Dear Friends,
As we commemorate Pride Month, it is important to recognize that the journey towards equality and acceptance has been long and filled with both triumphs and setbacks. This month is not only a time to celebrate the vibrant and diverse LGBTQ+ community in Montgomery County but also a moment to reflect on the challenges that remain.
People who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender or intersex are our friends, our coworkers, our neighbors and our family. And we need to make sure we never lose sight of that, especially now, when so many people are working to strip them of their rights and their humanity.
When I was on the Takoma Park City Council years ago, we became one of the first municipalities in the country to require that our hospital grant visitation rights to gay partners, the same way they would to spouses or family. That may not seem radical today, but at the time, it was. And it mattered. We should not pull back from that.
Society has made a lot of progress in a short time, and we will not go backwards, which seems to be what the Trump administration would like us to do.
But what we are seeing now is deeply troubling. The Trump administration is attacking LGBTQ+ communities through executive orders, state-level bans on gender-affirming care and now through plans to defund specialized mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth, including eliminating the LGBTQ+ hotline from the national 988 crisis line. That hotline alone takes over 2,000 calls a day.
These are policies with life-and-death consequences. We know LGBTQ+ youth face higher risks of suicide. Cutting off support in the middle of a mental health crisis is cruel and dangerous.
With our federal government intentionally neglecting this community, it is important to acknowledge and share the resources of The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is an invaluable organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ youth through crisis intervention and suicide prevention services. If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal or in need of resources, please contact The Trevor Project hotline at 1-866-488-7386. We urge any LGBTQ+ individuals or their families who need mental health assistance to reach out to them for support.
During these regressive times, it's important for LGBTQ+ allies to reach out and speak up. Much of the progress we have seen over the past few decades has happened because more people, including straight people and even religious institutions that once rejected LGBTQ+ people, have shown tolerance, acceptance and inclusion.
I have been proud to stand as an ally and be visible in our support, even when it was unpopular. Even when it was illegal to be gay.
I have never understood how some people are incapable of seeing themselves as equals with all the same hopes and dreams that we have. They face challenges in society over their identity that no one else must face, all for something that is personal and has no impact on the rest of us.
Whether you are standing in a line, studying in school or working on your job, the identity of the person standing next to you should not be the defining factor by which you judge someone. It is illogical, irrational and wrong.
On my media briefing this week, the County’s LGBTQ+ liaison, Dr. Amena Johnson, said a significant portion of the community are immigrants, specifically because their identities put them at risk of discrimination and violence in the country where they were born and they came to the U.S.
She also discussed how the Trump administration used Child Abuse Awareness Month in April to equate the raising of transgender children as abuse, then went further, falsely calling it one of the most prevalent forms of child abuse facing our nation today.
Dr. Johnson shared this link detailing the executive orders executed by President Trump, taking aim at the LGBTQ+ community: kff.org/other/fact-sheet/overview-of-president-trumps-executive-actions-impacting-lgbtq-health/amp/
It is imperative that we remain steadfast in our support for the LGBTQ+ community, especially during these challenging times. By standing together in solidarity, continuing to provide resources and vocalizing our support, we can ensure that progress is not lost and that every individual, regardless of their identity, is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Immigrant Heritage Month
June is also Immigrant Heritage Month. Montgomery County is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse places in the country. That diversity did not happen by accident. It is the result of centuries of people coming here from all over the world to build a life and raise a family in a country that offered the hope for a better life that didn’t exist in the countries they came from. The notable exception to that, of course, were the human beings from Africa who were unwillingly brought here to be slaves, and the Native Americans who were here before us and who had their land stolen and their freedoms erased.
Today, more than one-third of our residents are foreign-born, and over 162 languages are spoken in our schools. That includes immigrants from El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, China, the Philippines, Cameroon, South Korea, Guatemala and many others. When I was a kid in the sixties, only five percent of County residents were immigrants.
I hope you have noticed the campaign our County is part of to support immigrants. Here was one of the first posts. It emphasizes how they belong in our community. I hope you share it on your social media channels and spread the word.
When we talk about immigrant heritage, we’re not just talking about Latino, Asian or African communities. Immigrant roots run deep across all backgrounds — including white residents whose families came here from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, England, France and Russia – basically from all over Europe, and dominated the pool of immigrants. As late as 1960, 75% of all of America’s foreign-born population came from Europe.
This country has always depended on immigrants. That is a historical fact. And that is why it is so frustrating, and frankly dishonest, that the Trump administration is framing and generalizing all immigrants as public safety threats, and essentially criminalizing immigration.
Throughout our history, new immigrant groups of white Europeans faced discrimination and acts of hate. It was not uncommon in American cities to find communities segregated by their country of origin – Irish, Italian, Greek and so on. They were not only segregated, but the communities fought each other and experienced the same anti-immigrant sentiment we see today from other nationalities and the larger domestic protestant groups.
