CHFA is proud to announce its Round Three 2022 Direct Effect Award recipients.
CHFA’s Direct Effect Awards recognize Colorado nonprofit organizations whose missions align with CHFA’s work to strengthen Colorado by investing in affordable housing and community development.
CHFA is donating $1,063,285 to 73 nonprofits through its Direct Effect program in round three, which received 110 applications seeking more than $2.7 million in combined funding.
CHFA’s is not a state agency and does not receive any direct state or federal appropriations. CHFA’s is a self-sufficient, quasi-governmental organization serving Colorado. The Direct Effect Awards are funded by directing a portion of CHFA’s program investments and earnings to provide philanthropic support and strengthen the capacity of mission-aligned nonprofits.
The 2022 Direct Effect Award Round Three recipients are listed below.
A Precious Child – $10,000
A Precious Child is a one-stop-shop for families in crisis to receive the goods, opportunities, and resources they need, including financial housing assistance. Since 2008, they have aided over 405,000 children throughout the Denver Metro eight-county area, helping families begin the path to becoming self-sustaining and end multigenerational poverty. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help support housing resources for families including case management, rental and mortgage assistance, and translation services. To learn more about A Precious Child, please visit apreciouschild.org.
A Way Out, Inc. – $10,000
A Way Out supports residents of Eagle, Pitkin, and Garfield Counties in accessing evidence based inpatient treatment programs and then provides financial scholarships for transitional sober housing, clinical case management, peer support, and life skills coaching. This aftercare component ensures that residents have safe and sober housing once treatment is complete, which keeps people off the streets and away from unsafe environments that often trigger relapse. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help residents that have been homeless and unable to resolve their chronic addiction problem gain access to safe, supported housing. To learn more about A Way Out, please visit awayout.org.
Archway Housing and Services – $10,000
Archway Communities is a nonprofit, affordable housing development corporation, which elevates lives by providing access to affordable housing, food security, and the supportive social services people need to thrive. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support general operating expenses for supportive services. Archway’s supportive services provide case management and onsite services as well as the resources and information tenants need as they adjust to life in their new home and promote healthy, happy, and quality lives. To learn more about Archway Housing and Services, please visit archwaycommunities.org.
Bayaud Enterprises – $30,000
By creating jobs and providing on-the-job training as well as job retention support, Bayaud Enterprises strengthens Colorado with new jobs and employability of its most valuable resource – its residents. Since 2018, more than 1,750 adults have been placed in permanent jobs either within Bayaud or with one of their 100+ employer-partners. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help advance economic development opportunities for the community’s most underserved residents. Bayaud will create jobs that pay living wages and offer job training, job placement services, and post job placement coaching to support job retention. To learn more about Bayaud Enterprises, please visit bayaudenterprises.org.
Boulder County AIDS Project – $15,000
Boulder County AIDS Project provides affordable housing services to low-income people living with HIV (PLHIV), as part of wrap-around services to help ensure PLHIV access and retain medical care and HIV treatment. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will provide general operating support for housing assistance services for low-income PLHIV living in Boulder, Broomfield, Gilpin, and Clear Creek counties. A lack of stable housing is one of the greatest barriers to receiving medical care. Case managers work with PLHIV to ensure they have the basic needs support necessary to retain medical care and adhere to HIV treatment. To learn more about Boulder County AIDS Project, please visit bcap.org.
Boulder Food Rescue – $15,000
Boulder Food Rescue aims to create a more just and less wasteful food system. They facilitate the sustainable redistribution of healthy food that would otherwise be wasted to low-income communities, by bicycle. They work with communities to facilitate their own food redistribution and create decentralized systems to bypass barriers to food access. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will be used to support their Food Redistribution programs. To date, this program has redistributed over 4.5 million pounds of food. To learn more about Boulder Food Rescue, please visit boulderfoodrescue.org.
Boulder Housing Partners Foundation – $15,000
The mission of the Boulder Housing Partners Foundation is to help Boulder Housing Partners residents pursue successful, productive, and dignified lives by mobilizing resources for supportive, life-enriching, and community building services. Their service-enriched housing model helps Coloradans to stay housed, increase economic resilience, jobs, healthcare, and education. CHFA’s Direct Effect award will help pay for salaries for two employees who work with 185 households with young children through their Bringing School Home (BSH) program. BSH is designed to close the achievement and opportunity gaps for low-income children by providing stable, affordable housing, ongoing education, and family support to families with at least one child under the age of six. To learn more about Boulder Housing Partners Foundation, please visit boulderhousing.org/boulder-housing-partners-foundation.
