CommonSpirit Health Equity & Advancement Fund

Advocates for Victims of Assault 
Summit Advocates
Frisco, CO

Summit Advocates provides short-term resources which enhance the safety and justice for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault while promoting peace in our community through effective education and supportive programs. We operate an emergency safe house and a transitional housing unit, provide emergency hotel stays, a 24-7 crisis hotline, bilingual advocacy, emergency financial assistance, legal advocacy, access to mental health resources, and outreach and education.

 

Break The Silence
Fort Morgan, CO

Break the Silence uses music as a platform to bring communities together to start hard conversations. They hold multiple community events each year, including a Suicide Awareness Festival, to raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental health. They are currently writing a new peer lead trauma-based support and recovery curriculum for youth. They’ve started the Life Is Beautiful Series to host awareness events in more cities to reach others.

 

Community Compassion Outreach
Durango, CO

Community Compassion Outreach are in their fifth year of serving La Plata County unhoused adults and children with peer-run Safe Talks in Recovery. They help people survive and exit homelessness by providing access to services including education, training, free transportation to local medical and mental healthcare, air transportation to treatment, free storage, groceries and meals, and motel nights.

 

The Initiative
Denver, CO

The Initiative has been providing services to survivors of abuse who have disabilities in the state of Colorado for over 30 years. Their Direct Service Program works to educate clients on the rights and protections granted to them by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Victims Rights Act. The Initiative’s practice is rooted in safety, self-sufficiency, criminal justice support, and healing and recovery services. Their Outreach Program works to educate the community and other service providers to ensure that people with disabilities have access to essential services that will help them attain safety, self-sufficiency, and healing.

 

Face It TOGETHER
Colorado Springs, CO

Face It TOGETHER is an addiction wellness nonprofit that offers compassionate, data-driven peer coaching to persons 18 years and older with addiction and their loved ones. Peer coaches are wellness partners who provide knowledge, support and practical tools, all focusing on addiction-related risk factors. Face It TOGETHER is focusing on increasing support to LGBTQIA+ and military populations.

 

Servicios de la Raza
Denver, CO

Servicios de la Raza is the largest provider of free health and human services for low-income Latinos in Colorado. Born in the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, they serve thousands of individuals per year. Programs include healthcare services, benefits enrollment, behavioral healthcare, basic needs care, workforce development, financial literacy, HIV care, and an array of other support. All services are free and are offered in both Spanish and English.

 

LinkAGES Connects
Pine, CO

LinkAGES Connects prevents and reduces the loneliness and social isolation experienced by youth and older adults, especially those from vulnerable communities. They design, sustain, and support high-quality intergenerational programs to connect generations, decrease ageism, and support healthier communities. LinkAGES provides tools, educational resources, coaching, evaluation, and networking to over forty multi-sector collaborative partners in Colorado, the Mountain West, and beyond. They are evolving LGBTQIA+ programming for youth and older adults including Unboxed, a LGBTQIA+ intergenerational program which supports participant mental and physical health by creating spaces of belonging.

 

Project Angel Heart
Denver, CO

Project Angel Heart provides Coloradans living with severe illness to access to nutritious food that supports their health and well-being. They compassionately deliver comfort and support through high-quality nutrition services, including medically tailored meals, while also advocating for the principles of 'Food is Medicine.' They serve those living with cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and other severe illnesses throughout Colorado.

 

Southern Colorado Community Action Agency
Ignacio, CO

SoCoCAA empowers community members of all ages to recognize and reach their full potential by providing select programs and services in order to create better communities. Some programs are local to Ignacio, others, like their transportation program, are county-wide, and some are regional. Their current programs include, Ignacio Senior Center, Ignacio Youth Services, Peaceful Spirit/Multisystemic Therapy, Road Runner Transportation, Ignacio Early Learning Center

 

Sun Valley Kitchen and Community Center
Denver, CO

The Sun Valley Kitchen Community Center addresses food insecurity and economic instability in Sun Valley and surrounding neighborhoods by providing no-cost food distribution and workforce development programs for adults and youth. Sun Valley Kitchen Community Center was formed in response to residents' needs and has organically grown into a community-centered space. They provide a variety of programs, including a no-cost grocery program, youth professional development program, entrepreneurship program, employment classes, as well as academic support and cooking classes to help encourage youth towards healthy food choices.