Even Catholics were once one of those groups singled out by hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Jewish people have experienced antisemitism since coming here. Over time, the battles between European communities lessened as the newer generations more fully integrated into America. Immigrants are now again scapegoats being blamed for all of society’s problems. This is a sad tactic that has been repeated throughout history.
Last week, the federal government put Montgomery County on its so-called “sanctuary jurisdiction” list. Let me be clear: We are not violating federal law. We cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in cases involving serious and violent crimes. That’s been our policy, and we’ve followed it consistently.
But we don’t believe in helping criminalize people just because they’re undocumented. And we’re not going to turn our police into immigration agents. That’s not their job, and it doesn’t make our community safer. While we cannot interfere with federal immigration enforcement actions, we also will not be silent about the repercussions it is having on our County.
This is all a political stunt designed to scare people, divide communities and blame immigrants for problems they didn’t create. What it actually does is make victims less likely to report crimes, make workers more vulnerable to exploitation, and create fear in families who are just trying to live their lives.
I’ve heard stories from several departments across the County that undocumented residents are increasingly staying away from community events and not accessing food, health care and other essential services. I understand the fear. Many immigrants don’t distinguish between federal, state and local government, and given what’s happening nationally, I can’t blame them for being cautious.
But we need people to know they can trust Montgomery County government. We’re not here to target anyone; we’re here to serve. We can’t afford to have children miss school or families avoid medical care and food assistance out of fear.
We hope to reach the individuals and families who have understandably gone into hiding with this message: you are welcome here, and you will be treated with dignity and respect.
Immigrants in Montgomery County make up over 40% of our workforce, including nearly 70% of the construction industry, 65% of transportation and warehousing, and large shares of our health care, hospitality and retail sectors. They are more than 10% of our STEM workforce and 7% of all business owners. In 2019 alone, immigrant households in our County had $562 million in spending power and paid over $219 million in taxes.
They are helping build our economy, just as immigrant communities have always done. We are proud to stand with them, not just this month but every day.
Montgomery County Hosts Annual Homeless Memorial
We held the annual Community Homeless Memorial this week in Rockville. It gave community leaders and loved ones the opportunity to come together and reflect on the importance of ensuring a home for everyone in Montgomery County.
Every year, people die while they are experiencing homelessness, and during the ceremony, we acknowledge their journeys and remember their presence in our community. This year we commemorated the lives of 56 individuals who died in 2024 and 2025 while experiencing homelessness.
We are grateful that we live in a community with compassionate leadership that seeks to provide everyone with an opportunity to thrive. This memorial serves as a poignant reminder of the critical need to make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring.
We know that homelessness can decrease the average life expectancy by at least 25 years. Sadly, so many of the people named during the ceremony died too young. Their passing underscores the profound toll that instability can take on lives.
In Montgomery County, we believe shelter is a human right. The increasing cost of necessities makes stable, affordable housing unattainable for many in our community who struggle daily to maintain a roof over their heads.
Data from the most recent Point in Time Count survey illustrates how many more families are impacted by homelessness today. We saw a 32% increase overall, including a troubling 80% increase in the number of families in need of a stable place to live.
Many factors contribute to these figures, including the rise in evictions since pandemic-era moratoriums lifted, high rent prices and the end of the Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds.
Even in a tough budget year, our budget prioritized housing, including affordable housing and permanent supportive housing. We continue our work, helping more families find shelter and providing the support needed.
We want the individuals and families experiencing homelessness to be acknowledged, heard and visible. That means working quickly to help them deal with the issues that led to a loss of housing.
In the last few months, we have seen success with the Short-Term Housing and Resolution Program, which provides a security deposit, the first month's rent and a rental subsidy for 12 months. We have successfully assisted more than 100 households move into permanent housing, and navigators provide support to help households maintain their housing.
The County offers rental assistance, but too many families in our community struggle daily to maintain a roof over their heads, and the increasing cost of necessities makes stable, affordable housing unattainable for them.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the Montgomery County Crisis Center at 240-777-4000. It is open 24 hours a day. Families in need can also reach out to the Department of Health and Human Services office closest to them:
- Rockville —240-777-4550
- Germantown —240-777-4448
- Silver Spring —240-777-3075
MCPD 6th District Police Station Grand Opening
The new 6th District Police Station in Gaithersburg is officially open. You can watch the ceremony on the County’s Facebook page. It serves Montgomery Village and surrounding communities.
The station will support police operations in a growing part of the County. To improve service, it will also house the Central Traffic Unit, investigative staff and a larger evidence facility.
The building also includes a community room that’s open and available to local groups. For anyone who has ever tried to organize a meeting or event in this County, one of the biggest hurdles has always been finding space to meet.
This station also reflects our long-term goals around sustainability. It is a net-zero energy facility that uses solar power, electrification and microgrid technology to reduce emissions and keep the building running even during power outages. This is the first public safety building in Maryland—and one of the first in the country—designed to meet this level of performance.
I want to thank our Department of General Services for its work on this project. Two years ago, there was nothing here. Today, we’ve got a modern, sustainable facility that improves public service and lowers our environmental impact.
