The Thriving Jeffco grant is a responsive grant opportunity designed for nonprofits to share ideas and projects they believe will help Jeffco communities thrive. We believe thriving communities happen when our neighbors are living fulfilled lives, are meaningfully involved in their communities, and are connecting with, appreciating, and supporting each other.
Funding Goal
Colorado Gives Foundation provided unrestricted, one-year grant support to Jeffco serving organizations focused on advancing Jeffco Thrive metrics that complemented our strategic impact work in response to other community needs. Specifically, we were looking for organizations working in these impact areas:
- Essential Needs
- Economic Prosperity
- Resilient and Connected Neighborhoods
- Civic Engagement
Congratulations to these grantees!
40 West Arts – $35,000
Located in Lakewood, 40 West Arts helps Jeffco thrive by bringing public art, parks, free amenities, and youth programming to underserved communities. Committed to equity in the arts, 40 West Arts is free-of-charge and open-to-all. They work closely with the City of Lakewood to address issues of equity, need and the changing demographics in the municipality and are a cornerstone in the community. They are expanding efforts by infusing art into the areas of education, volunteerism, community engagement and creating a sense of belonging while improving neighborhood resilience and health.
A Little Help – $20,000
A Little Help helps older adults thrive by empowering members to age well in their homes and communities by connecting them with neighbors of all ages who volunteer to perform services and provide companionship. Services include help with transportation, yard and home chores, technology help, snow shoveling, and care calls, while volunteers forge meaningful intergenerational connections. They are working to further support access to health mental health (adult-focused), food security, volunteering, participation in groups or events, improving built environments, and build community.
A Precious Child, Inc. – $30,000
A Precious Child serves children challenged by poverty, abuse, neglect or crises, providing food, clothes, toiletries, school supplies, educational opportunities and access to extracurricular activities. Through their Cradle-to-Career initiatives, families receive support and assistance with finding childcare, affordable housing/rent assistance and mental health support referrals.
Adaptive Adventures – $25,000
Adaptive Adventures provides progressive outdoor sports opportunities to improve the quality of life for children, adults, and veterans with physical disabilities and their families. They are serving Jeffco residents with increased access to inclusive outdoor sports programs on bike paths, climbing gyms and outdoor areas, and in regional parks and state parks in the county.
AgeWise Colorado, Inc – $5,000
AgeWise Colorado connects older adults and their adult children/caring friends with essential and effective services, information, and education to help people age well and wisely as they age in place.
All Access Wellness – $5,000
All Access Wellness creates equitable community access to integrated wellness services, particularly for rural mountain areas of Jefferson County.
Angelica Village – $20,000
Angelica Village creates community living spaces that support each person’s humanity, bringing hope and healing to the world for community members who have experienced war, violence, and homelessness. They are creating new opportunities to connect community members with volunteers who can support career advancement, financial planning and entrepreneurship, and engage young adults in culturally appropriate community events, leadership roles and involvement in community decision making.
Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado – $50,000
Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado is one of the first mental health counseling centers in the nation to use teams of professional therapists and their therapy animals to facilitate the counseling process. Having just opened a new six-room counseling wing, they are expanding to serve more clients and reduce waitlists by providing quality care and opportunity for success.
ARC Thrift Stores Inc – $25,000
The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. They serve Jeffco with seven locations.
Archway Housing & Services, Inc. – $100,000
Archway Communities elevates lives by providing access to affordable housing, food security and the supportive social services people need to meet their goals. Archway Communities is a BIPOC-serving Community Housing Development Organization providing housing and related supportive services in Jeffco that engenders a safe environment and teaches community skills for families with very low to moderate incomes. They have five sites in Jeffco and are working to expand services.
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities – $25,000
The Arvada Center celebrates and elevates the human condition with engaging arts, humanities, education, and entertainment that expand the cultural landscape for everyone. They are working to increase equitable access to arts, culture and performances for underserved children and families.
Avante Garde – $5,000
Avante Garde (AG) helps Colorado’s emerging artists achieve financial stability and creative fulfillment by overcoming challenges of economic insecurity and mental health pressures. They are expanding services in Jeffco by hosting art shows and providing platforms for artists to showcase their talents.
B.I.O.N.I.C. Team – $45,000
After four suicides at a high school in Jeffco, the B.I.O.N.I.C. Team was started to empower young people to reach out to students going through difficult times in hopes of preventing them from spiraling into more serious issues, including suicide. They are working to expand programming in the county by focusing on youth mental health, civic engagement, and leadership to promote more connected communities.
Balon USA – $40,000
Balon USA provides high-quality, low-cost, after-school soccer opportunities for underserved communities. They are expanding in Jeffco by adding two to four additional teams at new schools and soccer programming up to 400 students.
Bayaud Enterprises Inc. – $50,000
Bayad Enterprises creates hope, opportunity, and choice for people with disabilities and other hurdles to get and enjoy jobs. Through employment, they help underemployed or unemployed adults rebuild from homelessness and rejoin the mainstream of community life through financial stability and self-sufficiency.