 

The PLACE
Colorado Springs, CO

The PLACE connects youth aged 15-24 with emergency shelter, street outreach, daytime drop-in center, intensive case management, mental health and substance abuse treatment, medical care, education assistance, job readiness training, and affordable housing options. The PLACE steps in to provide services to an underserved population, with an awareness that between one-third to half of the young people it serves each year are LGBTQ+ and youth of color.

 

Therapist of Color Collaborative
Denver, CO

Therapist of Color Collaborative serves individuals and families of color with therapeutic services that are culturally responsive, culturally sensitive, trauma-informed, and delivered with compassion to advance racial equity in mental health settings. Their goal is to remove the stigma around seeking mental health and address racial injustices and the lack of access continually experienced in communities of color.

 

VIVE Wellness
Denver, CO

VIVE Wellness offers programs to communities in need in collaboration with local schools, churches, recreation centers and community organizations. Their programs focus on delivery of nutritious food, creative ways to address mental health, physical health, and skill and workforce development. Their migrant program works with newly arrived migrant families offering resources such as phones, transportation passes, job training, school enrollment, and a VIVE daytime school. Their approach is holistic, providing a range of wellness program options for both children and their parents that are culturally and linguistic appropriate and engaging.

 

Wild Plum Center for Young Children and Families
Longmont, CO

Wild Plum Center serves hundreds of children ages zero to five, offering a complete continuum of care and education, which includes prenatal and postpartum care for pregnant women. Wild Plum Center families are all below the federal poverty level and over eighty percent of the families they serve are from the Latino community. They offer individualized and comprehensive services to both the child and the family at no cost. Their educational services include cognitive, language and physical development, social emotional skill building, and school readiness skills. During the school day, each child receives a nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snack. Health services provide children vision, hearing, and dental screenings. Mental health services are provided to children and parents. Parents also receive instruction in parenting, nutrition, family literacy and other issue-based classes, such as domestic violence and drug/alcohol use.

 

Ascending to Health Respite Care
Colorado Springs, CO

Ascending to Health Respite Care provides acute and post-acute medical respite care for homeless individuals being discharged from the hospital who are too well to remain hospitalized, but too fragile to care for themselves in the shelter or on the street. They provide safe private shelter and access to personal hygiene, food, daily medical checks, coordination of follow up care, wound care, and access to primary medical care for acute, post-acute and chronic exacerbations.

 

Cancer Support Community Southwest Colorado
Centennial, CO

Cancer Support Community Southwest Colorado provides oncology nurse navigation and supportive care to patients and caregivers impacted by cancer diagnoses in Southwest Colorado. Their services and programs remove obstacles to care to improve health outcomes, especially for populations who need it most. They provide prevention and treatment related education, emotional and social support, and foster a community of caregivers and patients mutually supporting one another.

 

Centro de la Familia
Colorado Springs, CO

Centro is a non-profit organization that was created to address the gap in services to Spanish speakers in El Paso County and surrounding areas. Since its inception, Centro has played an important role in the preservation and healing of thousands of Latino families who have experienced emotional trauma and crime victimization. Centro provides culturally and linguistically responsive services, in English and Spanish, designed to holistically assist families to adapt, heal, and thrive in a new culture. Our services include but are not limited to mental health, personal and legal advocacy, crisis intervention, immigration support, and parenting education.

 

The PIC Place, Partners in Integrated Care
Montrose, CO

The PIC Place provides quality medical, dental, and behavioral integrated healthcare to patients of all ages. They provide access to care for those who, often because of limited financial resources, have gone long periods without a health home or have been overlooked or underserved. They work hard to meet their patients where they are, taking time to listen and empowering them with education and resources. By breaking down barriers, they help patients live their healthiest lives.

 

Food for Hope
Eastlake, CO

Food for Hope addresses the issue of childhood hunger prevalent in Adams County. While students in need are served through free/reduced school meal programs, many are not able to obtain enough food when not in school, putting them at increased risk for a multitude of negative outcomes. Food for Hope mobilizes the community to provide healthy nourishment through weekend food bags, school snacks, in-school food banks, and food boxes for Afghan refugees and unhoused populations.

 

Food Justice Northwest Aurora
Aurora, CO

Food Justice Northwest Aurora is building a multicultural, intergenerational, and intersectional movement for food justice and food sovereignty to transform their local food system in Aurora, CO. They strive to create a just, sustainable, and complete food environment by mobilizing people, organizations, and businesses, building community wealth, facilitating and nurturing strategic partnerships, and advocating for policy and systems changes. They are launching the Cultivate Aurora project with includes greenhouse production and educational programming with the first growing season in 2024.