Bethesda Named One of the Best Places to Live in the U.S.
We also got some good news this week: U.S. News & World Report ranked Bethesda #21 in the country and #2 in Maryland as one of the best places to live. You can see how Bethesda was scored here.
Bethesda has a lot going for it—low unemployment, strong household incomes and access to transit that most places lack. Nearly 20% of residents commute by transit, compared to about 4% nationally. It’s a walkable, connected place with good schools, jobs and services.
Being one of the best places to live also makes it one of the hardest places to stay affordable. We have been working to address that. One of the most important examples is the work we did to preserve affordable housing at the Battery Lane Apartments. I talked about it in this article published in Bethesda Magazine and discussed how developers tried to leave us in an affordable housing deficit in this Montgomery Update.
That project protected more than 200 existing affordable units right in the heart of Bethesda. And I want to remind people that a previous Council and the Planning Department approved plans that they knew would reduce the number of affordable units while vastly increasing the total number of apartments. This was a way to get more luxury apartments built.
We worked with the Housing Opportunities Commission to ensure that redevelopment didn’t mean displacement and that longtime residents could stay in the neighborhood even as the area changed.
Battery Lane is a good example of the kind of approach we need, not just in Bethesda but across the County. We need to preserve what we have and build more housing that’s accessible to working families, including people in education, health care, hospitality and public safety.
We’ve got more projects in the pipeline focused on walkability, open space and a mix of housing options. While Bethesda gets a lot of attention, I want to acknowledge that Rockville and Germantown were also named among the top 250 best places to live—and last year, Fortune magazine ranked Silver Spring first in the country to raise a family.
Montgomery County continues to be recognized as one of the most diverse and livable places in the U.S., and that reflects the hard work of our residents and businesses. I think it is important for us to promote these accolades because they help drive economic development. Business owners and executives want to move or expand to communities that they also want their family and the families of their employees to want to live in.
Second, these accolades combat the negative narrative, from a cabal of well-funded individuals, very often developers (but not all developers) who raise and spend millions of dollars, stating that this is a “County in decline” and that our best days are behind us for their own selfish political and economic reasons.
You need to be aware of this because it is a tactic being used to argue that they should get more tax breaks and be held responsible for building less infrastructure if we hope to see new growth. In their plan, their tax bills go down and yours go up. It is a simple equation – what they don’t pay, falls on you or the schools and infrastructure don’t get built. I disagree with this premise, and clearly, national publications disagree with it as well. We do not have to sell out County residents in order to continue to grow our economy.
So, despite this nice acknowledgement for Bethesda, we can’t afford to coast. We need to keep working to make sure that this County is affordable, connected and inclusive. That’s why we have put so much work into affordable housing solutions around the County and development deals like the one announced last week around the North Bethesda Metro Station. These are signs that we are not just growing but growing in the right way.
Community Events and Celebrations
I have happily recovered from being sick and have been busy since then.
Health care was at the forefront of an annual event on Saturday in Germantown, hosted by the African American Health Program (AAHP). The AAHP Community Day is in its 11th year, helping our community understand how to prevent chronic illnesses and maintain good health. This year's theme was “Take Control of Your Health and Wellness–Prioritize You and Be Empowered.” There were many community partners on hand to help deliver information and provide steps the community can take in response to high blood pressure, elevated sugar levels, early heart disease and more. More information is on the AAHP website at aahpmontgomerycounty.org.
On Sunday, thousands came out for the Invent the Future Challenge at the Kid Museum in Bethesda. I was able to meet with a few of the judges, who got an up-close look at the wonderful student projects that showcase STEM skills in our region. I am encouraged by the corporate and civic engagement in programs like this and believe it will help better prepare our students for tomorrow's workforce, whether they go to college or not.
Also on Sunday, many in the Long Branch community celebrated the unveiling of the new canopy at the Long Branch Library that will offer a better outdoor gathering space for community groups and activities. I want to thank our Maryland delegation for recognizing the need and securing the funding for the canopy. The public also deserves a lot of credit for determining a need in the community and working with local and state partners to see the project to completion. We are here to serve you, but we need your cooperation to help us understand the needs of each of our communities.
Across Montgomery County, you can always find something to do from the Taste of Wheaton to the Farm Bureau Picnic, which I also got to be a part of last weekend. Please use resources like visitmontgomery.com to find out what's going on throughout our area that you may want to enjoy.
Eid al-Adha Greetings
I’d like to acknowledge Eid al-Adha and extend warm wishes to all those celebrating here in Montgomery County and around the world. The holiday began today, June 6, but most celebrations will continue for the next few weeks.
For Muslims, Eid al-Adha is a time of deep reflection, sacrifice and compassion. It is a time to care for our neighbors and give generously to those in need. These values are not only central to the holiday but are also reflected in the strength and spirit of our County.
To everyone observing Eid Mubarak, may this holiday bring peace to all of us. I wish you good health and happiness.
As always, my appreciation for all of you,
Marc Elrich
County Executive
