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The Navicates now have five satellite offices throughout Montgomery County offering localized assistance to those seeking social services. The Navicates help connect community members with the right services to suit their needs, and will help prepare them for the questions social service agencies might ask.
Souderton
Keystone Opportunity Center
104 Main Street
Souderton, PA 18963
Wednesdays 9am-4pm
267-263-0048
Ambler
Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard
150 North Main Street
Ambler, PA 19002
Wednesdays 9am-12pm
215-784-5482
Lower Merion
Narberth Community Food Bank
201 Sabine Avenue
Narberth, PA 19072
Tuesdays 9am-2pm
610-278-3522
Pennsburg/East Greenville
The Open Link
425 Penn Street
Pennsburg, PA 18073
Tuesdays 8am-4pm
610-970-2979
The Center at the Open Link
517 Jefferson Street
East Greenville, PA 18041
Thursdays 8am-4pm
610-970-2979
To learn more about the Navicates program, download the Community Connections Flyer and Brochure, and feel free to give this information to pantry clients. If you have further questions, contact Turea Hutson, Community Connections Manager, at (484) 674-6562.
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The Peer Learning Circle assembled representatives from more than a dozen pantries last month to discuss their challenges and work toward establishing best practices. This meeting was the second in a series of three meetings led by Robin Rifkin from Act Against Hunger, who is fantastic at moving people through a room to make connections they otherwise would not have made. Pantry representatives came away with shared strategies to try at their own organizations. The next Peer Learning Circle meeting will be in early 2016.
Chelten, A Church of Hope, is hosting a trauma training on Saturday, November 14. This free event offers an accurate picture of poverty in the suburbs and aims to help volunteers serve the community with compassion. Register online at www.chelten.org or call the church office at (215) 646-5557.
The Bucks-Mont Collaborative is hosting an area-wide membership meeting on November 10. The Collaborative Advocacy Network (CAN), led by Donna Byrne and Joanne Kline, has been planning this meeting that will prepare us to be stronger advocates for the nonprofit sector as well as for our own agencies. This will be a highly interactive session. 10 to 11:30 am, Walton Rm., Community Partners Bldg., 2506 N. Broad St., Colmar, PA 18915.
On November 19, The Bucks-Mont Collaborative is also hosting a Community Summit on Trauma and Adversity (and what heals) with Sandra Bloom, MD. The meeting runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Normandy Farm Conference Center in Blue Bell. To register, please visit www.bucksmontcollab.org.
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Philabundance and Manna on Main Street debuted the produce hub on October 28! Although we were hampered by uncooperative weather, together we distributed more than 1,000 pounds of food to pantries in the Nutrition Coalition. Philabundance will continue to bring produce on a weekly basis to Manna on Main Street, and we’re excited to smooth out any bumps in the process so we can bring more food to Montgomery County.
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GRANTS: WHAT'S AVAILABLE?
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MAHN and the North Penn Community Health Foundation will be supplying MontCo pantries with some new equipment to help them improve their operations and better serve the community! Please take a brief survey and tell us whether your pantry would benefit most from a hand truck, shelving, a table scale, floor scale, or a laptop. Supplies are limited, but we’ll do our best to get everyone a new tool to help serve the community.
Many expressed enthusiasm for a Norristown-based volunteer network at the last meeting to discuss Catholic Social Services’ $10,000 grant from the North Penn Community Health Foundation. The group will meet again in November. If you’d like to be part of the discussion, contact Liz Peteraf at Catholic Social Services at 610.279.7372 or epeteraf@chs-adphila.org.
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COALITIONS: AROUND THE COUNTY!
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The InterCounty Food Network has postponed its November meeting due to scheduling conflicts. The next meeting will be scheduled for after the busy holiday season. For more information, contact Monica Oswald at foodcupboard@theopenlink.org.
The Nutrition Coalition will meet again in January 2016. Contact Julie McCabe for more information at Julie@mannaonmain.org.
Advocates Against Hunger will have their next regular meeting in November. Contact Kary LaFors at AdvocatesAHLaFors@aol.com.
The Eastern coalition is planning on meeting again in December. Contact Pat Druhan at pdruhan@cadcom.org to get updates about upcoming meetings.
That’s all, thanks everyone!
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