Benefits in Action – $35,000
Benefits in Action provides education, navigation, and application assistance to help our neighbors applying for healthcare and community benefits such as Medicare, Medicaid, Connect for Health Colorado, SNAP, disability funds, unemployment and more. They are working to support healthcare providers, educators, mental health providers, social workers, and others who provide services for the unhoused, including scholarships for Secondary Trauma Resiliency Training.
BeyondHome – $100,000
BeyondHome offers support for families to become self-sufficient. They focus on strengthening programming and improving housing. BeyondHome explores healing through partnership with ShopWorks Architecture and DU’s Graduate School of Social Work to complete a trauma-informed design report that helps create housing specifically designed to calm the autonomic nervous system of trauma survivors. Beyond Home is focusing on two capacity initiatives to strengthen programming and improve housing in Jeffco.
Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity – $15,000
Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope. They operate a thriving ReStore in Evergreen that offers household items including furniture and appliances, and a minor home repairs program serving older and low-income homeowners in Jeffco.
Bondadosa – $30,000
Bondadosa believes everyone has a right to fresh, healthy food. They partner with non-profits to drive innovation, create job opportunities, and build a food system that serves everyone, making nutritious food an option for everyone. Their delivery system brings fresh food to neighborhoods and reduce food waste by donating surplus food to food banks, schools, and local charities. To support increasing need, they are building internal capacity in their warehouse and adding technology to improve processes.
Boy Scouts of America – $25,000
The Greater Colorado Council is working in Jeffco to build social capital and create a sense of belonging. They are creating engaging, affordable, and enriching opportunities for young people by equipping and empowering them to become leaders through life experiences, service, and adventure.
Brown Bag Ministries Inc. – $2,500
Brown Bag Ministries supports neighbors through a mobile food bank that meets families where they are, providing food, basic hygiene and much needed household items to families in transition, seniors, veterans, and low-income communities in Jeffco.
CASA of Jefferson and Gilpin Counties – $15,000
CASA recruits, trains, and manages volunteers who serve as independent lay advocates for children who are victims of neglect and physical and/or sexual abuse.
Cat Care Society – $5,000
Cat Care Society’s mission is to be a safe and enriching place for all cats on their journey to loving homes. With compassionate care, shelter, adoption services and community engagement, they provide temporary care for people unable to care for their cats due to unexpected events.
Catholic Charities and Community Services of the Archdiocese – $50,000
Catholic Charities operates Marisol Homes in Jefferson County to deliver trauma-informed, evidence-based programs and comprehensive support services to pregnant and single mothers, and their children. Through their efforts, single moms and their children are connected to permanent housing to provide the stability they need and to break their cycle of homelessness and create economic security, health and well-being that can pass from one generation to the next. Residents receive culturally and linguistically relevant services including mental health and case management, resources/referrals, and enrichment classes that provide life skills to empower these mothers as they address the root causes of homelessness, establish an income, and transition into stable housing.
Centennial Community Church/Waterstone Food Pantry – $2,500
The Waterstone Food Pantry exists so those in our community who are hungry have access to free, healthy and nutritious food. Their aim is that every shopper who visits the food pantry leaves with the food they need and the dignity they deserve. They are working to meet increasing demands in Jeffco.
Center for African American Health – $15,000
The Center for African American Health empowers the Black community to make informed health decisions that benefit the whole person through education, collaboration, and advocacy. Their Strengthening Families program provides culturally responsive services in a safe place, without judgment, paying attention to the specific needs and experiences of Black families. They are expanding the program in Jeffco by offering additional Strengthening Families cohorts.
Center for the Arts Evergreen – $25,000
With a focus on equitable access to arts in rural mountain communities, Center for the Arts Evergreen is attracting new audiences and taking services off-site to where the need is greatest. Like many mountain organizations, they are the only community art center serving the rural mountain areas of Jeffco. They value the importance of meeting the community where they live with free programming for children and adults on themes like Arts and Mental Health, SafeZone LGBTQ+ allyship training, and Diversity in the Arts.
Chalkbeat Inc – $5,000
Chalkbeat works to improve the school experience for all children through access to quality education, information, and news. They are working to nurture community connections and civic engagement.
Chicano Humanities & Arts Council, Inc. (CHAC) – $5,000
CHAC gives local artists a platform to display their art, be it visual, musical, performance or written. Focused on the West Colfax Corridor 40 West Arts District, their efforts work to provide Jeffco residents with a connection to each other through the arts.
City of Golden – $25,000
The City of Golden provides navigators to support an increasing number of unhoused people and connect them to resources.
City of Lakewood – $25,000
The City of Lakewood Municipal Court and Probation Department serves Jeffco in pursuit of promoting public safety and empowering positive change. The Municipal Court implemented a Community Outreach Court to bring court services to the community, partner with community-based resources, and provide opportunities for those experiencing homelessness to access important services.
City of Wheat Ridge – $25,000
The City of Wheat Ridge Homeless Navigation Program is part of a Jeffco-wide collaborative effort to address homelessness in our communities. They work to make contact, build rapport, and provide basic need support to people experiencing homelessness. For some, the pathway to housing is fairly straightforward, requiring minimal logistical or financial help from our program. For others, the process is much longer and more winding. They help people navigate the system of services through a single point of entry.