 

GraceFull Foundation
Littleton, CO

GraceFull Foundation partners with GraceFull Community Cafe to cultivate a healthier, more connected and stronger community. GraceFull is a "pay what you can" cafe as we believe everyone deserves access to a fresh, healthy meal each day regardless of their ability to pay. Grace in Action meals are paid for up to 100% by GraceFull Foundation. In addition, the Foundation hosts daily volunteers and invests in resource connections for its cafe guests on the margins as well as community education.

Growing Home
Westminster, CO

Growing Home was founded in 1998 as a shelter program. Over time, they have deepened their understanding of homelessness as a multifaceted issue and made the intentional choice to sunset their shelter program and evolve into a multi-program offering. Today, Growing Home focuses on food security, housing stability, parenting education, and self-sufficiency and lifelong stability through collaborative coaching, case management, and resource navigation. Participants are 99% low-income and 67% Latinx.

 

Learning Zone at Real Life Colorado
Littleton, CO

Real Life Colorado empowers, supports, and connects individuals who are non-speaking or limitedly verbal to the resources they need to actualize a full and healthy “real life” through total immersion in an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) environment. They provide a unique, full-time academic program with a customized curriculum that supports students with intellectual and developmental disabilities who rely on AAC to communicate and learn from the world around them.

 

Maria Droste Counseling Center
Denver, CO

Maria Droste Counseling Center's provides accessible, community-centered, high-quality mental health counseling and clinical training regardless of an individual's ability to pay. Through direct service programs, they provide high-quality counseling on-site, via telehealth and co-located at schools and other community settings. Through its Clinical Training program, they are helping to build a highly skilled and diverse future generation of the behavioral health workforce in Colorado by recruiting and supporting diverse providers. This includes those who are furthest from opportunity, such as those that identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, immigrant, low-income, and living with a disability.

 

Minds Matter Colorado
Denver, CO

Minds Matter Colorado was founded with the sole purpose of ensuring that systemic inequities of college access are overcome by students who are up for the challenge. Their unique approach combines three years of mentorship with committed volunteers, weekly college-prep instruction, and access to summer programs at colleges across the country. As a result, 100% of their graduates complete high school on time and are accepted to four year colleges and universities with scholarships. The Minds Matter College Access Mentoring Program specifically serves low-income high school students, and 90% of their participants are students of color. They believe all driven and determined students should succeed, and income shouldn't matter, and they know the best way out of persistent childhood poverty is a college degree.

 

Savio House|
Denver, CO

Savio is a Colorado-based nonprofit organization that provides evidence-based interventions for treating families when behavioral and mental health problems have led to child welfare or juvenile justice systems involvement. Its programs are provided in the family’s home, with an emphasis on supporting children and youth by strengthening family relationships. Savio serves 2,000 Colorado families a year using Multisystemic Therapy (MST) as a preferred solution to help juveniles address mental health issues and adopt prosocial actions.

 

SWL Foundation
Colorado Springs, CO

SWL Foundation ignites a sense of purpose and connectedness for middle aged professionals and military personnel. These are the groups with the highest propensity of depression and suicidal thoughts. They do this with an established process starting with large group events designed to ignite and inspire which leads to training and one-on-one mentoring. They put on several IGNITE community events a year reaching a minimum of 1,000 people. These events are live and in person and will be used to create an environment that encourages, inspires, equips, and fosters action toward a life filled with hope, purpose and promise.

 

We Don’t Waste
Denver, CO

We Don't Waste increases access to healthy food and reduces environmental risks associated with food waste. The organization recovers quality excess food that would otherwise be thrown away and enter landfills and then distributes it to food-insecure families and individuals through Mobile Food Markets and a network of nonprofit partners. Last year, We Don't Waste recovered and distributed over 22 million servings of food, the equivalent of more than 5.5 million pounds of food.

 

The Five Star Education Foundation

The Five Star Education Foundation investments in educational services and programs to assist Adams 12 students in achieving their full potential. They focus on learning readiness, career exploration and post-graduate success, diversity, equity, inclusion in all schools and programs, and capacity building for innovative ideas within Adams 12 schools. They operate resource closets in the Adams 12 School District which provide fresh and non-perishable food, clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, and essential household items to the students of Adams 12 and their families. They serve an average of 5000 people a month with that number continuing to grow. The grant funding will support navigators who will help the children and families accessing the resource closets to connect with other needed community services.

