MHP Robert Goldman, a member of County Executive Marc Elrich’s transition team, talked with Bethesda Beat about the transition team’s recommendations to increase residents’ access to affordable housing in Montgomery County.
Parkview Manor Apartments, MHP’s only property in Prince George’s County, is undergoing a full renovation with exciting new features and upgrades. These include brand new kitchens, bathrooms and flooring. The 53-unit Hyattsville property will be more inclusive, with two accessible units as well as an accessible management office and community room. Parkview Manor will have an artistic flare too: an artist has been commissioned to create sculptures for the property’s courtyards to provide a unifying effect and connect it aesthetically with the nearby Hyattsville art district. Parkview Manor is in an attractive, convenient location about a mile from the Metro and within walking distance to amenities that include a grocery store, pool, and restaurants. Stay tuned! We will announce a date for a ribbon-cutting ceremony later this year.
MHP Community Life staff regularly schedule meetings with parents of students in our preschool and afterschool enrichment programs to share information. Two recent meetings highlighted a high level of parent engagement and underscored great community partnerships that provide important resources to parents and students.
Emmanuel Jean-Philippe, principal at Arcola Elementary in Wheaton and a member of the MHP board, met with more than two dozen parents of pre-kindergarten students. He walked them through the kindergarten registration process and answered questions. Cleydi Pacheco, MHP Community Life Senior Programs Manager, said parents were very grateful for the opportunity to understand the process better, and the conversation seemed to lift some of the anxiety that can come from that big transition, not just for the student but for parents as well.
Parents of elementary students in after-school enrichment programs at MHP Wheaton properties participated in a fun, educational evening with help from MHP partners Amerigroup (special thanks to Robert Martin) and Manna Food Center. Amerigroup presented information about living a healthy lifestyle and provided a short Zumba class for parents (see photos). The Manna “Manny” bus — a mobile pop-up food pantry — was parked in the parking lot, and parents were invited to stop in a pick up a bag of vegetables to take home. Partnerships like these are a crucial part of MHP’s strategy to provide enhanced programming and information-sharing to empower families who live in MHP residences.
As part of MHP’s work helping strengthen neighborhoods, we once again are collaborating on an Earth Day cleanup in the Long Branch community on Saturday, April 13. The Long Branch Earth Day cleanup has become a local tradition, bringing together neighbors to pick up trash that pollutes a tributary to the Anacostia River. This year there also will be the opportunity to help remove invasive species (under the guidance of a trained weed warrior). Free gloves and bags supplied on site, as well as snacks. Hurry to register if you want a free Earth Day t-shirt!
When: Saturday, April 13, 2019, from 9 a.m. – noon
Where: Long Branch Community Center, 8700 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring
Registration: anacostiaws.org or by email to pgrenier@mhpartners.org
Note: You can also just show up without registering, but please let us know in advance so we can have enough supplies on hand. To reserve a free t-shirt, you must register at the anacostiaws.org website.
Character education is a key component of MHP’s Community Life enrichment programs, which are offered to preschool, elementary and middle-school students at locations across Montgomery County. Lead Instructor Kyle Brown, who works with young students at Arcola Elementary in Wheaton, talks about the importance of the after-school program and the impact it has on his students. You can learn more about MHP’s Community Life programs here.
MHP has been preserving and creating quality affordable housing for 30 years. Montgomery Community Media talked with MHP President Robert Goldman about the organization’s history, mission and vision.
Nearly 6% of Montgomery County residents — almost 64,000 people — are considered food insecure. To help address this, MHP is piloting a Food Assistance Volunteer Program, developing a team of volunteers to help our residents connect to food assistance resources including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps). If you would like to volunteer with this opportunity, please check out the information below.
This program is made possible in part by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, the Montgomery County Food Council, the Community Action Agency and Maryland Hunger Solutions.
Learn more from these fact sheets about the program:
Apply to become a Food Assistance Volunteer here.
Apply to become a Food Assistance Volunteer Advisor here.
Contact Information
Naudia Porter
AmeriCorps VISTA, Health and Housing Coordinator
Montgomery Housing Partnership
Phone: (301) 812- 4146
Email: nporter@mhpartners.org
Elementary school-age children in MHP’s Great Hope Homes Homework Club celebrated Black History Month with an inspiring presentation to a gathering of proud parents, focusing on African-American achievers. Students gathered information and then presented themselves as their heroes, sharing facts about their lives. Some students even dressed the part, as one young man did to share the accomplishments of Dr. Charles R. Drew, a medical researcher who developed ground-breaking techniques in blood transfusion and storage.
Students portrayed many other historic figures, including: former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama; Garrett Morgan, traffic light inventor; tennis legend Serena Williams; cosmetics innovator/entrepreneur Madame C.J. Walker; Super Soaker water gun inventor Lonnie Johnson; astronaut Mae Jemison; poet Paul Dunbar; education and civil rights activist Dorothy Height; and Lewis Howard Latimer, inventor of the carbon filament light bulb.
A highlight of the presentation was an assistant teacher’s performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
MHP has entered into an exciting collaboration with Code Partners, a coding academy that will be offering an Introduction to Web Design class at MHP’s 7610 Maple Avenue location in Takoma Park this spring.
The class will be offered May 6-10, 6:30-9pm. There is a cost for the classes. Scholarships are available. More information about scholarships is available here. For more general information, contact Code Partners via email info@codepartners.net or phone: 240-385-9113.
Mark your calendar! MHP’s annual golf tournament is Monday, June 24, at Hampshire Greens Golf Course in Silver Spring. Noon shotgun start. This event is an important source of funding for MHP’s programs. Learn more here.