Colorado ACTS – $5,000
Colorado ACTS empowers children to develop theatre skills to the full extent of their talents and abilities and brings quality theatre to the community. Every student gets an on-stage role, and Jeffco residents have increased equitable access to arts and culture.
Colorado Kids Belong, Inc – $20,000
Colorado Kids Belong is working to dramatically improve the experiences and outcomes of kids in foster care so they can thrive in safe and loving families. The need for their services continues to grow in Jeffco.
Colorado Latino Leadership Advocacy Research Organization (CLLARO) – $35,000
CLLARO empowers Latinos through leadership development, advocacy, and policy research to strengthen Colorado. They are working in Jeffco to engage Latinos in civics and help them achieve their fullest potential.
Colorado Poverty Law Project – $35,000
Colorado Poverty Law Project helps prevent homelessness through legal representation, education, and advocacy. In Jeffco, they are focusing on preventing homelessness by providing free legal advice and representation, legal clinics,and young adult programs, and housing navigation services.
Colorado Safe Parking Initiative – $15,000
Colorado Safe Parking Initiative is a community driven initiative to provide a safe environment for people who are sheltering in vehicles because they’re experiencing homelessness. Through SafeLot services, guests can find their way into stable housing and continue to contribute to the community. In Jeffco, SafeLots are operated by faith community hosts and volunteers to create a welcoming community journey to housing.
Colorado School of Mines Foundation – $10,500
The Colorado School of Mines Foundation is working in Jeffco to meet an increased need for support for students struggling with food and housing security.
Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition – $25,000
The Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition supports marginalized communities of families and childcare providers to build leaders, train families and providers, and change systems to help children succeed in school and beyond.
Colorado Youth for a Change (CYC) – $50,000
CYC addresses barriers to learning by providing individualized support throughout pivotal stages of students’ education journeys. They collaborate with Jeffco Public Schools to provide in-school tutoring (PreK-8 grade), dropout prevention, and school reengagement services (9-12 grade), to ensure that students are on track in school and graduate. Most recently, their efforts center on educational recovery, given the pandemic’s widespread impact on Jefferson County students and families.
Commún – $50,000
Commún was founded in a Southwest Denver living room when community leaders came together to discuss the growing need to address gentrification, displacement, and a lack of community gathering space in our neighborhoods. Through community meetings, resident trainings, and a growing sense of belonging and mutual support, Commún supports community power to meet collective needs.
Community Economic Defense Project – $35,000
The Community Economic Defense Project partners with low-income and working people to build economic and racial equity. In Jeffco, they are working to provide legal assistance and connect residents to stabilization resources.
Community Table (Arvada Community Food Bank Inc) – $30,000
The Arvada Food Bank distributes food to hungry families through a Client Choice Pantry. Their hunger-relief efforts include home delivery for home-bound seniors, mobile pantry sites and weekend food for schoolchildren through the Feeding the Future program (FTF). They are increasing the capacity to repair and maintain the fleet of vehicles used to transport food from distributors and to community distribution.
CrossPurpose – $50,000
CrossPurpose is working to abolish economic, spiritual, and relational poverty career and community development. Through their CrossPurpose Leader program, they empower neighbors as they move from generational poverty to generational wealth in Jeffco.
Cuenta Conmigo – $8,000
Cuenta Conmigo is a partnership with Jefferson County Public Health’s Maternal Child Health team and the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition to support Latinx communities with maternal mental health programs.
Denver Family Institute Inc – $5,000 Denver Family Institute (DFI) works to strengthen relationships in our community through quality marriage and family therapy (MFT) training and services. They are expanding their Resource Navigation program in Jeffco to provide dedicated case managers to help connect people with local rental assistance programs, food pantries, transportation options and employment services.
Denver Indian Family Resource Center – $50,000
Denver Indian Family Resource Center is strengthening vulnerable American Indian and Alaska Native children and families through collaborative and culturally responsive services. They serve Jeffco Indian families by providing school supplies, food, cash/gift cards, mental health care, and personalized resource and referral services.
Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) – $35,000
DUG provides access, skills, and resources for people to grow healthy food in community and regenerate urban green spaces. They are working to expand the impact of its Grow a Garden program in Jeffco to support 18 DUG gardens located in high corridors of need.
Easterseals Colorado – $20,000
Easterseals Colorado (ESC) supports equity, inclusion, and access for people with disabilities, their families, and caregivers by enhancing opportunities for wellbeing, expanding employment, and elevating community with programs for all ages.
Edgewater Collective – $25,000
Edgewater Collective works to cultivate partnerships for thriving Edgewater neighborhoods, schools and businesses. They are working to create a cohort of diverse leaders to life community voices by equipping them with skills to serve on boards, committees, councils that can create more inclusive policies in Jeffco. They are also co-creating a toolkit and trainings for families to help them create more inclusive spaces for all.
Evergreen Christian Outreach – $100,000
Evergreen Christian Outreach assists people in our community with basic and urgent needs to help them realize their potential on their path to self-sufficiency. As demand for services continue to grow, staff and volunteers are moving more than 50,000 pounds of food through the pantry each month and many Jeffco residents rely on them as their primary source of food. They are working to serve a waiting list of 100 households and provide food to rural mountain residents.