 

WeeCycle
Aurora, CO

WeeCycle is working to narrow, and ideally eliminate, the gaps that negatively impact infant and toddler development as a result of generational poverty, lack of access, and inequalities in our state. WeeCycle’s target population is Colorado families of infants and toddlers experiencing hardship, including but not limited to poverty, homelessness, domestic violence, teen/young parent households and under-employment, as well as immigrant and refugee families. Their programs focus on serving those living in underserved and under-resourced communities across the Denver metro area and in more rural communities across the state. Their Mobile Baby Essentials distribution events provide age-appropriate meals of baby food and formula for infants and toddlers, diapers, wipes, clothing and other needed items specific to the distribution location. In the first quarter of 2023 WeeCycle distributed more than 90,000 infant and toddler-specific meals of baby food and formula.

 

Brother Jeff's Cultural Center
Denver, CO

Brother Jeff's Cultural Center fosters health, wellness, strength, and voice in the Black/African American community in the Denver metro area of Colorado through their community health, economic, and advocacy initiatives and activities. The Cultural Center has played a central role in addressing health and economic disparities in the Black community since 1994. Minority and other disenfranchised communities face hunger at higher rates than the general populations due to social, economic, and other challenges. Their program prepares and delivers nutritious meals to community members and families, including the elderly and homeless, and links community members to other needed social services. They maintain a daily onsite food pantry and each Friday have a free takeaway hot dinner featuring special guest chefs.

 

Catholic Charities of Central Colorado
Colorado Springs, CO

Catholic Charities has been providing quality services to vulnerable populations since 1968. They serve a 10-county area, but most of our work is in El Paso & Douglas counties. Programs are delivered with the goal to maintain or achieve stable housing, increase household stability, and improve access to services. Their major programs include the Marian House Kitchen and Marketplace, Family Connections, Hanifen Employment Center, Family Immigration Services, and Life Connections Counseling.

 

Chanda Plan Foundation
Lakewood, CO

The Chanda Plan Foundation was founded in 2005 by Chanda Hinton who lives with a long-term physical disability and experienced life-saving improvements through integrative therapies including massage, chiropractic, and acupuncture. The organization's purpose is to ensure access to these crucial therapies for anyone with a physical disability, regardless of ability to pay. In 2017, they opened the Chanda Center for Health, a comprehensive, person-focused, integrative health center for people with disabilities.

 

Heart Mind Haven
Littleton, CO

Heart Mind Haven is a Colorado based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the LGBTQIA community by providing critically needed supportive recovery and wellness services, including housing to individuals who are our most vulnerable and underserved community members. A significant percentage of those individuals housed at Heart Mind Haven are homeless and post-hospital and treatment discharges.

 

International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Denver
Denver, CO

IRC's mission is to help people whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict and disaster, to survive, recover and gain control of their future. Their vision is to lead the humanitarian field by implementing high-impact, cost-effective programs, and its current strategic plan focuses on improving health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power. The IRC in Denver opened in late 2016 and serves refugees, secondary migrants, humanitarian parolees, and survivors of torture. They run the Survivor Wellness Center to provide a safe and healing space where torture survivors regain their sense of self and power while recovering fully from the effects of torture.

 

Posada
Pueblo, CO

Posada provides housing and supportive services to homeless and at-risk of becoming homeless families, veterans, aging adults, and unaccompanied youth 18 through 24. This includes emergency shelter for 10 families, 32 units of veteran housing, 6 units for youth, 17 units for homeless aging adults, and 52 units of low-income housing that provide a safe, stable place to live where households can focus on maintaining their health, employment, and acquiring education to become self-sufficient.    

Family Crisis Center
Garden City, KS

Family Crisis Services provides quality advocacy services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault such as Protection from Abuse orders, support groups, and law enforcement advocacy, civil and criminal court advocacy and a 24/7 safe home for victims who are actively fleeing domestic sexual abuse. They provide prevention education for their community such as domestic and sexual violence education, teen dating violence, LGBTQIA 101, and self-esteem building. In 2022, Family Crisis Services staff assisted over a hundred victims in filing protection from abuse orders and protection from stalking orders. Minority and other disenfranchised communities face hunger at higher rates than the general populations due to social, economic, and other challenges. This funding request addresses food insecurity. Addressing food insecurity is paramount because of the adverse impact on health and health outcomes. The program will prepare and deliver nutritious meals to community members and families, including the elderly and homeless. We also maintain a daily onsite food pantry. Each Friday a free takeaway hot dinner will be served featuring special guest chefs. Other food giveaways are scheduled around other community events. The program will link community members to other needed social services.

