“Essential to successful learning for any child is the bond and trusting relationship they establish with their teacher. With socio-economic, ethnic and language barriers, this can be a daunting challenge, but one that can be overcome with reforms in local schools that provide teachers with the multicultural tools and parents and students the support, encouragement and engagement they deserve."
–
Ray Moreno,
Director, IMPACT in the Schools and parent at Piney Branch Elementary School
News
Sewing Copperative Open House Draws Over 100 Supporters!
On Saturday, February 18th, over one hundred IMPACT network members gathered in Long Branch to meet the ladies of the El Rosal Sewing Cooperative.
Attendees got an inside look at the production process, signed up for sewing classes, bought handmade products, and enjoyed great food and live music. They also heard directly from the El Rosal ladies about their mission to generate income and improve their neighborhood through their micro business.
Catherine Leggett, wife of Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, gave a rousing speech endorsing the ladies' efforts. Mrs. Leggett was joined by El Rosal supporters Jeffrey Slavin, Councilmember Hans Riemer, Debbie Speilberg from Councilmember Marc Elrich's office, and Franca Brilliant from the Takoma Foundation. State Senator Jamie Raskin announced that his campaign had placed a large order of handmade campaign bags!
If you are interested in a sewing course, handmade products from Long Branch, or just connecting with El Rosal, email Sebastian at sebastian@impactsilverspring.org.
Winners of the 2012 IMPACT Momentum Awards will be announced on March 1st and recognized at a breakfast ceremony on April 26th.
IMPACT Silver Spring invites you to join us for the breakfast ceremony honoring community members who have ignited the power of our community’s diversity through their work.
Invited keynote speaker is Governor Martin O’Malley.
Save the Date!
When: April 26th, 2012 from 7:30 am – 9:00 am
Where: Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza
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IMPACT's Long Branch Athletic Association Featured on Montgomery County Television
IMPACT Silver Spring's Long Branch Athletic Association soccer program was featured on the Montgomery County Council's television program this year:
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IMPACT Silver Spring Moves to New Office in Long Branch!
We are pleased to announce that IMPACT's new office is now open! The office is in the heart of the bustling Long Branch community at 8545 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring.
IMPACT Executive Director Ronnie Galvin says of the move: "We are thrilled to be back in Long Branch, especially given the investment of staff and other resources we have committed to our economic empowerment and self-sufficiency work in the area. We expect that what we do here in Long Branch will become the grounding and the model that we use across the county in other communities that are important to us as we pursue the big vision of a thriving multicultural community."
The new office offers program space for community gatherings and is conveniently located near one of IMPACT's partners in the Neighborhood Opportunity Network, the Takoma Park/East Silver Spring Center.
We hope that in the new year many of you will come and visit us in our new home.
We would also like to say a big THANK YOU to our friends at A Wider Circle for providing us with temporary office space for the past several months. We appreciate your amazing generosity!
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Holiday Shoppers Flock to New Flower Avenue Market in Long Branch
For the past three Saturdays, local craft, antique, and food vendors from greater Silver Spring and Long Branch offered their goods at the Flower Avenue Holiday Market at the corner of Flower Avenue and Arliss Avenue in Long Branch. Local entrepreneurs Chris Lancette and Wo-nok Kim started the market as a venue for their upscale antique and flea business called Orion's Attic.
Entrepreneurs from IMPACT's Family Asset Building Network in Long Branch are using the market to generate income and develop their home-based businesses. The Sewing Circle is producing and selling beautiful, hand-made grocery bags to take advantage of demand created by the new tax on plastic bags in Montgomery County (email sebastian@impactsilverspring if you are interested in a bag!).
The Holiday Market will be open for the next two Saturdays, December 17th and 24th from 9am to 4pm. For a map of the market's location, click here.
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IMPACT Announces New Leadership
We are excited to announce that co-founder and long-time Executive Director, Frankie Blackburn, has assumed the role of Senior Strategic Advisor. Ronnie Galvin, formerly Deputy Director, has been named Executive Director, and Jayne Park joins the organization from the Community Foundation for Montgomery County, also as Senior Strategic Advisor. Read the press release.
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IMPACT Recognized with Leadership Award
IMPACT Silver Spring is one of 10 local nonprofits recently selected to receive a Washington Area Women’s Foundation 2010 Leadership Award. The Leadership Awards Program invests in the work of outstanding, emerging community-based organizations that exhibit vision and impact in serving the critical needs of women and girls. As an awardee, IMPACT will receive $10,000.
Organizations Partner to Connect and Empower Jewish and Immigrant Women
In February and March 2010, a group of 12 Jewish, African, and Latina women have come together for five weeks of cross-cultural learning, exchange, and action. They are taking part in a new program called "Neighbor Circles" to bridge the all-too-common gap between neighbors of different races, classes, and cultures.
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington, the public affairs and community relations arm of the Jewish community, teamed up with local nonprofit, IMPACT Silver Spring, to design this new effort. Neighbor Circles are based on the ongoing work of IMPACT Silver Spring to build social networks and civic engagement for a thriving, multicultural community.
The inaugural Neighbor Circle involves Jewish and immigrant women who live in Takoma Park, especially on and around Maple Avenue, home to many high-rise apartment buildings where immigrants from all over the world have settled. A second circle will be run this fall in partnership with a Silver Spring school.
IMPACT Silver Spring Announces Addition of Casey Foundation Manager
Hire Helps Door-Knocking Campaign to Connect Neighbors in Need
IMPACT Silver Spring, a community-based organization devoted to bringing residents together across lines of race, class and culture, announced today that Ronnie Galvin, Jr. of the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia, will assume the new role of Deputy Director as of February 16.
The addition of Galvin allows the organization to build on the highly successful Neighbors Campaign, a partnership with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and others, to provide emergency services to neighbors in need and create new networks of mutual support. A central part of the Campaign is knocking on 10,000 doors in three targeted communities to connect those in crisis to services, and to invite residents to begin forming neighbor circles, a vehicle for supporting each other.
"The newly created position signals IMPACT Silver Spring’s growth and underscores our commitment to expanded accountability to network members, partners, and the larger community," said Executive Director Frankie Blackburn. "This was a significant step for us, and after reviewing more than one hundred applications, we are confident that we have hired the most qualified candidate who shares our belief in shared power, diversity, and the efficacy of relationships."
IMPACT Now! 2010 Calls for Stronger Business/Community Relationships
Echoed by Honest Tea’s Seth Goldman, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett,
Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown and Congressman Chris Van Hollen
County business leaders from large and small companies, retail stores, and restaurants came together this morning with government and nonprofit leaders to hear a call for greater reciprocity across sectors. This highly-diverse group of nearly 200 people gathered at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center for IMPACT Silver Spring’s annual breakfast event, IMPACT Now!
“We have a theory that business and community leaders in Montgomery County generally do not get along as well as they do in other communities,” said co-host Steve Silverman, Director of Montgomery County’s Department of Economic Development. He said that a “paradigm shift” is needed, one of greater collaboration which can achieve business goals and also solve tough, longstanding community issues. County Executive, Isiah Leggett, affirmed the need for this new paradigm, saying that government cannot solve all business and community problems.
Read the full press release
Download a copy of the report distributed at the event.
On Saturday, February 18th, over one hundred IMPACT network members gathered in Long Branch to meet the ladies of the El Rosal Sewing Cooperative. 
We are pleased to announce that IMPACT's new office is now open! The office is in the heart of the bustling Long Branch community at 8545 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring. 
For the past three Saturdays, local craft, antique, and food vendors from greater Silver Spring and Long Branch offered their goods at the 