Director’s Corner

As school gets out, both the temperatures and the needs in our community are rising – as are those in our community working together to support our neighbors struggling to make ends meet. MUM is seeing an increasing number of neighbors seeking emergency financial assistance to stay in their apartments and homes and to keep their utilities on. In the last few months, we have also had a number of families coming to us after their utilities were already disconnected. Since the beginning of 2026, we have spent over $20,700 more than last year at the same time and worked with a growing number of partners to address the large rental and utility bills of our neighbors. The impact of our support is significant:

• Over $32,000 helped to prevent 44 households from being evicted.
• Nearly $38,000 prevented 55 households from having their utilities disconnected.
• Utilities were restored to 5 households with $4,250 in assistance. 

Funding for MUM’s emergency financial assistance programs comes from several sources:  Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services Support to End and Prevent Homelessness office, Interfaith Works, Adventist Community Partnership Fund, the Cloudbreak Foundation, local faith communities and many individual donors. The Healthcare Initiative Foundation helps to fund our part-time caseworker who responds to requests and referrals for assistance, does intakes and processes financial assistance applications, makes referrals and provides neighbors with information and connections to other assistance providers. Given that the county budget was even tighter this year, we must raise additional funds this year to be able to keep pace with the rising needs in our community. We hope you will support us in that effort!

Lastly, As MUM celebrates our 30th anniversary, we are engaging in a strategic planning process to guide our programs and operations in our next decade. Below we share some of the results and we look forward to sharing more on our strategic plans in the coming months. I want to thank you for continuing to support MUM’s efforts to expand our emergency financial assistance program and strengthen connections to other resources to enable more of our neighbors to avoid evictions and utility disconnections and get on a path to stability. We couldn’t do our work without you!

In Gratitude,
Dayna Brown
Executive Director

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Adventist Community Partnership Funds Support to MUM’s Emergency Financial Assistance Programs

The Adventist HealthCare Community Partnership Fund is a valued funding partner for our emergency financial assistance program. Through this grant, MUM provides at least 15 households with emergency financial assistance for rent and utilities to help them maintain stable housing and essential utilities. Financial assistance was MUM’s first program and remains a critical component of our work today. 

MUM has helped many neighbors for the first time, like the mother who lost her federal job last fall and is caring for her autistic son on her own. With rental assistance from MUM to prevent her eviction, and new SNAP benefits to help keep food on the table long-term, she and her child were able to stay safely housed as she worked to get back on a stable pathway. We helped another mother who regularly shops at our food pantry and whose husband recently had a stroke, leaving her with little money to keep the lights on in her home. These are just a few of the challenges many of our neighbors are facing.

As housing and utility costs continue to rise, many Montgomery County families face difficult choices between paying rent, keeping the lights on, and meeting other basic needs. The need for eviction prevention and energy stability remains significant. According to the 2025 Point-in-Time Count conducted by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, 1,120 Montgomery County residents were experiencing homelessness on a single cold night this past winter. While this represented a small decrease from the previous year, the data underscores the importance of programs like ours that help families remain stably housed before a crisis occurs. MUM’s financial assistance program provides a critical safety net for households at risk of eviction, utility disconnections, and homelessness. 

MUM is grateful to the Adventist HealthCare Community Partnership Fund and our many other funders and supporters whose investments help neighbors navigate financial crises and maintain stability during these difficult times.

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Feedback is Critical to Our Strategic Planning

In May, MUM held a half day retreat with our Board of Directors and staff to revise our vision and mission statements and to set goals for the next three years, with facilitation by Jackie DeCarlo, former CEO of Manna Food Center. As part of our strategic planning process, Jackie helped us to develop surveys and we interviewed neighbors who shopped for food at our food pantry and who had received emergency financial services, as well as volunteers, staff and donors to get their feedback on their experiences with MUM and input for our planning.   

Respondents were overwhelmingly satisfied with our programs and services, and they also offered some suggestions of additional assistance we could offer and ways we could improve our services. Below are two samples of the impact MUM’s work is having and the positive feedback we received from neighbors who received food and emergency financial assistance: 

“My overall experience was great, it was handled by [MUM’s caseworker] in the most perfect timing and in a very efficient fashion. I really enjoyed working with her. I still have to seek out assistance to get the rest of the balance down but MUM really went above and beyond my expectations.”

“Mum was really a lifesaver at a time of need. I truly thank MUM because the help was in a timely fashion and my MUM rep was helpful and kind and got me through a really rough time.”

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Support MUM on TogetherTuesday, June 23rd

TogetherTuesday is a national day of community action and kindness on June 23, 2026. Created by GivingTuesday in partnership with Be The People, it serves as a mid-year counterpart to GivingTuesday, focusing on direct actions and local connection rather than just monetary donations. Anyone can participate by performing small acts of kindness and generosity in their neighborhood. Some ways you can get involved and support MUM include: 

• Organizing a food, diaper, and/or feminine hygiene products collection drive.
• “Growing a row” for MUM in your home garden and donating extra produce to our food pantry.
• Volunteering with MUM in our food pantry or community-based distributions.
• Helping MUM with data entry, fundraising, communications, IT help, and other organizational tasks. 
• Sharing your skills by serving on MUM’s Board of Directors or committees.

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MUM Merchandise! 

Remember that we can now support MUM through our merchandise shop! A portion of every purchase of shirts, blankets, water bottles, mugs, journals, luggage, and more supports MUM’s work in the community. Order at MUM Merch Store or use the QR code and browse. Click on your selected item, choose item color, and select the best logo design for that color. Next, choose design placement, then size (if applicable). Add to your cart and checkout! Thanks for supporting MUM in this simple and fun way!

MUM Store QR Code