The Office of Community Partnerships within the Community Engagement Cluster is seeking a full-time merit-based Community Outreach Manager (Language Access Manager) to work with a team under the supervision of the Director of the Office of Community Partnerships. Closing Date: June 6, 2022. Click here for detailed job description.

On April 30th, the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center celebrated its 2021 volunteers, who contributed 5400 hours to the Center last year! They provided instruction in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, led conversation clubs, helped students learn how to use word processing software and spreadsheets, assisted citizenship preparation teachers, and more. The Gilchrist Center is immensely grateful for the impact these volunteers have had on their students. Their contributions go a long way in advancing equity and access to opportunities in the County. The event also recognized the Center’s 20 years of operation. County Executive Marc Elrich, County Council Vice President Evan Glass, and Senior Legislative Aide Mayra Bayonet from County Council President Gabe Albornoz’ office were on hand to celebrate.

Spring sessions of online English and computer classes have begun. Applications have closed for this session, but stay tuned for announcements regarding summer and fall classes. No registration is necessary for drop-in English Conversation classes. Click here for more information. Montgomery College, Senior Planet, and the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APARL) have resumed programs at the Gilchrist Center!

Montgomery County has named eight individuals and organizations as recipients of the 2022 Montgomery Serves Awards, the County's highest honor for volunteerism.

The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Wednesday evening, June 15 at the Silver Spring Civic Building. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To register, please click here.

The honorees are:

Learn more about the honorees here.

Be a volunteer at the event! Help with hospitality, registration, ushering, staging and more! Contact serviceawards@montgomerycountymd.gov for details.

The Montgomery County Maryland Bar Foundation Pro Bono Program Legal Clinic is based on a free walk-in/no appointment model. Clients request brief and limited guidance about a specific legal issue and attorneys provide information and basic legal advice without any expectation of long-term representation. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the in-person evening legal clinics continue to be postponed indefinitely. For further information on how to apply and eligibility for a FREE one-on-one telephone consultation please see flyer.

Rita Rosenkrantz Family Law Training Program provides FREE LEGAL TRAINING to attorneys who agree to take a pro bono case. To learn more about the basics of family law training and how to access the webinar, please visit the Bar Foundation CLE page of the BAMC website at www.barmont.org. For additional information, please contact Yesenia at 301.340.2534 or Yesenia@BarFoundationMC.org.

Special Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJ) information is available in English and Spanish.

The Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC) will be holding in-person appointments for those seeking assistance with applying for Citizenship and Naturalization at the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center at the Gaithersburg Library, 18330 Montgomery Village Ave, 2nd floor. Free clinics are held every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month from 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm. Assistance is available in many languages including Chinese, Korean, and Urdu. You must be a lawful permanent resident to apply. Please go to https://forms.gle/fh6yGnroAqwfqSeo6 to request assistance or call the APALRC Helpline at (202)393-3572. For additional information, visit the APALRC website. Click here for flyer.

HIAS Asylee Outreach Project offers free help connecting Maryland asylees (and T visa holders) with the resettlement resources and benefits available to them in the state of Maryland. Click here for more information.

Quick Topics Training - Motions in Immigration Court

Wednesday, June 22, 2022, Noon -1:00 pm

Click here for information and registration.

Networking Happy Hour in Rockville!

Thursday, June 23, 2022, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

The Immigration Law Section of the Bar Association of Montgomery County together with KIND invite you to join a networking happy hour at World of Beer in Rockville. Complimentary food and drinks will be provided. For more information and to register, click here.

MCASA's Sexual Assault Victim Advocate Training will hold live webinars each weekday from June 6th - June 16th. The training covers introductory and advanced topics to provide a foundation for best practices for advocates in the field of sexual assault services. This training series features a combination of live webinars and self-paced learning modules. Click here to register.

The Language Access Program at Ayuda provides professionally trained, trauma-informed interpreters at no cost. Please email interpreterbank@ayuda.com with "Maryland Victims" in the subject heading to learn more and to add your organization to the list of those that will receive services.

CASA, in partnership with Montgomery County, is offering financial assistance to those who are eligible to apply for citizenship but cannot afford the application fee. Click here for more information.

African Affairs Advisory Group meets every second Thursday of the month. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 9th at 7:00 pm. To register for this meeting, please click here. For more information email Harrieta.Shangarai@Montgomerycountymd.gov.

Asian Pacific American Advisory Group will not meet in June and will reconvene in July. If you have any questions, please email Mr. Yi Shen at

yi.shen@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Caribbean American Advisory Group's monthly meeting has been replaced by the Proclamation Day event on June 14 (read more below). After June 14, CAAG will be on summer break and will resume activities in September. For more information, please contact Rodrigue Vital, Caribbean American Liaison, Rodrigue.vital@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Faith Community Advisory Group will meet on June 22nd at 7:00 pm. This is a public meeting and all are welcome to attend. For more information email Kate Chance at kate.chance@montgomerycountymd.gov

Latin American Advisory Group will meet in-person on Tuesday, June 14th at 6:30 pm at the UpCounty Hub in Germantown. The meeting will focus on Food Security and Food Hubs in Montgomery County and the best practices that emerged and evolved over the last two years of pandemic response. For more information, please email

jessy.mejiaterry@montgomerycountymd.gov.

LGBTQ Advisory Group will meet on June 13th from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. The meeting will be held on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86801452892. For more information, please contact amena.johnson@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Middle Eastern American Advisory Group -- For information about the next public meeting, please contact the OCP Middle Eastern American Community Liaison.