Boulder Shelter for the Homeless – $10,000
Boulder Shelter for the Homeless creates avenues to stable housing for their community's homeless adults, from a foundation of supportive and safe shelter. The Shelter believes that everyone is housing ready and works diligently across the continuum of need to help individuals transition from homelessness into housing and to maintain housing once it is acquired. CHFA's Direct Effect Award will enable the shelter to continue its programs, including coordinated entry, housing focused shelter, permanent supportive housing, navigation, outreach, and rapid rehousing. To learn more about Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, please visit bouldershelter.org.
Bright Future Foundation for Eagle County – $20,000
Bright Future Foundation for Eagle County supports survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking with holistic programs for accessing safe, stable housing. Bright Future Foundation offers comprehensive housing solutions designed to promote safety, security, and long-term self-sufficiency for 200 survivors each year. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the BrightHouse and our Ensuring Freedom Housing Program. Both programs directly prevent homelessness and ultimately assist survivors to stabilize and achieve self-sufficiency through survivor-centered housing stabilization services. To learn more about Bright Future Foundation for Eagle County, please visit mybrightfuture.org.
Broomfield FISH Food Bank and Family Resource Center – $15,000
Broomfield FISH’s mission is to meet their neighbors’ basic human needs and provide them with hope and tools to rise out of poverty. FISH is a nonprofit organization that provides food, emergency financial assistance, and one-on-one mentoring support to Broomfield residents in need. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help support their Keeping Families Housed (KFH) program. The KFH program includes up to three rent assistance payments per year, case management, resource connection, goal setting, and progress tracking. To learn more about Broomfield FISH, please visit broomfieldfish.org.
Brothers Redevelopment – $30,000
Brothers Redevelopment develops, owns, and operates affordable housing, provides HUD-approved housing counseling, operates Colorado Housing Connects Helpline for callers in need of housing resources across the state, continues its home repair and Paint-A-Thon programs to keep senior and/or disabled homeowners stable, offers aging in place services at their properties, administers rent and mortgage assistance funds, and recruits landlords to rent their units to individuals with housing vouchers. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support their Home Modification and Repair (HMR) and Paint-A-Thon (PAT) programs. Much of the current funding for HMR and PAT is geographically restricted, and Direct Effect dollars will provide flexible funding to support homeowners in locations and municipalities that do not receive sufficient local funding. To learn more about Brothers Redevelopment, please visit brothersredevelopment.org.
Chaffee Housing Trust – $15,000
Using the Community Land Trust model, the Chaffee Housing Trust (CHT) has built 23 affordable homes for ownership for rural Chaffee County for households earning between 57 and 78 percent of Area Median Income (AMI). CHT acts as the developer, or partners with local developers to build homes, making them available to clients at prices well below market. Projects are small (6-12 units) and scaled to meet the rural needs and fit in to local neighborhoods. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support hiring a deputy director who can bring new skills and experience to the organization and support the current executive director by sharing the workload. This hire will provide the organizational capacity needed to meet growth opportunities and increasing demand for services. To learn more about Chaffee Housing Trust, please visit chaffeehousing.org.
Child and Migrant Services – $15,000
Child and Migrant Services (CMS) provides basic needs support to migrant and immigrant workers who support the agricultural economy in Mesa County. CMS focuses on the interface of the individual, their employers, and community resource providers to ensure that workers have equitable opportunities for health, wellbeing, and livelihood. Their scope of work includes basic needs support, outreach, community navigation, advocacy, and empowerment pathways for its members. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the hiring of a part time Outreach Specialist. With this position, CMS anticipates engaging 50 new members in 2023 and deepening its engagement with existing members through increased outreach at employment sites, and recruitment to CMS’ events and services. To learn more about Child and Migrant Services, please visit migrantservicesgv.org.
City of Gunnison, Gunnison Senior Center – $10,000
The Gunnison Senior Center promotes the highest quality of life for older adults in the Gunnison Valley through education, exercise, civic, social and cultural engagement, and nutritious and affordable prepared food. The Senior Meals program serves an average of 90 low-cost to no-cost meals per day, three times per week, currently serving 125 individuals throughout the year. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will provide $250 worth of fresh produce and some dairy and meat products per week to the Senior Meals program from Mountain Roots Food Project, fulfilling much of their needs for 90 meals per day, three times per week, for 40 weeks. To learn more about the Gunnison Senior Center, please visit gunnisonco.gov/departments/parks___recreation/seniors/index.
