Maryam Naz, a single mother, has long struggled to find a job and support herself and her baby. But she fears the federal shutdown will only make her life harder. Since 9-month-old Zohan was born, Naz has relied on the Upcounty Hub, a food pantry and resource center in the Upcounty Regional Services Center in Germantown.

“If I can’t get benefits from the Upcounty Hub or the government, I don’t know what I’ll do,” the Clarksburg resident said on a visit to the Hub on Wednesday, just hours after the shutdown began. “People are losing their jobs at the same time that I am looking.”

County leaders and members of Congress also showed up at the Hub on Wednesday to highlight how local governments are addressing the needs created by the Trump administration’s reduction in federal jobs and programs. Since January, Maryland has lost more than 15,000 federal jobs.

U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney, who represents the upcounty region of Montgomery County as part of the state’s sixth district, led the tour.

“More than 30,000 of my neighbors are expected to lose Medicaid coverage under the Republican plans, and we cannot allow this,” McClain Delaney said during a press conference following the tour. “Our children and our families deserve better.”

More than 2,000 people receive services at the Upcounty center every day, according to county officials. The center provides health screenings, housing support and job search assistance, among other services.

“This center is the model of what is at stake and the services that are at stake, and that’s why we’re going to continue to fight,” said U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), one of about five members of Congress who joined the tour.

Grace Rivera-Oven, founder and chief executive officer of the Upcounty Hub and member of the Montgomery County school board, told U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) that it does not require clients to file paperwork to receive food. This lessens immigrants’ fears that their personal information would be shared with federal immigration officials looking to make arrests, she said.

“When we have our own kids born and raised on this beautiful land, scared to play on the playground … that is more than cruel,” Rivera-Oven said.

At-large council member Gabe Albornoz said he’s concerned that the number of people who need the food pantry will spike during the federal shutdown. Local food banks have also faced ongoing challenges amid grant funding cuts and tariffs.

“We have to think about the collateral damage if this is extended for days or weeks or, God forbid, even months,” Albornoz said.

Naz didn’t know that members of Congress would be touring the hub but said she hopes they gained an understanding of its necessity. She gets food from the pantry, but on Wednesday she was there to donate. Now that she breastfeeds Zohan, she said, she doesn’t need the unopened cans of formula she brought with her.

“I thought, why can’t I help other babies?” she said. “If I can get some help, why can’t I help others, too?”

And she encouraged others who need the Hub to use it.

“They will help you as much as they can,” Naz said. “You don’t have to be ashamed.”