Evergreen Players – $12,500
The Evergreen Players create professional quality theater to inspire, engage, and entertain. They offer performances that involve professional and amateur volunteers of all ages and walks of life on state, and behind the scenes. They also work to provide drama camps and educational programs to help aspiring theater artists the opportunity to develop their skills and talents.
Explore and Discover: A Reggio Emilia-based Child Care Center – $20,000
Explore and Discover (E&D) is a Reggio Emilia-inspired childcare facility for children ages six weeks to three years. They are working to support their teachers and parents so they can enable children to explore their world through play.
Faithfully K9 Service Dogs – $2,000
Faithfully K9 Service Dogs trains individuals with disabilities, including PTSD, mobility, and hearing, to train their own dogs to become service dogs. By providing these services at no cost to veterans, first responders and civilians, they transform lives.
Family Tree – $50,000
Family Tree partners with all people to prevent and overcome the interconnected issues of child abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness to promote safety, healing, and stability across generations.
Feel the Beat Corp – $15,000
Feel the Beat is a dance studio for ALL. We have developed a curriculum that incorporates sign language, visual tactile integration, drumsticks and our revolutionary vibrational dance floor that uses bone conduction technology to assist the Deaf or Hard of Hearing in feeling musical vibrations. Vibrotactile flooring combined with a specialized curriculum, including American Sign Language and other visual and tactile cues, allows participants to experience music’s beat, bass, texture, and dynamics through physical sensation while receiving dance instruction.
Foothills Art Center – $130,000
Foothills Art Center is Golden’s cultural community hub offering access to art for everyone, every day through free admission, accessible exhibits, and classes, and by creating opportunities for creativity and connection with others.
Foothills Regional Housing – $50,000
Foothills Regional Housing works to create vibrant, stable communities in areas of opportunity via bold and strategic initiatives, and to provide families and individuals with housing options driven by compassion and respect throughout Jefferson County.
Fresh Food Connect – $25,000
Fresh Food Connect works to build a more equitable, healthy, and resilient food system by connecting gardeners with their communities. Their innovative and unique approach uses technology to mobilize gardeners and redirect an untapped resource– homegrown food, to support hunger relief efforts and reduce food waste. On a mission to make homegrown food within reach, they’re growing partnerships with local gardeners with food distribution organizations to provide more healthy food assistance.
Friends of Dinosaur Ridge – $40,000
Dinosaur Ridge educates and inspires wonder in visitors of all backgrounds about the science and history of the fossils and natural resources found at Dinosaur Ridge, Triceratops Trail, and related paleontology sites. With a strong commitment and urgency to preserve the fossils and natural resources for future generations, they offer programming, tours and outreach for an increasing number of visitors. To support these efforts and a growing visitor rates, they’ll be adding replica fossil casts and making improvements to the visitor center and grounds. Dinosaur Ridge is also incorporating Language Justice in the accessibility of their facilities, using art, culture and science to steward a sense of belonging for all their visitors and volunteers.
FrontLine Farming – $50,000
FrontLine Farming is a food justice and farmer advocacy group led by women and People of Color. They engage in food production and education and grow high quality, organic food that supports fair wages for our farmers. Food is distributed through sales to a network of restaurants and institutional purchasers, sliding scale sales at farm stands and donations to a variety of non-profit partners.
GoFarm – $50,000
GoFarm uses a system approach to strengthen our local food system (the process of how food gets from Colorado farms to our plates, and everything in between). They focus on how food is grown by supporting local farmers, mentoring beginning farmers, increasing the supply of sustainably grown food. They influence how food is distributed by connecting community members, institutions, and food pantries to local agriculture. They increase access and affordability of food by making sustainably-grown food more accessible and affordable in our community. They build community by bringing people together through events, storytelling, education, workshops, markets, and more.
Golden Backpack Program, Inc. (aka BGOLDN) – $100,000
The Golden Backpack Program is working to increase food security in the Golden community through their Fresh Food Pantry, Grocery Delivery Program, and Nourishing Success School Program.
Golden Visitors Center – $10,000
Uniquely located in the heart of Jeffco, the Golden Visitors Center works collaboratively to position Golden as a premier destination in Colorado. Through a robust volunteer program, they foster community connections that for wellness and thriving.
Growing Home Inc. – $35,000
Growing Home works to advance equity in food, housing and parenting education to create lifelong stability. Their food pantry distributes nutritious and culturally-relevant food to residents with limited access to reliable food sources or transportation. And, they provide Jefferson County residents with immediate rent, mortgage, and utilities support while working with individuals and families to develop personalized success plans to keep them stably housed.
Habitat for Humanity Metro Denver – $20,000
Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope. They are working in Jeffco to support affordable homeownership, specifically in Wheat Ridge.
Hands of the Carpenter – $30,000
Hands of The Carpenter offers hope to working single women with dependent children, while providing automobile services, partnering in their efforts to remain employed and work toward economic self-sufficiency. Through services that include vehicle evaluations, repairs, placement of donated vehicles, and on-going maintenance they help women and their children thrive because reliable transportation gives them the ability to take children to school or childcare, access vital services such as grocery shopping and medical appointments and stay safe from abuse.
