JCRC 2012 Advocacy Day at Montgomery County Council

March 30, 2012

On Wednesday this week I met with the JCRC, or the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. They are an umbrella of various service providing agencies serving all residents of the county and they play an enormously valuable role in helping the county achieve its social vision. We discussed my position on a requested increase in funding for Montgomery Cares, our health care service delivery program for the uninsured; I’m not sure yet if we can afford more on this but I am reviewing. They asked for my support for various council grants from their member groups, which I will certainly review after the Council Grants Advisory Group makes their recommendation. As a former non-profit director myself I know how difficult it is to live from grant to grant. I have urged the executive branch to respond favorably to JCRC’s request and Non Profit Montgomery’s request that when a grant is awarded to a non-profit, about one third of the annual amount should be provided up front. Non-profit workers, including the JCRC members pictured below, provide important services for everyone in our community and we need to do what we can to support them.

Here I am with JCRC allies and included among them, Ron Halber, the executive director.