- approved seven priority issues: (1) Improved Data; (2) Preservation of Ethnic Serving Nonprofits; (3) Support of Ethnic Owned Small Businesses; (4) Recertifying & Retraining Underemployed; (5) Improving the County Government's Cultural Competence; (6) Diversification of Boards, Committees, and Commissions; and (7) Positive Youth Development. The Office of Community Partnerships staff is scheduling meetings in February for the representatives of the ethnic advisory groups with top County staff on each of these seven priority issues.
The Multicultural Leadership Council will meet with the County Executive to discuss budget priorities on Tuesday February 24. The County Charter requires the County Executive to submit the annual operating budget to the Council by March 15. In November, County Executive Ike Leggett met with each of the six Advisory Groups to discuss priorities for the difficult Fiscal Year 2010 Budget. | | Office of Community Partnerships Calendar | | Community Outreach Forum: Third Wednesday of every month at Executive Office Building Auditorium. Contact Karla Silvestre for more information: karla.silvestre@montgomerycountymd.gov
Committee for Ethnic Affairs: First Thursday of every month at 7 pm except July and August. October 2009 meeting will be a retreat on Saturday, October 10th from 9 am to 1 pm. Contact Lisa Austin for additional information: lisa.austin@montgomerycountymd.gov
DownCounty Latino Network, 2nd Wednesday of every month at 3300 Briggs Chaney Rd, Silver Spring, MD20904. Contact Karla Silvestre for more information at: karla.silvestre@montgomerycountymd.gov UpCounty Latino Network, 4th Wednesday of every month at Casey Community Center, 810 S. Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg, MD20877. Contact Karla Silvestre for more information at: | | Event | | Montgomery County Plans Major Expansion of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Events
Montgomery County is gearing up for a day of service and celebration to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 19, 2009. The Day of Service activities will be expanded this year to include three new satellite sites in Germantown, Silver Spring and East County in addition to the annual program held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. The annual musical tribute to Dr. King will again be held at the Music Center at Strathmore beginning at 4 pm. The Montgomery County Volunteer Center is organizing indoor volunteer projects along with a canned food drive for Manna Food Center. The volunteer projects are all approved for Student Service Learning credits. Online pre-registration is requested for all four indoor satellite sites by going to www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mlk. For more information call 240-777-2600.
More Detail About Volunteer Center coordinated MLK Events:
- Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
Activities include making Valentine's Day cards for the Orphans Foundation, decorating bookmarks and cards for children with cancer and other terminal illnesses, packing snow day baskets for county-wide Meals on Wheels programs, learning how to register as a bone marrow donor and attending sessions by the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County. Additionally, this year will feature a volunteer fair for anyone wishing to learn more about ongoing volunteer opportunities in Montgomery County. Call 240-777-2600. - Eastern Montgomery Regional Services Center
3300 Briggs Chaney Road, Silver Spring, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm. Projects and activities include making cards for seniors, visiting nursing homes, financial planning advice, computer internet instruction for seniors, blood pressure screenings, learning about the citizenship process, and hearing a storyteller share about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Call 240-777-8400. The Gap Buster Learning Center site is hosting this event, 8661Colesville Rd., Silver Spring, 11:00 am. to 3:00 pm. Activities include arts and crafts projects, a health expo, watching and discussing a movie about civil rights and Dr. King, and pledging 40 days of non-violence. Call 301-588-5500. - Germantown Community Center
18905 Kingsview Road, Germantown, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.
This event is hosted by the NAACP Youth Leadership Council and will be a fun-filled day of service activities, workshops, videos and discussion, and community outreach. Call 240-777-2600. - Musical Celebration - 4:00 to 6:00 pm.
The musical celebration and tribute to Dr. King will take place at the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. This year's theme is "Truth, Justice and Equality." WUSA TV 9 Anchorwoman J.C. Hayward will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies. The world-renowned Howard University Choir is scheduled to perform. The annual celebration is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. All tickets have been distributed, but those wishing to attend who were unable to obtain a ticket, should arrive by 3:30 pm. The doors will open to non-ticket holders at approximately 3:45 pm until all seats are filled. For more information about this event call the Offices of the County Executive at 240-777-2500, or visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mlk. WOMEN'S LEGISLATIVE BRIEFING You are invited to attend the 29th annual Women's Legislative Briefing on January 29, 2009, save the date! A distinguished group of experts will discuss important legislative initiatives affecting women and families. For more information go to: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/wlb/index.asp. LITTLE BENNETT CAMPGROUND OPEN FOR RV CAMPERS DURING INAUGURATION WEEK If you and your RV are headed this way for the Presidential Inauguration and need a place to stay, come on out to Little Bennett Campground. To help accommodate the millions of people coming to the metro area for this event, Little Bennett Campground will be open Friday, January 16 through Thursday, January 22, 2009. The campground is approximately 45 minutes to an hour away from downtown DC Electric sites (for self-contained camping units) will be available for only $31 per night (3-night minimum required). Tent sites will not be open. Call us today at 301-972-9222 to reserve your spot!
