The Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center reopened its doors to the public on September 7

and continues to promote information and referral services in person and by phone (240-777-4940).

Classes remain online this fall, but thanks to high vaccination rates and declining infection rates in the county, in-person classes are tentatively planned for the winter session, beginning in January.

The value of in-person referral services goes beyond simply providing information to clients. For example, a client came to the Gaithersburg site in tears, not knowing where to find legal resources and financial assistance. Gilchrist Center staff took the time to listen to the client’s concerns, and gave them step-by-step directions to the appropriate resources and services. The client not only found reassurance about where to go next, but they left the office with renewed hope that help is always available.

Click here for updated information on reopening hours. Click here for more information about services at the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center .

Food assistance needs have been relentless, affecting every zip code in Montgomery County throughout the COVID-19 health and economic emergency. While the need continues to rise, the number of volunteers signing up to help has significantly declined. Food assistance providers urgently need volunteers for Food Packaging, Food Distribution, and Contactless Driving as well as Donations.

Please consider volunteering at one of the county's eight Service Consolidation Hubs or another local food provider. Invite friends, family, or a club to join you. Visit the Volunteer Center's Food Security Page for a list of these organizations with links to their opportunities and sign-up information. Questions? Email volunteer@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Read more about local efforts to end hunger in this article from The Washington Post.

Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center is not currently scheduling any in-person citizenship application workshops. However, APALRC has access to a safe and secure web platform, CitizenshipWorks, which applicants can use and get free help from an experienced attorney in reviewing and drafting their citizenship application. Click here for more information.

The Maryland Bar Foundation's Pro Bono Program provides free legal services to low-income county residents in civil cases. Click here for more information.

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.

Montgomery College (MC) offers free citizenship preparation classes online via Zoom. In partnership, Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services offers help with the N-400 application for naturalization. For more details, please email

citizenshipprogram@montgomerycollege.edu or visit the website.

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.

The mission of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MCASA) is to help prevent sexual assault, advocate for accessible, compassionate care for survivors of sexual violence, and work to hold offenders accountable. MCASA is the federally recognized state sexual assault coalition and responsible for certifying comprehensive rape crisis/sexual assault programs to ensure services are survivor centered. Check out upcoming training sessions here.

African Affairs Advisory Group will meet on Thursday. November 11 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The meeting will focus on housing in Montgomery County. The African Affairs Advisory Group meets every second Thursday of the month. For details and virtual link please email Harrieta.Shangarai@montgomerycountymd.gov.

African American Advisory Group - for more information, contact

Asian Pacific American Advisory Group will not be meeting in November. If you have any questions, please email Mr. Yi Shen yi.shen@montgomerycountymd.gov.  

Caribbean American Advisory Group will meet virtually on November 2 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. For information and to learn more about CAAG, please contact Rodrigue Vital, Caribbean American Liaison, Rodrigue.vital@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Faith Community Advisory Group will hold a public meeting on November 9th at 7:00 pm. All are invited to join. The County Executive will discuss issues relating to the faith community and Montgomery County. Register in advance for this meeting here.

For more information, contact katherine.chance@montgomerycountymd.gov

Latin American Advisory Group will will be using the month of November to split into subcommittee groups to receive updates from different county agencies on the activities, programs, and resources relevant to the Latino community to further their understanding of the recommendations in the Latino Agenda for Action Report. A general meeting will take place before December. For more information, please email Jessy Mejia Terry, Latino Liaison at jessy.mejiaterry@montgomerycountymd.gov.

LGBTQ Advisory Group will not meet in November. For more information, contact Amena Johnson, LGBTQ Community Liaison at amena.johnson@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Middle Eastern American Advisory Group will meet virtually on Wednesday, November 17, 5:00 pm-6:00 pm. All are welcome. Guest speaker to be confirmed. Please contact OCP Middle Eastern Liaison Arwa.ElBoraei@montgomerycountymd.gov for the Zoom link.

HIV Engagement Navigators (HIVE) provide help for HIV-positive individuals who need care in Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties. Navigating HIV alone can be tough, especially as an immigrant, LGBTQIQ+, refugee or minority. READ MORE.

The Elite Soccer Youth Academy will hold its 10^th Annual Banquet on Sunday November 14, 2021. This year's theme is “Embracing Diversity and Inclusion in Soccer Excellence." Please click here for details

Please mark your calendars for the African American Health Program (AAHP) COVID Response Partners meeting on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm, hosted by The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF).