Colorado Homeownership Coalition – $20,000
The Colorado Homeownership Coalition (CHC) provides mortgage, HOA, Tax, and Insurance assistance to homeowners experiencing a temporary disruption in income to avoid delinquent housing obligations and ultimately resume self-sufficiency. CHC is a financial lifeline for individuals and families that need a helping hand. CHFA's Direct Effect Award will provide mortgage assistance to eligible Colorado families. Each qualifying homeowner may receive up to $8,000 to cover delinquent mortgage payments, homeowners’ association dues, or property taxes. To learn more about Colorado Homeownership Coalition, please visit chchelps.org.
Colorado Poverty Law Project – $20,000
Colorado Poverty Law Project (CPLP) provides legal services to assist low-income Coloradans to maintain affordable housing and avoid homelessness. CPLP complements its legal services with housing navigation services, where non-attorneys work directly with low-income residents to locate affordable housing options. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will be used to support legal representation and housing navigation services in areas of the state where CPLP currently lacks dedicated funding, including El Paso County, mountain areas, and the Western Slope. To learn more about Colorado Poverty Law Project, please visit copovertylawproject.org.
Community Health Initiatives – $15,000
Community Health Initiatives promotes healthy behavior across western Colorado. They help Coloradans in rural communities on the Western Slope with their no cost resiliency and skills building educational program and offer wraparound services to every family they serve. Community Health Initiatives' primary program is called FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress). FOCUS is an evidence-based educational resiliency and skills building program serving four rural counties on the western slope of Colorado. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support salaries for FOCUS facilitators. To learn more about Community Health Initiatives, please visit chi-colorado.org.
Dancing Spirit – $7,500
Dancing Spirit’s mission is to provide a community arts center that enhances creativity and fellowship; that promotes the education, appreciation, and enjoyment of the arts; and that celebrates the cultural heritage of their population. The new Dancing Spirit Community Arts Center will expand their ability to provide economic benefits to the Town of Ignacio by increasing community access to the arts and art studios and by providing a new venue for artistic expression in the heart of downtown. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will provide matching fund support for the new Dancing Spirit Community Arts Center. To learn more about Dancing Spirit, please visit dancingspiritgallery.org.
Denver Scholarship Foundation – $10,000
Denver Scholarship Foundation (DSF) works to narrow the education gap and create opportunities for students of color. The organization assists under-represented students to and through college completion and helps them build connections with local industry, ensuring they are best prepared for careers that provide economic opportunity and growth potential. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support expenses associated with the Student Success Program including program staff, scholarships, program materials and supplies, professional development and training, and workforce connectivity activities. To learn more about Denver Scholarship Foundation, please visit denverscholarship.org.
Developmental Disabilities Resource Center – $10,000
Developmental Disabilities Resource Center’s (DDRC) mission is to create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to participate fully in the community. Often adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) are either unemployed or underemployed, despite their ability, desire, and willingness to work in the community. DDRC's Employment Services team helps businesses explore their workforce needs and help Colorado career seekers with I/DD explore their interests and skills to find the right job match for both parties. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will fund a portion of the core support cost of their Employment Program. To learn more about Developmental Disabilities Resource Center, please visit ddrcco.com.
Doors 2 Success – $20,000
Doors 2 Success helps the vulnerable populations served by Grand Junction Housing Authority (GJHA) enhance their housing stability, self-sufficiency, and overall wellness. GJHA clients have low incomes and are faced with employment and training issues, physical and mental health challenges, substance abuse, and/or criminal backgrounds. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Service-Care Coordination program, which provides access to on-site community-based health and wellness services, involves clients in their care plans, and helps clients access health care via transportation referrals or driving clients to appointments. To learn more about Doors 2 Success, please visit gjha.org/housing-programs/doors-2-success.
Dove's Nest – $7,000
Dove’s Nest provides affordable access to a high-quality early childhood program in the Dove Creek community. It is the only licensed year-round multi-age childcare and early education center serving Dove Creek and the surrounding 25+ miles. Ensuring that families have a safe and secure environment for children while families work is a necessary piece of economic development, without this service many families would be unable to work. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support Dove Creek’s ability to provide affordable access to a high-quality early childhood program. To learn more about Dove’s Nest, please visit facebook.com/DoveCreekDovesNest.
