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The Health and Human Services is a Standing Committee in the County Council. It has jurisdiction over:
Health and human services agencies; libraries;
the arts; culture, and the humanities.
Know the Members:
Councilman George Leventhal (At-large), Chairman. Click on
Councilwoman Nancy Navarro
(District 4) and the President of Montgomery County Council for the 2012-213 one year term. Click on
Councilman Craig Rice (District 2) and Vice President of Montgomery County Council for the 2012-13 one year term. Click on |
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Coordination and community outreach for the Discussions with the Health and Human Services Committee are coordinated by a team of organizations and volunteers.
The session is opened to all.
Anyone
interested in participating is encouraged to do so.Get the latest Job Announcement. Click You may visit online with:
Sponsor Philanthropic Sponsor of the Year
Martinsburg Pediatrics
A Good Neighbor to Montgomery
Meet the Patrons of White Gala in Winter.
Doing More than Feeding the Hungry in Winter
The Dream is Alive
******* Visit with
Casa de Maryland to learn more about immigrant issues
Do you know about Up County and Down County Networking Meetings?
Find out by contacting Karla Silvestre, Manager at the
Congratulations to
Jean Yves Dayiti
on his election as the Chair of the Listener Support Board of WPFW Radio 89.3 FM
Yves is a first generation immigrant from Haiti.Check out
Office on African Affairs.
A Department of the District of Government of Columbia created by the legislature. Click Save the Dates Thurs. March 21st at 10am: The discussions on challenges Sat. March 23rd at 7pm: A Joint Solution with Mwavuli. |
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Dear Community Representatives and Organizers, Health and Human Service Providers and Professionals, Health and Human Service Staff in Public Agencies and Residents:
Your presence and participation in this historic, interactive discussions on health and social service challenges in the Continental African Community will provide fresh insights; experiential, hands-on knowledge; culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate perspectives; and indigenous know-how that may enable both the public and private sectors to understand the barriers; develop viable solutions; and promote best practices in overcoming challenges. Service providers, community organizers, professionals and residents are encouraged to contribute to this pioneer event. Let us move the community forward by improving lives with informed knowledge and relevant resources.
For adequate and timely preparation, you can make your reservation or inquiry: Click |
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Factoring in New and Emerging Communities | |
A "new and emerging community" is an ethnic community that has experienced a significant percentage increase in the number of people in the jurisdiction in recent years. For example, the Continental African community has grown from a predominantly student population in the seventies to a growing multidisciplinary community of first and second generation immigrants.
At the same time, given their relatively smaller numbers and shorter length of presence in the jurisdiction compared to older communities, new and emerging communities do not have the benefit of an established community, including mainstream sociocultural support. These characteristics are common among new and emerging communities:
- They do not have significantly developed community infrastructure. This may include specialist ethno-specific services, research and think tanks institutions, and media that provide avenues for advocacy, sharing information and community development, including care for vulnerable populations such as the aged and youths.
- They also comprise of residents who do not have English language skills.
- Leadership may comprise of individuals who are unfamiliar with mainstream advocacy and constituency services.
- They tend not to have influential infrastructure and organizations that attract sustainable funding for development.
- They may not be factored in existing public policies, regular discussions/ dialogues, resource allocations, and there are usually minimal or no data that supports inclusion.
- They have hard-to-reach populations that are not easily accessible through regular media, polling, research or outreach.
- Generally, the communities have untapped civic, social and economic capabilities. Notably, the Continental African community is reputedly the most educated demographic group in the US based on US census. A report by Washington Post indicated that first and second generation African and Caribbean students do not suffer from achievement gaps associated with the generic black student population. Rethinking the Achievement Gap: Lessons from African Diaspora: Read
Given the above characteristics, new and emerging communities experience access barriers that can be defined as " special needs" but also have potentials that require special efforts to realize. Undoubtedly, in an increasingly diverse jurisdiction, new and emerging communities change the dynamics of the neighborhood, workforce, schools, city, district, county and state. When the populations are suitably included in all facets of development, the results foster the vitality of the jurisdiction.
The discussions on the challenges and viable solutions may fall under the following policy objectives: 1) A Healthy and Sustainable Community that includes culturally relevant approaches; 2) Vital Living for all Residents with a focus on vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations; 3) Children Prepared to Live and Learn with a focus on proactive risk-reduction and intervention; 4) Data that is at the core of a Responsive and Accountable County government.
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| Building Community Asset Inventory: Mwavuli Project |
Save the Date: Saturday March 23, 2013 at 7:00pm
The Mwavuli Beneficent Banquet Gala
Mwavuli " Umbrella in Swahili" is a consortium of community based organizations and mutual aid associations. Recognizing that it is not feasible for national or cultural groups to implement and sustain quality of life programs on health, social and economic services that require 9-5 and beyond staffing and resources, Mwavuli promotes community collaboration through joint programming and volunteerism in order to maximize resources for sustainable, community-based services.
The Needs Assessments and Recommendation Report presented to the county in 2007/8 and subsequent forums demonstrated the effectiveness of collaboration with over 700 groups, individuals, and professionals participating at the multiple community based participatory research and information sessions.
One of the results was a Community Resource Guide, which was a step toward the creating a "Community Asset Inventory" on social, economic, health and cultural entities.
The objective is to identify nonprofit organizational resources that promote the social web the community by facilitating connections and collaboration among organizations with interrelated goals, which, in turn, expand capacity and improve efficiencies in service delivery.
On October 26, 2012, CASLIGHT, an asset-based community development organization, coordinated 18 organizations, ranging from faith-based, social service, alumni, cultural, women and children groups to economic development associations, in an interactive session on emergency and emerging crises in the community. Three county agencies: Health, Human Resources participated in the sessions, including the Gilchrist Center for Diversity. The outcome informed the need for this application. Please. you can read about the discussions.
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs193/1105463482084/archive/1111460372364.html
Mwavuli would be interested in hearing from associations on the type of informal services they provide, even to their group members. Each endeavor adds to change.
Thank You
Margaret Mead
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