On behalf of County Executive Marc Elrich and in partnership with the Montgomery County Office of Human Rights, the Human Rights Commission and the Montgomery County African American Advisory Group, the sixth African American Living Legend Award Recognition Program will be held on June 17 as part of the Montgomery County Juneteenth Festival and Celebration. Invitations have been extended to the entire African Diaspora, including the Caribbean Community, which will be celebrating Caribbean Heritage Month. This special program will recognize extraordinary contributions of African American and Diaspora individuals whose efforts have advanced the Montgomery County African American community and will include expressions of art, music, food and entertainment. READ MORE.

The Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC) held an AAPI Heritage Month Celebration with an art exhibition featuring the work of Ms. Yoshiko Ratliff, whose art often incorporates influences of her Japanese heritage.

During the rise of hate crimes against Asians last year, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) held several dialogues with Asian students. As a result, MCPS will pilot an Asian Pacific Island Desi American (APIDA) Studies program in the 2022 fall semester at Clarksburg, Richard Montgomery and Paint Branch High Schools. READ MORE.

Over the past month, several non-profit organizations have been leading a volunteer effort to welcome, provide temporary respite, and help new arrivals from the southern border reconnect with family at their destination. In Montgomery County, we are supporting this volunteer effort by asking our neighbors for hygiene kit donations. Hygiene kits for males, females, and children should include new socks, undershirts, underpants, and other basics. There are several other ways to help these efforts. Please click here to learn how to become involved.

June is Pride Month. To ensure that Montgomery County is safe and welcoming to the LGBTQ community, we are conducting an LGBTQ Community Survey. The first 200 respondents will receive a $10 gift card and subsequent respondents will be given a chance to win a $500 value grand prize. Take the survey here.

On Saturday, May 14th, MEAAG held the MEAHM celebration at the County’s Executive Office Building cafeteria in Rockville. County Executive Marc Elrich, Council President Gabe Albornoz, and Councilmembers Sidney Katz and Tom Hucker joined the celebration, along with many community members, to experience Middle Eastern hospitality Montgomery County style, with wedding-themed costumes, country displays, musical performances, dancing, and Middle Eastern fare. READ MORE.

In collaboration with the Montgomery County Public Libraries, MEAAG's third series of virtual book talks is being held this spring. “Stories to Broaden Understanding” launched on April 19 with Bride of the Sea, the acclaimed first novel of Eman Quotah. The conversation with Ruby Namdar about The Ruined House was held on May 10th.

Please click here to engage with Laila el-Haddad about her latest work, The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey on June 14. Click here to view flyer.

Shavuot, June 3-6 | Saga Dawa Duchen, June 14 | Juneteenth, June 19-22 |

LGBT Pride Month

On June 21st at 7:00 pm, a Faith Community Townhall will feature Montgomery County Greenbank. Please register in advance here.

An in-person event on June 7th at 7:00 pm will educate the faith community on how to keep safe during an attack. For more information, email Faith Liaison Kate Chance, kate.chance@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and County Council President Gabe Albornoz joined faith and community leaders on May 23 in Rockville to show support for the victims of the tragic mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y. The event, “A Vigil: Standing With Buffalo,” highlighted Montgomery County’s collective support of the City of Buffalo, as well as the County’s zero tolerance for racism in the community and measures in place for safety and security. A recording of the event can be viewed here.

The Faith Community Advisory Group hosted a public meeting on May 18th at 7:00 pm. View the recording here.

On May 17th at 7 pm the Faith Community Town Hall featured Community Reach Montgomery County. View the recording here.

Click here to see more updates and photos from May.

Nonprofits, synagogues, churches, mosques, and other houses of worship are eligible for federal support for physical security enhancements and activities to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Additional information about the NSGP is available here. If your organization has questions or would like a letter of recommendation for its application, please contact Bart Kennedy, Grants Coordinator for Senator Van Hollen, at bart_kennedy@vanhollen.senate.gov. Webinars about the grant program are offered on June 2 at 3:00 pm and June 9 at 1:00 pm. Click links for registration and additional information.

Supporting Migrants Arriving From Texas: On April 13, the first bus of asylum-seekers sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbot arrived in the National Capital Region. Since then, some 30+ buses carrying an estimated 1,200 individuals have been welcomed solely by community organizations and volunteers. Please see the flyer for ways to support newcomers, or connect with Faith Liaison Kate Chance, kate.chance@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Vietnamese American Services (VAS) English Class online registration for summer sessions is now open! Click here to register.

Taste of Wheaton is on Sunday, June 12. Click for flyers in English and Spanish.

Financial Assistance for Homeowners Impacted by COVID -- The Maryland Homeowner Assistance Fund is now open to provide grants or loans for delinquent mortgage payments, past due association fees, past due real estate taxes, repairs, and energy efficiency improvements. Eligibility is based on income and COVID impact; owner occupancy is required. To learn more, visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/homeowners.

Get involved with MANNA's Community Food Rescue Program.

For more information on voter registration, requesting a mail-in ballot, and voting, click here. The upcoming primary election is July 19, 2022.

Calling all creative minds! Through the Climate Action Plan, the County is hoping to lower the impact of climate change. Please send us words, phrases or a sentence that will inspire your neighbors to take action on simple climate solutions. Send us your ideas through THIS FORM. These materials are available in other languages; email DEP.contests@montgomerycountymd.gov

Lifelong Learning Courses -- Summer registration is open for Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Institute Non-Credit Courses. Offering Zoom and on-campus classes! Click here for registration information.

To submit your news and events of interest to those serving Montgomery County's emerging communities and neighbors in need, email complete details and/or a news release to the OCP Newsletter.