Faith, Film, and Friendship: The Bridge-Building Vision Behind Young Folks of Kemp Mill

​Samantha Noland, a Silver Spring filmmaker and civic educator, has founded Young Folks of Kemp Mill, a grassroots initiative building community among Jewish young professionals through Shabbat dinners, cultural events, and interfaith gatherings that bridge Orthodox, Conservative, and secular communities in her Maryland neighborhood. As a Shabbat Clusters coordinator with the Edlavitch DCJCC since 2022 and recent program instructor at Close Up Foundation teaching civil discourse, Noland applies relationship-building practices across multiple contexts—creating belonging in transient urban environments, exploring identity and acceptance through filmmaking, and equipping students with dialogue skills for navigating political differences. Her work emphasizes that regular gatherings and authentic connection across religious and cultural boundaries build the relational infrastructure necessary for democratic participation, addressing social isolation and polarization through community-level engagement. This grassroots organizing advances NCDD's mission by demonstrating how practitioners strengthen civic life through sustained relationship-building, bridge-building across difference, and creating spaces where diverse individuals develop the trust and empathy necessary for collaborative problem-solving and democratic resilience.

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Samantha Noland, a Silver Spring filmmaker and civic educator, has launched Young Folks of Kemp Mill, a grassroots community-building initiative that brings together young Jewish professionals through Shabbat dinners, cultural events, and interfaith gatherings in her Maryland neighborhood. Noland's work bridges religious and secular communities, creating spaces where Orthodox, Conservative, and unaffiliated Jewish young adults can build friendships and connections beyond traditional communal boundaries. Her WhatsApp group has grown to 75 members, with events ranging from Menorah Mingle during Chanukah to informational sessions on Jewish matchmaking traditions, all designed to foster belonging in a city where transience often prevents lasting relationships. Beyond community organizing, Noland recently joined Close Up Foundation as a program instructor, where she helps students engage in productive civil discourse, extending her commitment to dialogue and civic engagement from her Jewish communal work into broader civic education.

Noland's community-building philosophy emphasizes that connection across difference strengthens democratic life and counters social isolation. As a Shabbat Clusters coordinator with the Edlavitch DCJCC since 2022, she has facilitated monthly Friday evening meals that have created enduring friendships among participants, with the group growing to 25 attendees, including a core group that has gathered together for years while remaining welcoming to newcomers. Her approach reflectsthe  belief that regular gatherings provide anchoring points in transient urban environments, building the relational infrastructure necessary for people to feel rooted in place and community. This philosophy extends to her independent filmmaking, where projects like "People-Pleaser"—which follows a young woman coming out as bisexual during Shabbat dinner—explore themes of acceptance, family dynamics, and the tensions between tradition and individual identity.

Noland's work demonstrates how grassroots relationship-building creates conditions for civic participation and democratic engagement. By fostering spaces where people from different Jewish backgrounds and observance levels can connect authentically, she addresses polarization and social fragmentation at the community level. Her transition to civic education at Close Up Foundation represents a natural extension of this bridge-building practice, applying dialogue skills developed through communal organizing to help young people navigate political differences constructively. The combination of cultural organizing, film storytelling, and civic education illustrates how practitioners strengthen democracy through multiple channels—creating belonging in neighborhoods, processing complex identities through art, and equipping the next generation with skills for productive disagreement and collaborative problem-solving./

Read more: www.washingtonjewishweek.com/kemp-mills-samantha-noland-takes-lead-on-uniting-local-young-professionals/