Join this conversation with the NCCF Executive and MCDHHS Leadership to hear the latest statistics on the impact of COVID on the Black community, celebrate the accomplishments of this initiative thus far and learn about the next steps as the community continues to manage this pandemic.

Please register to attend by clicking here.

The Asian community mourns the loss of Dr. Sovan Tun who passed away on October 9, 2021 at age 82. Dr. Tun was the longest serving Advisory Group member on the County Executive's Asian Pacific American Advisory Group. He served multiple County Executives since 1998. Dr. Tun also served on the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington. He was an unrelenting advocate for the Cambodian, Asian and Buddhist communities. His passing is a huge loss for the Asian community. For more information about Dr. Tun's life, please click here.

Montgomery County recognized October as Filipino History Month with a proclamation from the County Executive. According to a recent Pew Research Center report, there are more than four million Filipinos living in the United States. The first recorded presence of Filipinos in the U.S. was on October 18, 1587, when Filipino sailors on a Spanish galleon landed in Morro Bay, California. Since then, Filipinos have made significant contributions to the United States, from serving in the military, to saving lives in the health industry, to working in the service industry, hospitality, technology, education, government and construction, among many others. For more information, please visit the Filipino American National Historical Society webpage.

Diwali is the most important holiday in India and is celebrated by people of Indian decent all over the world, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. For Hindus, Diwali is the Hindu New Year and a celebration of the symbolic triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. For Sikhs, it is the day on which the sixth founding Sikh guru, Guru Hargobind, was released from confinement by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir. For Jains, Diwali symbolizes Lord Mahavira's attainment of Nirvana. For Buddhists, Diwali is celebrated as the day when Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism.

To learn more about Diwali, please click here. Click here to view the proclamation issued by County Executive Elrich to commemmorate Diwali.

On October 7, members of CAAG and the Caribbean liaison met with their counterparts from the African Affairs and African American Advisory Groups, as well as other Black stakeholders in the county, to set up an agenda that addresses the unique needs and issues the county’s Black residents are facing daily. One of the key issues is economic equity that enables Black businesses’ access to capital.

Since 1983, UNESCO has designated October 28 as International Creole Day. The Creole language, which is spoken in different islands of the Caribbean, was the result of events tracing back to the history of colonization and the enslavement of Blacks from Africa. The Montgomery County-based organization, KOMALAK, led the celebration in the Washington area with a two day-long virtual event on October 30-31.

To conclude the county’s celebration tour during national Hispanic Heritage Month, County Executive Marc Elrich hosted a welcoming and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new UpCounty Hub located in the UpCounty Regional Service Center in Germantown. For additional details and photos, click here.

Montgomery County celebrated its second annual Indigenous People’s Day commemoration on Monday, October 11th with a Proclamation by Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich on the significance of the day of remembrance and the importance of inclusivity, diversity, and respect for all original nations and tribes of the continent, country, state and region. Click here to view proclamation.

To commemorate LGBTQ History Month, which was celebrated in October, LGBTQ members of our community were interviewed for StoryCorps. StoryCorps gives people of all backgrounds the opportunity to record meaningful conversations and archive the recordings at the Library of Congress. Check out the stories here.

On October 14th County Executive Elrich presented a proclamation to the LGBTQ Advisory Group for LGBTQ History month. The County Executive stated “LGBTQ History Month highlights role models, builds community, and makes a statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ community. I have made a commitment to ensuring that people in the County learn LGBTQ history beyond October and by creating the first LGBTQ Advisory Group and hiring the first LGBTQ liaison."

MEAAG chair Debbie Trent attended two of the County Executive’s Budget forums in October. Please click here to read her comments.

Join MEAAG in the New Jackets 4 Kids Drive to benefit local children. Coats will be distributed on November 21st. Please email meaag.mc.md@gmail.com about donating money or a coat.

MEAAG Member Sara Abdel, founder of Thrivers On The Move, is launching a MEAAG Business Directory Database of MENA region business owners and jobseekers county-wide. For more information, please contact saraafifiahmed@gmail.com.

Thrivers On The Move is offering assistance to the Afghan community through a career development incubator program for Afghan women and men seeking training and job placement. For more information, please email or book a call.

Attention Middle Eastern American wedding experts! MEAAG’s annual heritage celebration in March 2022 will feature a wedding theme. Members need help exhibiting wedding customs in the countries ranging from Morocco to Pakistan and Turkey to Sudan. If you want to help, or if you run a wedding-related business, please email meaag.mc.md@gmail.com.

