Help Project CHANGE finish serving for the year

Dear friends of Project CHANGE,

The worst has happened. DOGE shut our grant down with only four months to go.  All year, our members have been serving MCPS kids in-school and out-of- school time, the ones who need it the most. They want to continue,  but how can they, if there is no living allowance to pay their rent or gas or groceries? We urgently need your help.

We are a local program, founded and staffed by Montgomery County residents, with members recruited from the county, serving the kids of the county who need it the most.  We've been doing it for almost 25 years. We know we make a difference. And we are a private-public partnership. State funding matches what our partners pay for members to serve, in high needs MCPS schools,  and with Saturday School, (GBTLA)  Community Bridges, Montgomery Housing Partnership and Family Learning Solutions. They kept their part of the deal, but the federally sourced funding suddenly dried up, leaving our 12 members stranded and broke, and those needy kids abandoned.

They desperately want to finish the job. Already, the kids they have been serving are asking. "Why did you desert us? We don't want to give excuses. We certainly don't want to explain the inexplicable. Rather, our team are geared to getting things done. All they need is the funds to pay their rent and gas and live, till their service year ends in August. Can you help them?

The talk about efficiency is rather ironic, given that members serve in positions that would normally cost twice as much. The kids we serve are often special needs, and cannot survive in school without that special mentor. Also, if you wanted proof of impact, the fact that most of our members serve under supervisors who themselves  graduated from Project CHANGE- so as a force for workforce development scheme in the community sector, our record is second to none. 

For our members to serve for the next four months, we need to raise $30,000 to cover them all for just basic living allowances. That is all they ask. They serve the county. In crisis times like this, we are appealing to our alums, to the county and all our friends to serve them.