Home Builders Foundation of Metro Denver – $15,000
Home Builders Foundation builds independence, provides opportunities, and elevates lives for individuals and families with disabilities in our community. Their work in Jeffco includes projects like widening doors; installing grab bars, hard-surface flooring, and ramps; renovating bathrooms; and installing other accessibility features. HBF typically completes two work items for each client to mitigate mobility and accessibility challenges, based on the individual needs and circumstances of each client.
Hope House of Colorado – $75,000
Empowering teen moms through educational and economic self-sufficiency for teen moms is Hope House of Colorado’s mission. With educational assistance and High School, GED, and College & Career Programs, their support nurtures healthy relationships with personal growth classes, licensed counseling, legal advocacy and financial literacy. Their Early Learning & School Age Program focuses on literacy and social-emotional development, early intervention services, and school-age support for the children, including a Parenting Program.
Inner City Health Center – $75,000
Inner City Health Center provides healthcare for underserved individuals through physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. Services in Jeffco include comprehensive family healthcare for all ages by integrating medical, dental, and behavioral services for overall wellness.
Intervention, Inc./C3 – $50,000
Intervention, Inc. provided in-home Detention monitoring for criminal justice agencies in Jeffco and throughout Colorado. Through their C3 program (Community Connections Center), they make it easier for clients in Jefferson County to access the resources and services they need in one place and foster sufficiency by creating accessible pathways to success. Services include a Victim Service Program that helps victims of crime with advocacy and navigation through the post-conviction phase of the criminal justice system.
Jeffco DeAngelis Foundation – $15,000
The DeAngelis Foundation supports school and community safety through experienced-based training focused on prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery while maintaining a positive climate and culture. They are working to expand services by adding suicide prevention, community education trainings, corporate safety programs, self-defense/sexual assault prevention programs for students leaving for college, and threat assessment services.
Jeffco Human Services Foundation (aka Jeffco Prosperity Partners) – $50,000
Jeffco Prosperity Partners is working to promote innovations that move families from poverty to prosperity. In Jeffco, they are prioritizing employment pathways by offering livable wages with emphasis on quality of life, childcare, work hours, benefits, and location for sustainable income and job satisfaction.
Jeffco Public Schools – $30,000
Jeffco Public School’s Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters program (HIPPY) empowers parents as the primary educators of their children and fosters parent involvement to maximize the chances of successful early-learning experiences. They are serving parents of preschoolers to help prepare their children for success in school and beyond.
Jeffco Schools Foundation – $50,000
Jeffco Schools Foundation is a fundraising partner of the Jeffco Public Schools District and cultivates partnerships to ensure Jeffco students thrive through equitable, excellent, and engaging educational experiences. They are focusing on the inequities students and families face as part of their new strategic direction, and investing in the arts so more students can experience them.
Jefferson Center for Mental Health – $200,000
Jefferson Center for Mental Health inspires hope, improves lives, and strengthens our community by providing mental health and related solutions for individuals and families. Their services in Jeffco include physical and behavioral health integrated care with customized treatment plans for each client’s unique needs and circumstances, while working to reduce stigma and other obstacles to care.
Jefferson County Food Policy Council – $25,000
The Jefferson County Food Policy Council is a community-led, collaborative organization working to build community power to influence change in Jeffco. They are working to expand a successful pilot program to provide healthy and culturally appropriate school meals for Latinx students.
Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain – $20,000
Junior Achievement’s (JA) mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed. They empower volunteers to implement proven programs teaching young people how to become adults who are career ready, financially responsible, and entrepreneurial. Teaching young people what to expect in the real-world and how to overcome challenges is known to increase employability, job satisfaction, and earning potential, which gives young people in Jeffco the opportunity to live “Choice-Filled Lives.” They are increasing programming in Jeffco to support our future workforce with early financial education specific to K-12, post-secondary and adult life skills.
Just Living Recovery – $40,000
With an eye toward equity, JUST Living Recovery is dedicated to creating a clean and sober residential opportunity for recovering and healing from substance abuse, supporting marginalized communities, especially the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities.
Kaizen Food Rescue – $50,000
At Kaizen, community is at the heart of developing community-based solutions for food justice and health equity. By promoting dietary decolonization and providing culturally responsive food, they strive to ensure that everyone has access to healthy and culturally relevant food. With community collaboration and by uplifting impacted voices they foster a more equitable and just food system through community gardens, food shares and distribution, workshops permaculture training and food advocacy programs.
Latina Safehouse Initiative – $15,000
Latina SafeHouse provides bilingual and culturally sensitive services to Latina victims of domestic violence and their families. They are working to expand services in Jefferson County and enhance community engagement.
Lifespan Local Inc. – $100,000
Lifespan Local addresses disparities in health, mental health, economic, food access, childcare, and education that characterize the experience of diverse populations in Jeffco and Southwest Denver. They offer leadership training, food distribution, leadership skills training, parenting supports, maternal mental health programming, job training, a Native American Elders Council, cash assistance, and a public health information team.
