About Us

Purpose

  • NNIA provides new neighbors 2 types of support: journey support and emergency support.
  • Needs of Individuals and Families nominated to receive NNIA journey support are reviewed by the Steering Committee. Those deemed most in need are communicated to member NNIA faith communities to see if volunteer teams can be formed to provide the needed support. 
  • Individuals and Families are referred to NNIA for journey support via faith communities, social workers, government agencies and nonprofit agencies.
  • NNIA will also provide one-time emergency support to individuals or families with a single need such as financial support for rent, help finding a job, applying for food assistance, applying for a green card, etc. These needs do not require the formation of volunteer teams. The new neighbor in need applies for NNIA support and the Steering Committee reviews the needs and allocates resources where possible.
  • The individual faith communities will raise funds where possible to help meet specific financial needs of the new neighbors for both journey support and emergency support.

NNIA Steering Committee

Chris King – St. Francis of Assisi – Derwood

Brad Harvey & Sherry Nason- Temple Beth Ami – Rockville

Bob Cooke & Clara Estrada – St. Rose of Lima – Gaithersburg

Deb Eisenberg – Congregation Or Chadash – Damascus

Girma Tsegaye – Ethiopian Orthodox Community

Marc Breslaw – Kol Shalom – Rockville

Participating Faith and Community Organizations

St Francis of Assisi Derwood, MD
Temple Beth Ami
Congregation Or Chadash
St Rose of Lima
Gaithersburg Beloved Community Initiative

Background

  • Since 2017, more than 20 Montgomery County faith communities have helped hundreds of immigrants, including refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented families and individuals.
  • We originally provided this support to refugees in concert with other local faith communities coordinated through Montgomery County Interfaith Refugee Resettlement Neighbors (MCIRRN) with the Islamic Center of Maryland (ICM) leading the organization.
  • MCIRRN is no longer active and several of the original interfaith community members have established a new organization to continue and expand this work
  • The new organization is the New Neighbors Interfaith Alliance (NNIA)