Local Resources | Recursos en el Area

Montgomery County 24 Hour Crisis Center

The Crisis center provides crisis services 24 hours a day/365 days a year (crisis situations such as homelessness, abuse, neglect and violence)

Este centro de crisis está abierta día y noche, 24 al día por 365 días al año (Crisis de no tener techo, abuso, abandono y violencia)

Mon-Fri 9am-5pm
Lunes a Viernes 9am-5pm
Germantown Health and Human Services,
12900 Middlebrook Lane, Germantown, MD
240-777-4448

After 5pm and weekends
Después de las 5pm y fines de semana
Montgomery County Crisis Center
1301 Piccard Drive, Rockville, MD
240-777-4000

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Meals on Wheels | Food Stamps

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Housing | Alojamiento

Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC)
Comisión de Oportunidades de Alojamiento
Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County is a Public Housing Agency in Kensington, Maryland that participates in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), and Public Housing programs.
Contact: 240-627-9400

Senior Housing for Low-Income Residents
For seniors who have modest incomes, paying for housing- whether a home they own, a rental, or a room in a facility that provides additional senior care assistance- can feel nearly impossible. Find out if you are able to qualify .

RENTER RELIEF ACT On April 24, County Executive Elrich signed the COVID-19 Renter Relief Act which prohibits landlords from increasing existing rent by more than 2.6 percent during the COVID-19 health emergency. The Renter Relief Act took effect immediately and applies to all licensed residential rental units in Montgomery County.

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Food | Comida

If you or someone you know is in need of acquiring enough food, contact any of the local food pantries.

Germantown HELP – 301-482-1320

Gaithersburg HELP – 301-216-2510

Food Stamps – 240-777-3420

St. Martin’s Church | Iglesia Catolica San Martin Gaithersburg – 301-990-3203

Meals on Wheels – 301-706-0262

Parishes give food donations to the Silver Spring Catholic Charities food pantry. 

Parishes collecting food during April are invited to contact Teresa.Villanueva@CC-DC.org if your parish has extra food items and would like to make a donation to the Catholic Charities food pantry in Silver Spring.  The pantry serves more than 100 families a week.

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Seeking Help for Domestic Abuse | Buscando ayuda para el abuso doméstico

Parish Partners is providing emergency assistance to families suffering domestic abuse, helping to pay emergency rent or utility bills and connecting them to domestic violence agencies that do safety planning and counseling

Calling the national domestic violence hotline number, 1-800-799-7233, is also a resource for agencies that can help provide plans for safety, shelter and counseling services. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can call 1-800-787-3224.

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Taxes and Financial Assistance

IRS plans to send CASH PAYMENTS in the next 3 weeks. Action is needed by parishioners who didn’t file a return.

Catholic Charities Financial Services Network is helping parishioners qualify to receive government assistance in the coming weeks.  Many parish families will receive federal financial payments and no action is needed by most people at this time. Importantly however, the following groups of people do NEED TO TAKE ACTION:

1. The IRS urges anyone with a tax filing obligation who has not filed a tax return for 2018 or 2019 to file as soon as they can to receive a cash payment.

2. People who typically do not file a tax return (e.g., low income taxpayers) will need to file a simple informational return to receive a cash payment. [Social Security recipients do not need to file an informational return.]

The Financial Stability Network can assist these two groups of people.    
Contact: Catholic Charities’  Virtual VITA Program: ccvirtualvita@gmail.com.

NOTE: “Eligible” individuals and their children are required to have a Social Security Number. Sadly, taxpayers with ITINs are not eligible for the cash payments.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/e-poster_payments.pdf

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact-payments-what-you-need-to-know

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Emergency Assistance Relief Payment

Emergency financial assistance will soon be available for Montgomery County residents through the new Emergency Assistance Relief Payment program.

Families with incomes less than 50% of the federal poverty level* who are not eligible for Federal COVID-19 stimulus checks or State benefits will begin receiving a one-time emergency assistance check from the County early next week.

Eligible families will receive $1,000 for a family with one child (plus $150 for each additional child up to a maximum of $1,450 per family) early next week. 

Approximately $2.5 million will be given out to residents by the County’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and another $2.5 million will be intended for individuals and families served by nonprofit organizations in the community.

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Stimulus Checks

Catholic Charities launches program to help parish families get their stimulus checks. 

As you know, many individuals and families (with Social Security Numbers) are receiving sizable cash payments from the IRS. The IRS cash payments are part of the Government’s $2 Trillion economic stimulus legislation.  Sadly, there are many individuals and families who will not be receiving these cash payments. Why? The reason is that the IRS has no way of knowing that individuals and families with low/no income exist. Individuals with income less than $12,200/year ($24,400 for married couples) do not need to file an income tax return. Thus, the IRS does not have a mailing address or a bank account to send these cash payments.

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SNAP Benefits Increasing for Vulnerable Families.

Both DC and Maryland have received approved from the US Dept of Agriculture to provide additional funds to families through SNAP benefits. As a result, Maryland will receive more than $33 million per month in additional SNAP benefits for the months of April and May.  34,000 DC vulnerable household will receive more than $10 million.  Increases will be seen for families not already receiving the maximum amount allowed for their family size.

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Senior Call Back

Maryland is the first state in the country to start a free, opt-in, telephonic service to check on Maryland’s older residents, all across the state.​  MD Residents +65 can register for free.