Silver Spring Gets A D.C. Safety Net

Health-Care Center Branch Opens

For 20 years, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care has delivered health-care, education and social services to largely immigrant communities at its Adams Morgan clinic in Northwest Washington.

As such suburban communities as Silver Spring and Langley Park become increasingly diverse, Mary's Center has found itself serving more Montgomery County residents. So last week, the nonprofit organization opened a primary-care clinic in the Long Branch area of Silver Spring to expand the safety net for Maryland residents.

"We expanded into Montgomery County because so many of the people we see in the District have been displaced to Montgomery County and Prince George's County," said Maria Gomez, president and chief executive of Mary's Center. "We felt we needed to follow our patients closer to their homes."

Mary's Center is just the latest District-based nonprofit group to begin operations in the Maryland suburbs. The Latin American Youth Center, which helps multicultural youth and their families in education, employment, social services, advocacy and social enterprise, has offices in Silver Spring, Riverdale and Hyattsville.

In addition, CentroNia, a child-care center in the District's Columbia Heights neighborhood that provides educational and other services to low-income children and their families, expanded to Takoma Park.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said the influx of such organizations to Montgomery is "an affirmation of the needs."

"We're having now to respond to a myriad of needs in a county that people think is ultra-wealthy," Leggett said. "We can't do it all as government, and we need to have the partnerships."

Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery), who has long been an advocate for immigrant communities, said the opening of Mary's Center in Montgomery is "one of the most exciting things I have witnessed lately."

"This is a top-notch organization," Gutierrez said. "I don't know why it took so long, but I believe we are very, very lucky to have this here."

Mary's Center in Silver Spring will offer a full range of health-care services to residents in Montgomery and Prince George's, regardless of their ability to pay or whether they have insurance.

Services at the 3,600-square-foot facility, at 8709 Flower Ave., will encompass prenatal care, pediatric and adolescent health, adult health, and obstetrical and gynecological care.

Mary's Center has partnered with Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park to open the facility. Montgomery County also provided $205,000 to help pay for its renovation.