The economy is hurting so many in Montgomery County, Maryland’s multicultural neighborhoods. In response, a collaboration of nonprofits, government agencies, and grassroots leaders are linking residents to services – and to each other – in an unprecedented way. The campaign’s objectives are to:

1. Ensure that emergency services are reaching those who need it most.
2. Leverage other community resources to sustain long-term recovery for those in crisis.
3. Create new, sustainable networks of mutual support in targeted neighborhoods.
4. Increase the number of people embarking or staying on a path toward secure employment and greater economic empowerment.

Read our report on the Spring 2009 pilot of the Neighbors Campaign!

Here’s what’s going on:

Neighbor Corps
Composed of neighborhood leaders, government field workers, and community partners, these teams are the campaign’s coordinating force in three target neighborhoods across the county.

Door-Knocking
Waves of resident volunteers are being trained to knock on doors, meet their neighbors, hear their stories, give them information about available services, and refer them to new Neighborhood Service Centers in each target neighborhood.

Community Connectors
When residents come to the Service Centers, they are greeted and supported by Community Connectors, culturally-competent residents trained in the emergency service application process to help their neighbors get the services they need.

Neighbors Exchange
These participatory sessions are organized for large groups of residents to meet resource providers from the community to address real-time issues in health care, housing, finances, and jobs.

Neighbor Circles
Small groups of neighbors are creating new networks of mutual support by meeting in their homes on a regular basis, building relationships, and identifying specific ways to help one another (sharing child care responsibilities, carpooling, etc).

Take a look at our campaign diagram to see how all of this fits together!

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Campaign Timeline
Neighbors Campaign partners completed a four-month pilot phase in June 2009: 50 diverse door-knockers reached out to 2,000 residents, 12 Community Connectors (representing 10 countries and speaking 6 languages) were trained to staff two new Neighborhood Service Centers, 150 residents attended four Neighbors Exchange sessions, and 40 residents took part in three Neighbor Circles. In October, the new Long Branch service center was opened.

Through June 2010, the Campaign will facilitate 10,000 additional door-knocks.

We anticipate that the campaign will facilitate:

• Dissemination of information about available services to at least 12,000 households
• A better understanding of the emergency needs in our county by zip code and neighborhood
• 1,250 Emergency Triage Sessions
• 12 Neighbors Exchange sessions
• 12 Neighbor Circles
• 400 concrete self-help steps to improve families
• New, long-term connections between resource providers and residents
• A substantial increase in the number of people who feel greater comfort using available services
• Creation of new and diverse networks of residents in all target neighborhoods

Balancing Short-Term Needs with Long-Term Empowerment
Starting in the fall of 2009, IMPACT Silver Spring will be working on long-term economic empowerment as a second step beyond the direct campaign efforts, addressing financial fitness, asset development, and workforce skills in education. More information is forthcoming; contact Megan Moriarty to discuss: megan @ impactsilverspring.org / 240-247-0285