Programs

Healthy Choices
Damascus Gardens After-School Program- Rock The House
Online GED
Holiday Giving
School Backpacks and Supplies
Good Shepherd Financial Ministry

Healthy Choices

Healthy Choices is a program that helps women to make better choices in their lives in the areas of parenting, nutrition and life management. Healthy Choices meets on Tuesdays during the school year at the Damascus United Methodist Church. Healthy Choices provides a pre-school children’s program and a healthy lunch for all participants. We are working to provide the Healthy Choices participants with mentoring, education opportunities and other resources needed to thrive. Our hope is to teach Biblical principles that will help break the cycle of poverty, provide encouragement, knowledge and goals for a better life. This is a FREE class.

Healthy Choices will resume on Tuesday, September 20th at 9:30am. We meet in the Damascus United Methodist Church on the lower level. Please enter through the rear doors.

Needs:Child care from 9:15am- 12:45pm on Tuesdays. Come once, twice or more to provide love and care for infants and pre-school aged children.

To Register for Healthy Choices or to volunteer, please contact Debbie Tomlinson: 301-512-7879 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Damascus Gardens After-School Program- Rock The House

Faith Connections in coordination with Damascus Wesleyan Church and Damascus Church of the Nazarene, provide daily homework help, snack and leadership to elementary aged students living in the Damascus Gardens, Section 8 housing complex. This program provides a safe place for these young children to come after school, where they are encouraged to complete homework, participate in a Bible lesson, games and positive activities. Our hope is to keep these children safe and to teach Christian principles and to break the cycle of poverty and reliance on public support. RTH meets Monday-Thursday from 3:15-5:00. This is a FREE ministry offered to all school aged children living in the Damascus Gardens community.

Rock the House will resume on Monday, September 12th.

Needs: Volunteers; weekly, monthly or whenever your schedule allows. Snack donations (non-perishable snacks and drink pouches)

Contact: Shawna Offenberger 240-678-9060 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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GED

Faith Connections offers support for individuals seeking to obtain a GED online. Group classes with mentors are offered on Thursday evenings, at 7pm, at the Damascus Recreation Center on Oak Drive. This class offers support, encouragement and tutoring to students needing to take and pass the Online GED Test. This is FREE class.

Needs: Volunteers to assist with learning and provide mentoring and encouragement to participants.

Fall classes will begin on September 29th. Classes meet every Thursday evening from 7-8:30pm at the Damascus Recreation Center.

Contact: Debbie Tomlinson at 301-512-7879 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Holiday Giving

Faith Connections and Damascus Help provide coordination and distribution of Thanksgiving food baskets and Christmas meals and gifts to needy families in the greater Damascus-Clarksburg area. We work with the Montgomery County Volunteer Center as part of the county wide Holiday Giving program.

During the 2010 holiday season we managed the distribution of food and gifts to over 300 families in our area with the help from local churches, businesses, organizations and individuals. Together with the Damascus-Clarksburg community, we invested over 1300 volunteer hours and provided an estimated $65,000 in food and gifts to our needy neighbors. We are expecting and even greater need in 2011, with more than 300 families needing assistance.

Needs: Sponsors and donations are needed for the 2011 holiday season. Contact Jill Ochs: 240-994-8979 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in being a sponsor. If you would like to register for assistance, please call Damascus HELP at 301-253-4100.

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School Backpacks and Supplies

Faith Connections manages the annual collection and distribution of school supplies to needy children in the Damascus-Clarksburg school clusters. We work in coordination with school counselors, local churches, businesses and organizations to provide the necessary items to give these children a positive start to the school year. Through the generosity of our community, we provided 341 children with school supplies for the 2011 school year.

Thank you to everyone who donated dupplies, money and thier time to help us with the project.

Contact Jill Ochs This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 240-994-8979

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Good Shepherd Financial Ministry

Faith Connections provides financial assistance to families facing eviction, foreclosure or other financial crisis. We work in coordination with Montgomery County HHS, HOC, Damascus HELP and other agencies to provide assistance and referrals for families living in the greater Damascus-Clarksburg area.

Needs: Volunteers to return calls to our Helpline, 4-5 days per month. This is a volunteer-at-home position.

Contact: Debbie Tomlinson 301-512-7879 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it