Participants needed for Johns Hopkins Study on Women’s Safety, Health and Well-being. Join It’s weWomen Plus and help contribute towards an initiative to improve immigrant women's health and safety. If you become eligible and complete the baseline survey, you will receive a $40 gift card. To learn more about the study or to see if you are eligible, please answer the screening questions using the study link.

MEAAG Voter Education Initiative Potluck at Rockville Town Square will be held on November 7th from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. All are welcome. A Montgomery County Board of Elections representative will be available. Middle Eastern “finger food” will be provided. The event is free of charge, but please register here.

The second 2021 Connect Arab America Empowerment Summit is November 12-14. MEAAG chair Debbie Trent attended a prior summit and highly recommends it for networking with ‘cousins across the country’ and e-meeting performers, public officials, businesspeople, artists, and social media influencers.

Nominations are due November 12th for the Maryland Humanities for One Maryland One Book 2022. The book may be fiction or nonfiction interpreting the theme “New Beginnings,” and should appeal to both young adults and adults. Books of poetry, essays, short stories and plays are welcome also. Here is the FAQ page. Click here for FAQs.

The Colesville Council of Community Congregations Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service will be held on November 23, at 6:00 pm at the Baitur Rehman Mosque, 15000 Good Hope Road, Silver Spring. A turkey dinner with all the trimmings will be followed by a service. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Alyssa Ranko, 301-599-2108 ext 313, alyssa@atlanticpersonnel.com.

On November 27 at 1:00 pm, MEAAG member Karen Leggett Abouraya will participate in a virtual conversation, A Writer, A Vision, A Journey, with Ambassador Mohamed Tawfik. They will discuss her children’s books, Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books and Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words. Contact webmaster@arabworldbooks.com to join the mailing list to receive the Zoom links for author events.

MEAAG’s third monthly e-newsletter is posted here. The newsletter features the Montgomery County Middle Eastern American communities’ interests and news, along with MEAAG activities. Look for issue four around the fourth week of November.

All Saints Day, November 1 | Gurugadhi Guru Granth Sahib, November 3 | Diwali, November 4 | Birth of the Báb, November 6 | Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, November 6 |

Birth of Guru Nanak Dev ji, November 19 | Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, November 24 | American Indian Heritage Day, November 26 | Hannukah (Chanukah) | November 28

The faith community has received many inquiries about ways to help with a variety of issues, including the crisis in Haiti, incoming Afghan refugees, and flooding in Rockville. Please click here to learn how you can support these efforts. For a full list of opportunities, please review this document compiled by the Office of Community Partnerships.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is asking all parents to give permission for their children to receive free COVID-19 testing. Tests will be available in every school. There are two types of tests available and the one given to students depends on the situation. The tests are:

These free tests are important to keep schools open and students and staff safe. The weekly screenings for groups of students who do not have symptoms will help schools limit the spread of the virus. These tests are especially important for younger students because they are not yet eligible to be vaccinated. READ MORE.

Taxicab companies operating in Montgomery County, including Action, Anytime and Regency/Barwood, are providing free roundtrip transportation for senior 65-and-over and residents with disabilities to COVID-19 vaccination and testing locations. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is reimbursing taxi companies for the trips. Participants must register by calling Connect-A-Ride and get a free COVID-19 taxi code before booking. READ MORE.

On October 14, 2021, the Morazan Sister City Committee, in collaboration with Montgomery College TV, hosted a virtual presentation of the Morazan Sister City Spotlight short documentary “Morazan: Our Understanding Enriched." The documentary details the story of a young Montgomery College student’s journey from Morazan, El Salvador to Montgomery County, with a focus on the partnership and impact that the county’s Sister City has had over the last decade. The program also underscores the future opportunities that this sister city relationship offers residents of Montgomery County. You can see the documentary by visiting www.montgomerysistercities.org, or by clicking here.

Lifelong Learning Courses -- Registration opens for Spring on November 29th for Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Institute Non-Credit Courses. Offering Zoom and on-campus classes! 35 new classes are being offered in Spring 2022. Click here for registration information.

Registration is now open for "Havana's Art & Culture: The Intersection of Architecture, Planning, Preservation, and Economics." This is a 3-week virtual (online) interactive and interdisciplinary course offered by the University of Maryland from January 3-21, 2022. For flyer and links to register, click here.

U.S. Census Bureau is Hiring Field Representatives — Are you available for part-time work? Do you enjoy meeting people? Check out the Census Bureau! Become a Field Representative in YOUR area!

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.