Housing Opportunities Community Partners Inc.

Recognizing that residents were experiencing a variety of unmet social service needs, leaders from the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) and the general community teamed together in the spring of 1999 to form Community Partners. These concerned citizens understood that HOC, as a quasi-governmental agency, was ineligible to apply for funding from charitable foundations – funding that would have provided much needed services to help low-income families in subsidized housing improve their quality of life and pursue a higher level of self-sufficiency. And so, Community Partners was formed in order to create targeted programs to help families with children, seniors and people with disabilities living in subsidized housing improve their quality of life.

Our organization has the unique ability to reach out to low-income residents who can benefit the most from these programs because of our partnership with HOC.As the public housing authority for Montgomery County, MD, HOC administers nearly 12,000 rental housing units under a variety of Federal, State, and local housing programs. By partnering with HOC, we are able to readily identify the target populations for our programs. No other agency has the capability to reach out to these low- and very low-income families.

Over the last three years, Community Partners has helped 151 homeless families obtain stable, permanent housing. For the last eight years, our Driving Toward Success program has helped 177 low-income working families purchase refurbished vehicles propelling them to greater self-sufficiency. In just the last two years, we have provided job search, life and soft skills training services to 152 adults helping them to secure employment. And thousands of low-income, at-risk youth over the last eight years have received Back-to-School supplies at the start of the school year. Also, we have conducted childhood obesity prevention programs for more than a 100 at-risk youth; after-school tutoring services to 125 low-income youth, computer software to four family resource centers benefiting hundreds of youth each month and drug/alcohol prevention programs for 100+ teens and adolescents.

Much of our success is derived in large part from the 362 volunteers and individual contributors who work on various projects and on-going programs. In 2010 Community Partners received 11,870 hours of volunteer commitment, valued at more than $240,368.

In 2010 Community Partners provided much needed help to HOC low-income households:

59 homeless families (over 130 adults and children) obtained stable, permanent housing;
11 low-income working families purchased refurbished vehicles propelling them to greater self-sufficiency;
80 adults received job search, life and soft skills training, helping them to secure employment; and
1,000 low-income, at-risk youth received Back-to-School supplies at the start of the present school year.

Our key goals for the year 2011 include the following:

To help 50 homeless families obtain stable, permanent housing;
To help 30 formerly chronic homeless families maintain stable, permanent housing;
To help 15 low-income families purchase refurbished vehicles;
To help 75 adults obtain job search, life and soft skills training, and secure employment;
To provide Back-to-School supplies to 1,000 low-income, at-risk youth.

Agency History