Light of The World Catholic Church Food Pantry – $15,000
The Light of the World Food Pantry provides food for an ever-increasing community. As a community gathering spot for guests and volunteers, they also nurture social connections through and emotional support.
Localworks – $35,000
Localworks partners with the city, local businesses, and residents to advance Wheat Ridge as a vibrant and sustainable community. Their programs and events help people connect, volunteer, and create by providing equitable access to arts, culture and workforce development opportunities for Jeffco residents. They are expanding the Clear Creek Makerspace (CCM) with more tools to reduce a barrier to access and education, increasing the ability of individuals to pursue work in various arts and trade skills (like woodworking and welding classes).
Lockwood Foundation – $5,000
The Lockwood Foundation creates opportunities for people with limited mobility to access the trails and summits of Colorado through community strength. They are working to increase the number of Jeffco residents accessing the outdoors and positively impact their quality of through adventure and trail experiences.
Lutheran Medical Center Foundation – $10,000
Lutheran Medical Center Foundation builds philanthropic support for Lutheran Medical Center and its affiliated not-for-profit organizations, including an acute care hospital, hospice center, and behavioral health program. In Jeffco, they are partnering with Food Bank of the Rockies to deliver boxes of nutritious food and fresh produce to eligible patients on a weekly basis.
Mean Street Ministry a Beloved Ragamuffin Project – $10,000
Mean Street Ministry seeks to transform lives by compassionately serving people in need. Located near Colfax and Wadsworth, they provide food, showers, and meals for a growing community of unhoused people in Lakewood.
Miners Alley Playhouse – $75,000
Miners Alley Playhouse provides opportunities for actors, directors, writers, designers, and technicians to gain valuable experience in a positive and supportive environment while giving the community exceptional theatrical experiences. With record-breaking attendance and demand, they are looking forward to opening the new Miners Alley Performing Arts Center (slated for December 2023) to serve Jeffco. The new building will provide spaces for expanded educational programming, community events, receptions, recitals, staged readings of local playwrights, and even community theater shows in addition to professional offerings.
Mount Evans Home Health Care & Hospice – $15,000
Mount Evans Home Health Care and Hospice supports Jeffco’s mountain community by providing compassionate and experienced care during challenging times. Through three primary program areas (palliative care, hospice and home health care,) they deliver life enhancing supportive care to individuals and their care-giving family members.
Mountain Resource Center – $100,000
Mountain Resource Center believes that strong families start with thriving individuals. Founded in 1990, they strive to promote self-sufficiency and improve the quality of life for individuals and families living in the foothills west of Denver. Mountain Resource Center provides multi-generational services for individuals and families that need support for both short and long-term needs through food, rental assistance and mental health services. With their services, Jeffco residents are truly able to live fulfilled lives.
Mountair Christian Church – $10,000
Mountair is working in Jeffco to facilitate community through neighborhood events. They work with local partners to bridge new developments with long-time residents to promote the social welfare of the area.
Move Through Yoga Inc. – $15,000
Move Through Yoga brings accessible and inclusive adaptive yoga and mindfulness programming to individuals with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities. They are renewing and expanding relationships in Jeffco to make direct classroom instruction available and expand the benefits of adaptive yoga and services to the broad intellectual/developmentally disabled and physical disability community.
Museo de las Americas – $25,000
Museo De Las Americas is dedicated to educating our community through collecting, preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting the diverse Latin American arts and cultures, from ancient to contemporary, through innovative exhibitions and programming. Museo is working with Jeffco schools and organizations to bring arts-integrated educational workshops to students and visitors of all ages.
NAMI Colorado – $50,000
The mission of NAMI Colorado is to build communities of recovery and hope by educating, supporting and advocating for individuals affected by mental illness and their families. They have an increasing need for services in Jeffco for people supporting family members living with mental illness.
National Sports Center for the Disabled – $5,000
The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) is a world leader in creating and providing adaptive outdoor recreation experiences. They use the power of innovation, recreation and Colorado’s great outdoors to improve access, opportunities, and possibilities for people living with disabilities and are expanding into Jeffco to serve transition students who don’t currently have access or resources to participate in regular outdoor activities.
National Trust for Local News – $15,000
Community newspapers are key to thriving societies, economies, and democracies. They are working to create a future where local news thrives. In Jeffco, their goal is that all residents can benefit from community-centered journalism.
Mile High Farmers (fiscal sponsor: National Young Farmers Coalition) – $7,000
Mile High Farmers work to transform agriculture and champion policies to build connections to the land and foster our health in the face of climate crisis. They are hosting events to foster participation, farmer-to-farmer education and build connecting with farmers and residents.
Outdoor Lab Foundation – $10,000
Outdoor Lab Foundation inspires community support for Jeffco’s Outdoor Lab Schools to boost outdoor and core Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) for students in participating Jeffco middle schools. Young people who participate in outdoor SEL programs create a bond with nature, increasing their well-being and creating champions for the environment.
PeaceWorks, Inc. – $10,000
PaceWorks advocates for survivors, their children and companion animals, of intimate partner violence/abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking, teen dating violence and stalking. Their services include crisis intervention, emergency shelter, culturally responsive and trauma informed advocacy, and local prevention and education to create social change. They are expanding services to rural and unincorporated areas of Jeffco.
