Our Story
SHC programs now reach more newcomers, but our purpose remains the same – to connect newcomers to programs and services in their community and to bridge gaps and remove barriers that prevent newcomers from accessing existing resources.
Solutions in Hometown Connections (SHC) began in late 2015 when a small group of friends, neighbors and connections came together to respond to the need for increased support of the local refugee community, beyond what resettlement agencies were able to provide.
The group received a request for tutoring from a Syrian woman who was alone and isolated in her new community. She did not know how to sign up for free English classes at Prince George’s Community College, and she was convinced those classes were only for men, since she had never seen women commuting to the class. She had always observed groups of men commuting together to learn English. Our group agreed to tutor her, teach her how to ride the bus, and help her register for the next class session. She was able to complete the English classes at PGCC and today she has a successful catering business.
SHC programs now reach more newcomers, but our purpose remains the same – to connect newcomers to programs and services in their community and to bridge gaps and remove barriers that prevent newcomers from accessing existing resources. By 2017, interest among volunteers and requests for help had grown significantly and an organized, structured approach to help volunteers engage with newcomers led to the formal establishment of SHC.
Our group of dedicated volunteers observed women and their preschool aged children becoming isolated and increasingly vulnerable after arriving in a new community bereft of the traditional familial and cultural support systems they left behind. Heads of households begin learning about their new community through work activities; school-age children attend school surrounded by teachers and friends; while women and preschool-aged children stay in the home, often resettled in communities that are not walkable, without convenient public transportation, and as a result they have no way of being introduced to local resources and services such as public libraries and programs through local schools designed to engage the wider community. Challenges to engage in a new community are layered, and learning English can be the largest and most intimidating barrier.
SHC began with the goal of helping women connect to the community, and during our first 3 years as a non-profit, we did this by visiting clients in their homes and developing personal relationships with every family we were connected to. This naturally led to the creation of group meetings in community spaces, to allow the women we were working with an opportunity to connect to each other, but also a time to be introduced to community spaces like libraries, community centers and schools.
During the pandemic, we shifted all of our programming online. Surprisingly, this allowed us to provide higher quality English language instruction, tailored to the needs and levels of our students and led to a significant increase in demand for our programs. In some cases, we found we were able to reach even more isolated families through online classes. In 2024, we are able to blend both approaches and offer high-quality English instruction online to carefully leveled groups of literacy learner students, while offering in-person opportunities to engage, request help and practice English conversation in community spaces.
Our work with vulnerable and isolated women led to increased growth and recognition as the pandemic began to abate. In 2021 we were awarded a partnership with the Maryland Office for Refugees and Asylees (MORA) to continue our work with students facing barriers to engage in their new community and learn English. This opportunity also allowed us to create our first Mobile classroom unit. Our Mobile classroom can take us to spaces where we cannot use a partner location. We currently offer “Welcome Workshops” in our Mobile classroom in 6 different locations multiple times per week across Montgomery and Prince George’s County.
Recognition of SHC’s work in the community led to funding by MORA, Prince George’s County, Montgomery County and the state of Maryland for SHC programs. In 2023, SHC’s citizenship program was recognized with a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS, to further develop our comprehensive Citizenship preparation program. SHC worked hard to build reputable, high-quality programs and to present quantitative and qualitative data to win the support of these grant awards. The majority of SHC’s funding is derived from federal government grants. Following our contractual obligations under these grant agreements SHC hired staff, expanded our office and has grown our programs to meet our goals and serve local families. In 2025 SHC has a staff of 30 individuals, almost ½ of our staff are new Americans and for several individuals, it is their first employment experience ever. Our staff have the same goals as the newcomer families we serve: to get an education, to buy a home, to provide for their children.