News

A huge thank you to the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland for investing $30,000 of their Reparation Grant fund in two of HARC’s racial Justice initiatives – the Washington County Black Professionals Network and the Equity in Education Scholarship. We are extremely grateful for the Episcopal Diocese’ support of these efforts to foster diverse teachers and economic prosperity for African Americans in Washington County, MD. Photo: Father Todd Young and Tania Anderson represent HARC’s board and Racial Justice Team to accept the award.

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, located at 601 Washington Avenue in Hagerstown, has over 100 Samsonite padded metal folding chairs free on a first-come, first-served request(s). Please contact the church office at 301.733.7550 if you are interested in any or all of the chairs.

Kudos to 17 people who completed the HARC Challenge Hike on Saturday, May 13! It rained nearly all day, but everyone kept their spirits up and made it to the finish, enjoying camaraderie and the beauty of the Appalachian Trail. Thanks to everyone who participated for making this a great hike, and raising more than $9,000 for HARC and Micah’s Backpack!

Top individual fundraiser this year was Becky Fritz with $1,450!! Tammy Love came in just behind her with $1,210!  Walking on Sunshine was the top fundraising team with $1,065 raised for the cause by Trish O’Brien, Karen Ziska-Beckley and Ethan Roberts.  Thanks to everyone who did fundraising for this event!

Thanks also to our awesome support team! Jonathan Harris helped lead the hike, Sue Wert provided the fabulous food (with special desserts made by Elaine Rose), and Sue Wert and Kyle Powderly met everyone at stops along the way with food, drink and transportation.

HARC’s goal is to raise more than $30,000 total with this event and the June 10 hike. It’s not too late to sign up for the June 10 hike – a 4K, 10K or half marathon on the C&O Canal towpath.  Learn more at https://harccoalition.org/hike/.

See more pictures from the Challenge Hike on our HARC Hike Facebook page.

Visit the Challenge Hike Wall of Fame to see some pictures from past hikes.

The Interfaith Roundtable with Rabbi Mark Perman

For the first half, Rabbi Mark is joined by fellow Hagerstown Area Religious Council members Rev. Jonathan Harris and Ashlee Harris of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They talk names and assumptions about members of their faith as well as their community and charity work. You can find out about volunteer opportunities at https://www.justserve.org/.  The second half features a chat with another HARC member, Father Todd Young of St. John’s Episcopal Church. They discuss the openness of the Episcopal Church and how Father Todd navigates their message in the modern world.  Listen to the podcast.  Listen to The Interfaith Roundtable Saturday mornings on 98.9 FM/AM 1490 WARK or catch the podcasts here.

HARC has three upcoming opportunities for area congregations to work together to provide activities for children in the community:

1. Juneteenth celebration, Saturday, June 17, 10 am – 3 pm. Will your congregation commit to 1 hour of a children’s activity of your choice?  contact Kathy at director@harccoalition.org or 301-842-4272.
2. Fun children’s camp to strengthen families (theme TBD), August 14-18, 9-3 each day. Come together with other congregations for a shared children’s camp, serving children in your own congregation as well as the community. Committed congregations and volunteers wanted. Contact Ashlee at jon2ash@gmail.com.
3. Joint VBS with other churches once per week in the evening for 4 weeks. Contact Rev. Doug Hoffman, revdhoff@gmail.com/  301-733-0391

The Refugee Welcome Network (RWN) of Washington County continues to actively work with six Afghan refugee families, with a goal of helping them become stable and self-sufficient and ensuring they feel welcomed in our community.  Three families are documented, seeking green cards, and the others are all asylum seekers working on documentation.  Three families are close to losing housing as CAC emergency rental assistance has run out 3 months earlier than expected.  All of the families need jobs to become stable and productive, as they all very much want to be.

Housing:  Does a church have a parish house that could be used for housing for a family?  Or does anyone have a house or apartment sitting empty that could be used to house a family for free or low-cost?  Currently families are paying $850+ for apartments they simply can’t afford (nor can the RWN).

Family Highlights & Jobs:

• Ahmad Shah & Mary are documented with work permits. They have four children ranging from 3 to 10 years old and Mary is pregnant.  Ahmad has a software testing background and his English is pretty good.
• Dr. Fawad is documented and worked as a pediatrician in Afghanistan.  While he can’t practice medicine in the U.S. yet, he hopes to find a job in the medical field, but will take just about any work right now. His English is fair.  His wife, Nargis is already working, but can’t earn enough for them to survive.
• Meraj & Sabera are seeking asylum and won’t be eligible for a work permit until 6 months after it is filed, but they are desperate for any work they can get.  They have two small sons, ages 1 and 4.  Meraj was a local mayor in Afghanistan. He loves painting and is very good at it; he’s working on a temporary private painting job right now, but needs more work, and he also wants to give back by volunteering in a local park.  Sabera was a teacher and women’s rights advocate in Afghanistan and loves to read and study. Both are working on their English, but have a ways to go.
• Aref & Freba are seeking asylum and also won’t have a work permit until 6 months after their complicated paperwork is filed. They have a son and daughter, ages 1 and 3.  Aref was a journalist and was also, at one time, involved in directing construction. He likes to sew and says he is a tailor who taught sewing to students. Friba is a nurse who had worked in a hospital.  Aref is currently helping on a farm one day per week, and Friba isn’t working at all. They both are eager to work. Their English is improving, but have a ways to go.

Other needs:  There are several small children who have an ongoing need for diapers.  Grocery gift cards are a big help, and the families would also like to buy some halal meat, which is not available in our food pantries (Alkhair Halal Meat and Groceries on Dual Hwy is a good source).  All of the families have international drivers licenses and would like cars as public transportation is limited.  Donations toward financial needs can be made through the HARC website and designated RWN.

If you can help with any of these needs, please contact Kathy at director@harccoalition.org or 301-842-4272 or Pam at pfbradford@myactv.net.