Western Maryland Community Development Regional Meeting 

Please join the Community Development Network of Maryland (CDN), Interfaith Housing Alliance, Rural Maryland Council and NeighborWorks for the first meeting of community development stakeholders in the Western Maryland region.

The lunch meeting takes place on September 15, 2014 at noon at the Cumberland Ramada.  Check in and networking begins at 11:30am, with lunch and our meeting starting prompty at noon.

Community development stakeholders who have interest in Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederck Counties are invited to participate.

CDN wants to reach out and offer assistance in advocacy, information and training, and promotion of the industry to every community development organization in the state.  In addition, it is important to hear from practitioners in each region of the state to truly represent the industry in the Maryland General Assembly each year.  Forming regional coalitions, like others CDN has throughout the state, is the method for achieving this goal.

During this initial meeting, CDN will be introduced to those who don’t already know the organization, and hear from Richard Griffin, the Director of Economic Development for the City of Frederick, and Duane Yoder, Executive Director of Garrett County Community Action about the importance of such a coalition in this area.

We will also have a conversation about the community development needs in the region in order to understand what kind of training or resources CDN can provide (with NeighborWorks and other organizations’ help).  Last, we will have a conversation about the issues in the region that CDN could potentially assist with, and plan the next quarterly meeting.goal of this meeting is to begin the process of forming a regional community development coalition in Western Maryland to replicate the work being done in other regions throughout the state by CDN. 

The CDN is a statewide network made up of over 130 member organizations. CDN’s sole purpose is to engage, promote and strengthen Maryland’s community development industry, particularly the critically important nonprofit and community based organization members of that industry.