Eagle Valley Community Foundation – $10,000
Eagle Valley Community Foundation provides access to programs and resources that support wellness, healthier food, and other essential needs in the Eagle River Valley while embracing individual dignity and a commitment to sustainability and quality. Their MIRA Bus Program travels throughout Eagle County bringing medical, behavioral, and dental services and resource connections to people where they live, work, and play. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the MIRA Bus Homeless Program. MIRA is partnering with Eagle County Housing Department to reach out to people experiencing homelessness in Eagle River Valley, connect them with emergency shelter, housing options, job opportunities, or other critical services; and provide urgent, non-facility-based care to people who are unsheltered and who are unwilling or unable to access emergency shelter, housing, or an appropriate health facility. To learn more about Eagle Valley Community Foundation, please visit eaglevalleycf.org .
Eaton Senior Communities Foundation – $5,321
Eaton Senior Communities Foundation’s mission is to provide affordable housing in a service-rich environment that enables all to live to their fullest potential. Eaton provides affordable, attractive, and comfortable housing for lower-income seniors with enhanced supportive services. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will be used to purchase a NuStep T6 Max Recumbent Stepper to complete the fitness center and provide on-site therapy equipment for senior residents. The stepper will offer residents lower impact exercise, provide more adjustability for a limited range of motion, give a total body workout, and improve accessibility. To learn more about Eaton Senior Communities Foundation, please visit eatonsenior.org.
Energy Outreach Colorado – $20,000
Energy Outreach Colorado’s (EOC) mission is to ensure that all Coloradans can afford their home energy. EOC does this by addressing barriers that lead to the persistence of nearly 25% of households struggling with energy affordability. EOC offers services to meet income-deficient households’ needs through their energy bill payment assistance and energy efficiency services, which operates in every county across Colorado. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help fund EOC’s Healthy Home Electrification Program to provide additional services inside income-qualified residents homes to improve indoor air quality and improve energy efficiency long-term. To learn more about Energy Outreach Colorado, please visit energyoutreach.org.
EUREKA! McConnell Science Museum – $10,000
EUREKA! McConnell Science Museum’s mission is to inspire a passion and respect for math and science in their communities. Building on a strong foundation of providing educational enrichment for local youth, EUREKA! is committed to increasing access to educational resources for low-income, underrepresented, and underserved community members, and addressing educational outcomes and access to enriching activities for youth as a social determinant of health. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support efforts in providing more equitable access to hands-on STEAM learning opportunities and educational enrichment for youth in Mesa County. The funds will provide transportation for low-income, underserved, and underrepresented youth in the Clifton and Palisade areas to and from the museum in the summer, and tuition reduction for students and families to provide educational enrichment and support for underserved communities. To learn more about EUREKA! McConnell Science Museum, please visit eurekasciencemuseum.org.
Extreme Community Makeover – $10,000
Extreme Community Makeover’s mission is to coordinate volunteer teams to partner with Denver residents to improve their homes and neighborhoods. The organization provides critical services to help vulnerable residents improve the physical condition of their neighborhoods, keep their community safe, build vital connections, and help older adults age in place. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award support the Adopt-a-Block program, which builds safer environments, cultivates community among residents, neighborhoods and networks of local resource providers, and connects residents to a permanent path toward healthy, hopeful, and stable lives. To learn more about Extreme Community Makeover, please visit extremecommunitymakeover.org.
First Southwest Community Fund – $25,000
First Southwest Community Fund supports tangible economic opportunities throughout rural Colorado by making much needed non-traditional capital (loans) available to new and existing businesses to create and retain jobs and provide educational resources to entrepreneurs and business owners. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Rural Women-Led Business Fund, which is designed to give access to funding and education for women entrepreneurs and small businesses in rural Colorado through loans, education, and technical assistance. The Rural Women-Led Business Fund offers loans of $10,000-$75,000 and focuses on providing accessible capital to women, especially women of color in the San Luis Valley. To learn more about First Southwest Community Fund, please visit fswcf.org.
FoCo Café – $7,500
FoCo Café increases access to healthy affordable food regardless of one's ability to pay, further improving health outcomes for underserved populations. FoCo Café operates on a pay-what-you-can scale where patrons choose to pay anywhere from $5-$15+ for an individual meal depending on what they are able to contribute financially. If a patron is not able to contribute financially, they are asked to donate up to an hour of their time and talents volunteering in exchange for a meal. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the community meals served through daily lunch service. To learn more about FoCo Café, please visit fococafe.org.