 

St. Mary Catholic Church and School
Garden City, KS

St. Mary Catholic Church provides elementary education for children from preschool through 6th grade. The school has been in operation since 1941. The school’s mission is to educate the whole child, to serve, and to grow with God in accordance with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

 

Finney County Community Health Coalition
Garden City, KS

Finney County Community Health Coalition’s mission is to provide prevention services to the community members of Finney County. Their current work includes tobacco and vaping prevention education, tobacco cessation services, opioid overdose prevention, harm reduction, and data collection, chronic disease education, violence prevention, suicide prevention, health equity, food security, community resources and access to care.

 

Ford County RSVP
Dodge City, KS

Ford County RSVP serves as a clearing house for Ford County residents who desire to volunteer and make a difference. Local agencies have needs that are going unmet because of funding cuts and a lack of employees. Through the efforts of the Ford County RSVP, qualified volunteers can fulfill those needs. Project-based volunteer assignments are explored and volunteers with the skill sets necessary are matched to the project. The primary focus area of Ford County RSVP is Healthy Futures, volunteers are responsible for increasing social ties and support and will providing transportation to medical appointments, shopping, banking, and other necessary appointments, delivering meals, and conducting companionship visits.

Adopt A Native Elder
Salt Lake City, UT

Adopt A Native Elder was established in 1993 and serves traditional Navajo Elders with a goal to allow the Elders to age with dignity in their traditional way on their homelands. In that time, they have become a trusted humanitarian organization focused on reducing the extreme poverty and hardship facing traditional Elders living on the Navajo Reservation. In 2022 alone, they distributed more than 840,000 pounds of food, medical supplies, hygiene supplies, mobility equipment, incontinence supplies, clothing, and everyday necessities. Current programs include twice-yearly Food Runs to provide food staples and fresh produce to every Elder in the program, Food Certificates and Firewood Vouchers, which can be used to purchase food and over the counter medical items, and Yarn Program and Rug Show, which preserves the art of weaving Navajo rugs and selling them through traditional trading posts.

 

Alliance Community Services
Salt Lake City, UT

Alliance Community Services is a non-profit community-based organization serving the Hispanic Community in Utah to provide free or low cost resources for the underinsured minority in a culturally sensitive manner in Spanish. They are also the organization representing the Ventanilla de Salud at the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City.

 

Family Promise of Ogden
Ogden, UT

Family Promise of Ogden proudly operates a shelter and self-sufficiency program that houses and supports families with young children facing homelessness. Their program houses four families at a time, giving them safety and stability as they work intensively with a case manager. The program aims to help families in need regain their autonomy through obtaining employment and stable, independent housing. They also offer other services for people in need who fall outside of their main shelter.

 

Midvale Community Building Community
Midvale, UT

Midvale Community Building Community is a charitable medical clinic and family center that currently provides various low-cost or no-cost services primarily to low-income, uninsured recent Spanish-speaking immigrants in and near Midvale, Utah. These services include, among others, adult and pediatric primary and specialty medical care, adult and pediatric dental care, mental health, parenting and after school classes, food distribution from the Utah Food Bank and immigration legal services.

 

Navajo Strong
Lehi, UT

Navajo Strong currently serves the Diné by providing communities in poverty with essential supplies as well as supporting long-term projects. They aim to serve the Diné by bridging health gaps, including access to food, clean water, emergency supplies, education and well-being. They also distribute toys and books to families with children during the holidays as well as warm pajamas for elders in need at senior centers in the Navajo Nation. They also provide hands-on opportunities for young students to learn about science, technology, engineering, and math.

 

Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports
Ogden, UT

Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports has been passionate about elevating the lives of people with disabilities for the past 14 years. Their mission is to remove barriers for people living with disabilities through life-changing outdoor sports and recreation opportunities, fostering critical physical and mental health for marginalized populations. Their expertly trained staff and volunteers increase health equity for people living with disabilities through safe and accessible opportunities.

 

The Children's Center Utah
Salt Lake City, UT

The mission of Children's Center Utah is to provide comprehensive mental health care to enhance the emotional well-being of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families. They’re an affiliate of the National Childhood Traumatic Stress Network, they deliver a continuum of mental health care that focuses on the social determinants of health and inequities through outpatient clinical services, therapeutic preschool, early childhood consultation and training, workforce development, and public awareness and policy advocacy.

 

Red Barn Farms
Farmington, UT

Red Barn Farms is a free, two-year life skills academy that helps justice-involved, adult males find recovery from substance abuse and successfully reintegrate from a criminal justice setting back into the community through vocational training, education, and continuing care services.