Safety Net Intiative

Currently not accepting applications. 

The Montgomery County safety net system provides vital support to our community. It catches people when an unexpected crisis hits- like a sudden illness or job loss. It provides necessary services during vulnerable times in our families' lives, from early childhood through retirement. The safety net provides valuable resources that give all people the opportunity to thrive in a society that often predetermines opportunity based on zip code, race, gender, or social strata.

Yet, as vital as it is to our community’s health and well-being, the Montgomery County safety net system is fragile:

• Safety net providers are faced with insufficient funding, burdensome regulations, lackluster technology solutions, and overworked staff.
• Public and private support is shifting away from safety net services, and the margins nonprofits operate on are becoming even thinner as a result.
• As the county's demographics shift, safety net providers are challenged to serve an increasingly diverse population.
• Stigma of using safety net services often prevents people from reaching out for help before issues have reached a crisis level, making services more expensive to deliver.

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the resulting economic recession, and country's heightened awareness of racial discrimination have only increased the urgency with which these systemic issues must be addressed. Our communities are at a crossroads, where the safety net system is tasked with greater responsibility than ever before, without the resources it needs to meet these challenges.

These challenges led us to create the Safety Net Resiliency Initiative in 2017, and to again refresh our vision, define a set of shared principles, and craft a refreshed framework in 2020. This 10-year effort aims to improve the foundation of the Montgomery County safety net system so that it can remain financially sustainable and resilient, while also doing a better job of meeting the needs of all of our residents. The effort is community driven, where our success depends on each of us to fundamentally shift how we work together.