Interfaith Works (IW) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit that provides emergency shelter, supportive housing, essential needs, and employment programs to over 35,000 residents of Montgomery County, MD, every year.

Our Mission: To support our neighbors in need by providing vital services and a pathway to greater stability.

It’s that time of year: the Interfaith Works Clothing Center is buzzing with activity as our volunteers fill brand new backpacks with school supplies to distribute to young students later this summer.

The backpack drive is an important campaign with a big impact in the lives of families served by IW, and we ask for your support to ensure young learners start the school year right.

Backpacks are just one way we help families ready for school. This campaign also provides families with free clothing and home goods through our IW Clothing Center, groceries through our IW Food Pantry, and assistance with utility bills and rent through IW Connections.

These programs respond to the totality and individuality of our neighbors’ evolving needs. IW’s approach for over 50 years has been meeting people exactly where they are.

In fact, the backpack program often can be the starting point that brings families in our doors. From there, conversations happen and connections are made that lead to help, and to hope.

For parents who lost their jobs during the pandemic and cannot feed their families, the IW Food Pantry is there.

For people whose hours have been reduced and are facing the possibility of eviction or utility shutoff, the IW Connections program is there to find solutions and close those gaps.

And of course, families and individuals know they can count on the IW Clothing Center for regular access to free clothing and home essentials in addition to new backpacks filled with school supplies.

IW Volunteer Deb Marks assesses clients who need help from IW’s Connections Program, which links neighbors to various forms of assistance depending on their needs. She says what made the biggest impression on her is the sense of gratitude people express when they realize there is someone listening, and help is coming. Some have encountered unexpected crises that suddenly left them with little or nothing.

“It just really speaks to the challenges and unpredictability of life,” she says.

With your support, we can make a big impact in the lives of the families we serve. Our families need you – for backpacks, for bedding, for rent and utility assistance, for food.

Will you be there for them so they can find stability

in the face of the challenges and unpredictability of life?

As always, thank you for your steadfast support of Interfaith Works’ vital programs to help our neighbors find a pathway to stability.

We hope to assist 2,500 children with new backpacks this year, so your support will be essential in achieving our goals.

Here are a few of the comments from families helped by Interfaith Works, thanks to your support:

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If you’d like to donate supplies, here’s a link to the list: School Supplies List

Let’s work together to provide hope to the thousands of families who turn to Interfaith Works to help meet their basic needs. Help families in our community by making a donation today.

Give students the tools to believe, achieve, and succeed!

Team Members