Pop Culture Classroom – $15,000
Pop Culture Classroom inspires a love of learning, increases literacy, celebrates diversity, and builds community through the tools of popular culture and the power of self-expression. They are working to grow programming in Jeffco with workshops to introduce students to historical comics as they learn to write, edit and illustrate comics. Their programs teach storytelling through access to the arts, particularly for BIPOC students.
Project Angel Heart – $10,000
Project Angel Heart prepares and delivers medically tailored meals to people living with severe illnesses. Their professional chefs and registered dietitians prepare thousands of delicious meals, from scratch, and tailor them to meet the specific medical and dietary needs of those who are ill. They are working to pair meals with nutrition education and counseling to ensure clients have the tools to make informed choices about the foods they eat beyond the provided meals.
Project Helping – $5,000
Project Helping makes it ridiculously easy to volunteer so you can access this meaningful self-care tool. Their Kynd Schools Program is a preventative mental health and wellness program that provides access to volunteer projects so students can engage with their peers and build a sense of belonging. They are piloting an expansion into Jeffco schools.
Ralston House – $35,500
Ralston House Child Advocacy Center works with law enforcement, child protective services, and the district attorney’s office to provide a safe place to investigate child abuse. Ralston House provides education and outreach to prevent child abuse in Jeffco.
Reading Partners – $5,000
Reading Partners helps children become lifelong readers by empowering community volunteers to provide individualized instruction for children that increases literacy. They are expanding services in Jeffco that include screening, home visitation, childcare, mental health, early care workforce, resource/referral, parent education, and volunteer opportunities.
RecoveryWorks – $20,000
RecoveryWorks provides access to opportunities for resources, community, and recovery to our unhoused neighbors. RecoveryWorks (RW) is a low-barrier emergency Navigation Center and short-term respite and recuperative care program. The organization provides daily, direct drop-in access to emergency services, rehousing case management, health care and behavioral health services, and a variety of other basic needs on a daily basis for the most vulnerable unhoused in the region.
Resilience1220 Inc. – $20,000
Resilience1220 provides free counseling services to youth ages 12-20 in the mountain communities west of Denver. Through individual counseling, support groups, and community outreach, they work to raise awareness of the social, emotional, and mental-health issues young adults face, and to provide the necessary life skills to create wellness and resiliency in their lives.
Restoration Ranch Colorado – $5,000
Restoration Ranch Colorado provides recreation and respite opportunities for all members of the traumatic event lifecycle (dispatch, fire/EMS, law enforcement, ED/ICU personnel, victims’ advocates, members of the judiciary and their families.) They promote health and wellness through free self-directed activities on a 40-acre mountain ranch.
Revive Church Colorado – $50,000
Revive Church is working to serve Jeffco residents and Bridge patron by opening a “Bridge Reference Hub” (the “Hub”). The Hub is staffed by community members who welcome patrons and help connect them to resources and services available through the Bridge partner organizations onsite and throughout Jefferson County.
Seniors Resource Center, Inc. – $70,000
Seniors’ Resource Center enhances the independence, dignity and quality of life for seniors in Jeffco and surrounding communities by providing services that enable older adults to remain in their homes and thrive. Services such as in home care and adult daytime programs provide life enriching activities and support both older adults and their caregivers to help older adults remain independent and engaged.
STRIDE Community Health Center – $150,000
STRIDE empowers people to live the lives they want through personalized and compassionate health care. With two locations in Jeffco, they support community- and school-based health, improving access to treatment and enhancing health equity in the community.
Sunshine Home Share Colorado – $10,000
Sunshine promotes aging at home through care management and a safe home-sharing model, generating income and providing support for older adults while accessing untapped affordable housing and resources for home seekers. Rising housing values, property taxes, cost of in-home services, and impacts of isolation and loneliness are forcing more Jeffco older adults to lose their homes and move into cost-prohibitive skilled care prematurely, placing economic burdens on families and public health care systems.
Tepeyac Community Health Center – $75,000
Tepeyac Community Health Center’s mission is to inspire health, wellbeing, and humanity in our community through all of life’s stages. Tepeyac is dedicated to ensuring Jeffco residents, especially those who are uninsured or underinsured, can access quality health care and, ultimately, live fulfilled lives in connected and resilient neighborhoods.
Tesoro Cultural Center – $15,000
The Tesoro Cultural Center (Tesoro means “Treasure” in Spanish) is committed to protecting and making available to the community the artistic treasures of our American past. Tesoro events are inspired by Colorado’s rich history and shared experiences with Southwest, Spanish, Mexican, Native American, African American and Early European cultures. From art to cuisine to historical re-enactments and music, the Tesoro Foundation’s mission is to create community-based events and educational outreach programs designed to enrich and celebrate our cultural heritage.
The Action Center – $150,000
The Action Center provides immediate and compassionate response to those in our community experiencing hardship by offering the resources and services needed to stabilize lives and promote pathways to lasting change. Since 2019, they have seen a 200% increase in the number of families they support with food security, rental assistance, and clothing. That need continues to grow.