SIGN UP FOR ELECTRONIC HOLIDAY COLLECTION REMINDERS
With the holiday season approaching, Montgomery County residents who receive County-provided pickup of refuse or recycling materials are reminded that they can sign up to receive electronic reminders about holiday collection schedules.
Residents can join the Division of Solid Waste Services (DSWS) email notification list by visiting www.montgomerycountymd.gov/solidwaste.
Residents who have private contracts for trash collection, either individually or through their community/homeowners associations, should check with their collectors or associations about holiday schedules.
To determine if they have County-provided or private collection service, residents can call the DSWS Customer Service Line at 240-777-6410 or use the online Collection Day Lookup at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/solidwaste; click on "Collection Services."
US STATE DEPARTMENT'S NATIONAL SECURITY LANGUAGE INITIATIVE FOR YOUTH
U.S. State Department's National Security Language Initiative for Youth "provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students to learn less commonly taught languages in summer, semester, and academic-year overseas immersion programs. NSLI for Youth encourages beginning, intermediate, and advanced language learners with a passion for learning languages, communicating across cultures, and living abroad to apply" (see their web site: http://nsliforyouth.org/). The languages they offer are Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, and Turkish. The application deadline is Feb. 2, 2009. All the information is available on the web site. | | Announcements | WETA DTV AWARENESS CAMPAIGN Television is changing forever to a new format called digital television (DTV). DTV is already available, and after February 17, 2009, it will replace analog as the broadcast television standard in the United States. WETA wants to help you! We value your support and are here to help you during this transition; please contact WETA with any questions you have about DTV. Learn more by visiting weta.org/digital or calling WETA Audience Services at 703-998-2724 or 888-504-9382. Coupons are available from the federal government to help pay for digital-to-analog converters.Help your friends and family prepare for the upcoming Broadcast Digital Television Transition.Let them know that the DTV Transition is coming and they need to make plans now.You can find more information on the broadcast DTV transition by visiting www.dtvtransition.org, by calling 1-888-DTV-2009. 2010 CENSUS NEEDS YOU FOR OFFICE OPERATIONS AND FIELD WORK
The twenty-ten census operation is actively recruiting office support and filed staff NOW. To fill hundreds of positions in central and western Maryland. The jobs offer flexible hours, a good wage, and an opportunity to work near home. Full-time and Part-time positions are available. ALL JOBS ARE TEMPORARY. CALL NOW to start the application process. Call toll-free 1-866-861-twenty-ten. That's 1-866-861-2010. 2009 WALTER SONDHEIM JR. MARYLAND NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP PROGRAM The Walter Sondheim Jr. Maryland Nonprofit Leadership Program offers paid summer internship opportunities in the nonprofit sector to college juniors, seniors, and graduate students attending Maryland institutions. Participating interns work for ten weeks full-time from June 1st to August 7th while participating in bi-weekly seminars in nonprofit management. Each participating student receives a $3,000 stipend. Student Information & Application Procedures and Nonprofit Information & Application Procedures . The Shriver Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County coordinates the program in conjunction with Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations and the Office of the Governor. Funds for the program may be provided each year in the annual State budget and is subject to final approval from the MD General Assembly this spring. MONTGOMERY COALITION FOR ADULT ENGLISH LITERACY (MCAEL)
The Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy (MCAEL) is currently seeking community members to serve on its Board of Directors. MCAEL seeks a diverse membership of individuals committed to our mission of increasing the resources, quantity and quality of adult education--especially English language instruction-in MontgomeryCounty, while ensuring that the instruction is relevant to an optimal labor force and quality of life. More information on our work can be found at our website http://www.mcael.org/ and by contacting Rachel Glass, Executive Director at rglass@mcael.org or call 240-514-0172. COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES (CASA) OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SEEKS BOARD MEMBERS Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) seeks board members for their advisory board. CASA is a nonprofit organization that seeks to recruit, screen and supervise community volunteers to work as court appointed advocates for children in foster care. Contact Francha Davis at fdavis@casamontgomery.org, or 301-340-7458, ext. 204 for an application and more information about serving on their Board of Directors. MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNSELLING AND CAREER CENTER IN ROCKVILLEUse your skills, learn new ones, and help other women! Greatest need is for information and referral specialists, including those fluent in Spanish. Free parking & close to Rockville Metro. Visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/cfw or contact Lynn Barclay at 240-777-8328 or email to lynn.barclay@montgomerymd.gov. | | | | | | | | | Montgomery County Executive Office of Community Partnerships | 255 Rockville Pike | Suit 102 | Rockville | MD | 20850 |
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01-09-2009, 08:43 AM
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