Program areas at CHEER
Healthy Long Branch employs community members as community health workers to promote health and access to health care. In FY 2023 CHWs provided case management to 937 residents at the County's Silver Spring hub. This included enrollment help in SNAP, rent relief, arranging prenatal care for pregnant mothers, providing access to health care and making other referrals as needed. CHEER enrolled 187 households (363 people) in SNAP, 371 households (846 people) in Qualified Health Plans or Medicaid, 235 households (363 community members} in free private health insurance, and helped 35 households in other ways. The Long Branch Healthy Food Access program provides weekly delivery of fresh produce and the support of a community health worker for 12 weeks to people with diabetes and low access to healthy food. In FY 2023, 83 program participants received 863 boxes of fresh produce. 30% lost an average of 9.5 pounds 78% improved their self-reported health status.
Early In FY 2023 CHEER became the lead convener for Long Branch Collective Action for Youth (LBCAY). This is a collective impact effort in the Long Branch community in Silver Spring, Maryland to develop and implement a unified plan for improving youth outcomes by raising youth and community voice and integrating youth into community activities. In FY 2023 LBCAY initiated a Youth Participatory Action Research group to focus on reducing trash in Long Branch. The YPAR group involves 18 Long Branch youth in partnership with Nature Forward. LBCAY recruited 20 youth to serve as table ambassadors at State Delegate Lorig Charkoudian's Power in the Park event. The youth acted as interpreters and shared information on energy saving programs available to Long Branch residents. LBCAY recruited five youth volunteers for the summer youth services camp. Youth also participated in the community housing and community development stakeholder sessions and staffed tables at other community events. 30 Long Branch parents also attended a community conversation with the Montgomery County Public School Board President and staff to discuss school safety, school bus transportation, ESOL placement, after school programming and academic support.
The Empowerment and Leadership Development (ELD) program supports community groups in under served and under represented neighborhoods to organize community events and activities and support their participation in civic affairs and public decision making. In FY 2023 this program included training community members in environmental advocacy who conducted watershed and open space cleanup activities and advocacy development. In addition to ongoing advocacy for public safety, parking, and other community needs. CHEER convened 50 Long Branch community members representative of the whole community to set goals and take actions related to housing and community development in anticipation of development of the Purple Line, a light rail public transit with two stations in Long Branch. The ELD program also engaged an average of 13 community volunteers per week in neighborhood food distributions for Long Branch at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School. In FY 2023 they distributed more than146,000 pounds of food to 716 different households. The weekly Food distribution provided opportunities to get information about community interests and needs and to share information about programs, opportunities, and resources. In FY 2023, CHEER continued to foster leadership through community-based gardening by providing about a dozen people who have no access to land to garden on space donated by other community members.
Camp Piney Branch is a free summer camp for Long Branch kids ranging in ages from kindergarten to middle school. The participants are all from schools where most students receive Free and Reduced Meals. 50 youth enrolled and participated in person over four weeks of camp sessions. Camp Piney Branch Summer Camp provided a safe environment for kids to explore social and emotional learning, develop good health and wellness habits, explore their neighborhood and develop strong leadership skills. The children engaged in a series of workshops, discussion groups, meditations, yoga, and other interactive activities to promote physical fitness, balance, self-regulating behaviors, positive engagement, social emotional learning and peer interaction The camp also included field trips to the Crossroads Farmers Market, a trip to the National Air and Space Museum and trips to a swimming pool.
CHEER acts as the fiscal agent for 2 unincorporated community organizations that organize community events and activities consistent with the goals of the community. These include Conexo (a group of community leaders serving the New Hampshire Estates neighborhood), and the Maple Tree Group ( a group of community leaders serving the Maple Avenue neighborhood in Takoma Park).