The Alpine Chorale – $8,500
Amateur and professional musicians come together to share the joy of music with The Alpine Chorale. They’re growing and meeting the needs of singers and musicians through performance, training, and scholarship.
The Blue Bench – $20,000
The Blue Bench is working to eliminate sexual assault and diminish the impact it has on people, their loved ones and community through comprehensive issue advocacy, prevention and care. They are expanding programming in Jeffco to increase knowledge about sexual assault, build a willingness to engage in bystander action, and increase bystander confidence among adults and youth.
The Chanda Plan Foundation – $10,000
The Chanda Plan Foundation works to reduce health disparities and costs by improving health equity and outcomes for individuals with physical disabilities at the Chanda Center for Health.
The Learning Zone at Real Life Colorado – $15,000
Real Life empowers, supports, and connects individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with resources to live a full and healthy “Real Life” in the community.
The Rising (aka Mission Arvada) – $15,000
Many of those experiencing homelessness in our community don’t know a life beyond hardship. A hot meal and a shower at Mission Arvada provide a start toward a more hopeful life. Mission Arvada is committed to addressing the root causes of homelessness and the deeper needs of their clients in Jeffco.
The Venue Theatre Company – $25,000
The Venue Theatre in Conifer provides an accepting and enriching environment for greater Denver and Foothills youth to discover, explore, and celebrate their unique and extraordinary abilities through the vehicle of the performing arts.
Tin Shed Food Pantry – $5,000
Tin Shed provides nutritious food and friendship to the Wheat Ridge community, offering mobile food delivery specifically for older adults. They are helping Jeffco thrive in the areas of food security, volunteerism, and social connectedness.
Transformative Leadership for Change – $15,000
The Transformative Leadership for Change supports the development of strong, richly diverse, talented and passionate leaders for BIPOC communities. Their program works with Jeffco communities in the areas of social justice, including civic engagement, voting rights, criminal justice, economic justice, education justice, environmental justice, food sovereignty, healing justice and mental health, im/migrant rights, labor rights, LGBTQIA+ liberation, racial justice, and reproductive justice.
UpRoot Colorado – $15,000
UpRoot increases the nutrition security of Coloradans by harvesting and redistributing surplus nutrient-dense food while supporting the resilience of farmers. They are working with partners in Jeffco to create a less wasteful Colorado food system so all can have access to the nutritious food they need to live healthy lives, and where farmers are valued as cornerstones of our society.
Victim Outreach Inc – $5,000
Victim Outreach, Inc. promotes healing of people impacted by crime and trauma. They are expanding services in Jeffco to begin working with Edgewater Police Department.
VitalHearts – $23,000
VitalHearts cares for care-providers. Secondary trauma or vicarious trauma can profoundly impact professionals through emotional depletion, depression and anxiety, a sense of isolation or helplessness, anger, irritability, and cynicism. They support care providers who experience secondary trauma to build resilience through education and training initiatives.
West Metro Chamber Foundation – $50,000
The West Metro Chamber Foundation exists to promote and support leadership training and business education in Jefferson County. They deliver programs that identify and cultivate emerging and existing leaders in Jefferson County and educate and prepare people to be productive members of the current and future Jefferson County workforce. Through their Leadership Jeffco program, they are working to bring diverse residents and businesses together to identify ways in which they can better engage in and with community challenges.
Wheat Ridge Poultry and Meats, Inc. – $50,000
Wheat Ridge Poultry and Meats provides high-quality meats. They also support local food producers with a rent- and commission-free retail location to help increase awareness around local foods, host education classes on food waste, canning and preserving food, and butchering backyard poultry.
Whiz Kids Tutoring – $10,000
Whiz Kids Tutoring provides out-of-school learning support to low income and high risk elementary and middle schools students through a student retention and youth mentoring program.
WINGS Foundation, Inc. – $35,000
WINGS is building systems of support for adult survivors, combining in-depth health expertise with the healing power of community. They are working in Jeffco to ensure everyone has access to the resources they need to speak about, heal from, and thrive beyond childhood sexual abuse trauma.
Words To Power – $5,000
Words To Power conducts highly engaging and culturally relevant spoken word poetry workshops for underserved youth in elementary, middle, and high schools. They are working to bring programming to Wheat Ridge and South Lakewood in Jeffco.
YEBO – Youth Empowerment Broadcasting Organization – $5,000
YEBO believes storytelling is a powerful social and emotional learning activity that can help address problems. Through sharing and listening to stories, they build personal and communal wellbeing in BIPOC communities. They are expanding their storytelling and media initiatives into Jeffco to inspire youth and adults to build healthy and meaningful relationships.
YMCA of Metropolitan Denver – $50,000
The YMCA of Metropolitan Denver works to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. Their spaces in Jeffco serve as an intergenerational community space to gather, focus on their health and well-being, and engage in social activities. They also provide early childhood education (ECE) and out-of-school time (OST) programs that provide year-round enrichment to residents.
YouthRoots – $50,000
YouthRoots’ mission is unleashing the power of youth to make the world a better place. They provide opportunities for young people to build their voice and leadership skills while engaging in real-world impact through philanthropy. Youthroots is looking for partners as they expand more widely into Jeffco.
