Posts in 'Rapid Response'

With the pause of SNAP benefits, we are leaning on philanthropic partners, volunteers, and the community to help us meet rising need with fewer available resources. With funding support, we are expanding our advocacy work to build greater community awareness of the crisis and to amplify the voices of our families. Our Project will support our current advocacy work in the faith community, while helping us participate in or lead community events, and capitalize on our broader community partnerships to advance our advocacy. Funding is critical to this work as we brace for skyrocketing need and worsening conditions for our families that will require us to divert as much of our budget as possible towards direct family assistance.

Funding will support CCATE's work to provide relief for families impacted by ICE detention.

SPARK Senior Centers offer a daily congregate meal and connect seniors with other benefit programs such as SNAP and the Senior Commodity Food Box. With the 2025 pause in SNAP benefits needs have increased. This funding would allow us to increase our Social Services Coorindator’s hours and expand our capacity to: educate our seniors about the changes to SNAP and the Senior Commodity Food Box Program through informational sessions; work one on one with seniors to help them navigate access to food and maintain eligibility for SNAP and/or Food Boxes throughout the duration of the shutdown; and mobilize partnerships to help the homebound seniors to whom we deliver Food Boxes have access to alternatives during this critical time.

Share Food Program faces an immediate crisis due to severe federal funding cuts, including the abrupt termination of the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program. These drastic cuts directly jeopardize vital food access for thousands of vulnerable families, seniors, and children across Montco and surrounding counties. Funding will support efforts to educate elected officials about the devastating consequences of these cuts on basic needs programs like SNAP, which directly impact Share's operations and the communities we serve. 

Families in our community continue to live under the threat of ICE deportation raids. These actions create immediate fear, confusion, and destabilization—particularly for immigrant families with limited English proficiency. Access to timely, accurate, and culturally relevant information can be the difference between a family staying together or being torn apart. Currently, critical updates and resources are not reaching all of the affected populations due to language barriers and inconsistent communication channels.

Project Libertad’s advocacy project protects immigrant communities in Montgomery County from the escalating threat of ICE detention and deportation. We provide Know Your Rights education, rapid response legal triage, and emergency family support. Rapid funding is critical to meet the surge in demand, respond to detentions in real time, and ensure children and families receive immediate protection, stability, and advocacy during moments of crisis. Funding will be used to scale our response swiftly and effectively, ensuring more community members receive timely protection and advocacy. 

In October 2025, NHN launched an emergency food drive called EAT MUCH? Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges and Villanova University joined along with many other local schools, businesses and religious institutions.  Our advocacy team is meeting with elected officials to discuss food insecurity in our region and push for equitable recovery policies. We’ve developed a Coalition Kit to expand our campaign and empower other groups across Montgomery County and the Greater Philadelphia Area to run their own advocacy-driven food collections. This simple tool makes it simple to start a collection box and join our campaign or replicate it in other communities.

Funds will support the advocacy and coordination of local education as it relates to the SNAP funding freeze.

Montco 30% successfully organized several neighborhood canvasses to champion the zoning approval of a Norristown supportive housing proposal. Grant funding was directed to compensate people to do the important work of going door-to-door in the community and making the case directly to residents. A similar need for a grassroots campaign in Upper Gwynedd Township has emerged in response to the final land development approval of the Cornerstone at Pennbrook, a LIHTC community of approximately 60 attached homes. Funding will support paid canvassers, materials, and general operating.

Montco 30% Project strategically mobilized community and led an advocacy campaign in support of Montgomery County’s proposal to open short-term housing for single adults in Norristown. The campaign helped community members understand how this space would serve a vital role in addressing the growing encampment issue in the area. The campaign motto “Let’s build a stronger, safer community together” shared out facts of the venture and dispelled misinformation to combat NIMBYism.