Programs

• Healthy Choices
• Damascus Gardens After-School Program- Rock The House
• Friends in Action
• 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 September 21st, 2010.

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 ages children living in the Damascus Gardens community.

Rock the House will resume on September 20, 2010.

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.

Classes meet on Thursday evenings from 7-8:30pm and  Wednesday (time TBD) 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 InterFaith Works and the Montgomery County Volunteer Center as part of the county wide Holiday Giving program.

During the 2009 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.

Needs: Sponsors and donations are needed for the 2010 holiday season.  1-2  HG Team members to manage registrations and distribution of goods.

Contact Jill Ochs: 240-994-8976 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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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 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 over 255 children with school supplies and backpacks this year.

Thank you to everyone who donated and helped make this year's collection a success!

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, utility termination 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, 2-3 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

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