The Sandbox: June 2026
Neighbors Connecting Neighbors: Community Ambassadors Bridge the ECE Resource Gap
By Emma Covas
It’s no secret that early care and education (ECE) resources in Montgomery County can be complex and difficult to navigate. Many of these programs offer a critical lifeline to families who need care for their children, but too often, families are unaware that they exist or are overwhelmed by the application process. To bridge this gap, the Children's Opportunity Alliance recently launched the Neighborhood Ambassador Initiative, a pilot program designed to help families identify and access early childhood resources and supports. The initiative was developed during the Common Agenda process in response to needs expressed by parents, caregivers, and community partners. This pilot reflects our commitment to strengthening ECE through grassroots efforts and community-driven solutions that ensure that families have a voice in the decisions that affect their children.
The Neighborhood Ambassador Initiative advances a key Common Agenda goal: training local navigators who can connect families to resources in culturally responsive and accessible ways. The initiative trains trusted community members to build knowledge about ECE resources available in Montgomery County, becoming ambassadors within their community. By sharing information through everyday conversations with neighbors and by building relationships within the community, ambassadors help bridge the gap between families and the services available to support young children and their caregivers.
The Alliance partnered with CHEER, a nonprofit organization serving the Long Branch community, to recruit the 10 ambassadors who participated in the pilot. Over seven two-hour sessions, ambassadors explored key topics, which included:
early education programs
subsidies
child development
family support resources
at-home literacy and language learning, and
strategies for building strong relationships with educators
The ambassador title serves as formal recognition of the dedication they show to their communities. As one ambassador shared, “The information shared with all of us strengthened me in my role as an ambassador.”
Through November, ambassadors will continue connecting with families through everyday, in-person conversations, and will track the number of households they reach through their outreach efforts. The Alliance will use the results of this pilot to refine and expand this initiative, with the goal of reaching as many families and communities as possible across Montgomery County.
This initiative was born through community effort, and we want to integrate feedback and input as we expand. Please fill out this survey to tell us which communities might benefit from Neighborhood Ambassadors.
Emma Covas of Bethesda is a summer intern with the Alliance. She is a rising junior at the University of Vermont studying psychology.