Shepherd's Table urges support for parking-permit bill to ease volunteer access in Silver Spring

Manny Hidalgo, executive director of Shepherd's Table, told the Montgomery County Council at a public hearing that the nonprofit needs an affordable parking-permit option to keep volunteers serving at its Silver Spring meal site.

"We have lost more than half of the available parking, leaving only 15 spaces for a building with 50 employees between us and interfaith works and dozens of volunteers and hundreds of meal and shelter guests," Hidalgo said. He described reliance on about 36 volunteers daily "—12 per meal service"—and said the loss of parking from construction at the Silver Spring train station has made volunteer access and logistics difficult.

The testimony was given on Expedited Bill 29-24, which the hearing notice described as a measure to "establish a parking permit rate for specialized service providers and authorize the Department of Transportation to review eligibility criteria and administer certain parking permits in the Silver Spring area." A transportation and environment committee work session on the bill is scheduled for February 3, 2025; the clerk announced that materials for council consideration must be submitted by close of business on January 27, 2025.

Hidalgo said Shepherd's Table has operated at Progress Place, 8106 Georgia Avenue, since 2016 in a building owned by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services adjacent to the Silver Spring B & O railroad station. He said construction of the Metropolitan Branch Trail at the station in November 2023 "significantly disrupt[ed] our operations" and that the group has asked staff to use Parking Lot 4 on Fenton Street, which he said is "usually about two thirds empty" but is a more burdensome and costlier option in inclement weather. Hidalgo said discounted staff permits under the proposal would make it affordable for Shepherd's Table staff to park in Lot 4, freeing on-site spaces for volunteers.

During a brief follow-up, a council member asked for confirmation of the proposed parking arrangement: "As you shared it, the concept under this proposal is for Shepherd's Table and Interfaith Works staff to park in the parking lot, and then have volunteers park on the property? Correct." Hidalgo affirmed the description.

No formal vote occurred at the hearing. The council record shows one registered speaker for the item and the public hearing was closed after testimony. The bill will proceed to the transportation and environment committee work session on February 3, 2025, as announced at the hearing.

Shepherd's Table served more than 168,000 meals in 2024, Hidalgo said, and the organization described its volunteer base as more than 3,000 annually.