Forge Evolution – $10,000
Forge Evolution empowers youth and their parents to foster resilient communities by inspiring accountability, empathy, and personal growth. Forge Evolution has been the proven alternative to the traditional court for youth who commit misdemeanor crimes. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Life Skills Mentoring Program, which helps youth in the Teen Court/Restorative Justice Sentencing program acquire the skills necessary to succeed in life. Participants develop, refine, and progress along and complete an informed path towards their career. To learn more about Forge Evolution, please visit forgeevolution.org.
Garfield County School District 16 School-Based Family Resource Center $10,000
The Garfield County School District 16 School-Based Family Resource Center (Garfield 16 SBFRC) connects underprivileged students and their families with resources designed to help them meet their needs. After each family undergoes a needs assessment, the Garfield 16 SBFRC provides a safe and accessible place for families to connect with comprehensive, coordinated services that help them achieve their goals. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support two Licensed Counselor Consultants which will expand Garfield 16 SBFRC’s capacity to provide one-on-one mental and behavioral health services. To learn more about Garfield County School District 16 School-Based Family Resource Center, please visit garfield16.org/page/school-based-family-resource-center.
Grand Valley Catholic Outreach – $15,000
Grand Valley Catholic Outreach provides emergency services to individuals and families in need, supports the homeless in their quest for safe and decent housing, feeds those who are hungry, and invites participation from all denominations in the quest to support human life. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support rental assistance, which has faced significant demand as Mesa County works to recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many residents remain either underemployed or unemployed and are overwhelmed by debts that have accrued as a result of the events of the last couple of years. To learn more about Grand Valley Catholic Outreach, please visit catholicoutreach.org.
GRID Alternatives Colorado – $15,000
GRID Alternatives Colorado is building a renewable energy future that benefits everyone through building access to renewable technology through free solar installations, increasing access to careers in the solar industry through equity based, paid solar workforce development training, and delivering renewable energy education programs to increase access to renewable education for Colorado students. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Solar Construction Program and provide the financial support for GRID Colorado to meet this demand. To learn more about GRID Alternatives Colorado, please visit gridalternatives.org/regions/colorado.
Growing Gardens of Boulder County – $10,000
Growing Gardens of Boulder County’s programs empower people of all ages, income levels, and abilities by reconnecting them with their local food systems and teaching gardening, cooking, and nutrition education. Thousands of pounds of produce, as well as plant starts and seeds, are donated to low income community members to impart greater food security and hunger relief in the community. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support their Work Trade program, which provides a way for lower-income residents to get engaged on the farm and increase their family’s food security. Families volunteer each week in exchange for a share of the farm’s produce, totaling about 1,000 pounds throughout the growing season. To learn more about Growing Gardens of Boulder County, please visit growinggardens.org.
Growing Home – $15,000
Growing Home is cultivating a thriving, healthy, and equitable North Metro Denver by connecting people to services and program to drive community action in the areas of food, housing, parenting education, and lifelong stability. Growing Home uses an innovative and integrated program model to provide immediate, medium-term, and long-term support to the community in the impact areas of food, housing, parenting education, and lifelong stability. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will provide participants with direct support, empower them to participate in ongoing, community-driven efforts to dismantle systemic barriers to access, and support the economic development of the north Metro Denver community. To learn more about Growing Home, please visit growinghome.org,
Habitat for Humanity of Teller County – $10,000
Habitat for Humanity of Teller County helps families build strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter. Habitat’s programs provide families a hand-up, not a handout. Volunteers support almost every facet of Habitat’s program and are critical to helping them build homes, change lives, and transform community. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the organizations general operations. To learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Teller County, please visit tellerhabitat.org.
Haven House – $20,000
Haven House’s mission is to provide transitional housing and career development programs to families with children who, but for Haven House, would be the homeless. Their programs provide wrap around services designed to guide families towards a livable wage and into affordable housing. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help ensure the continued operation and development of the Transitional Housing, Child Development, and Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs. These programs are tightly integrated, so families have an opportunity to get back into permanent affordable housing on a sustainable path towards self-sufficiency and help their children avoid a future of poverty and homelessness. To learn more about Haven House, please visit havenhousehomeless.org.
Home Builders Foundation – $7,500
Through home repairs and renovations to improve accessibility, Home Builders Foundation improves independence, quality of life, and safety for individuals with disabilities, in turn allowing them to participate more fully in their families, communities, and the state economy. Their Accessible Home Modification Program alleviates the burden of costly home modifications and ensures homes are safe and accessible for individuals with disabilities, helping them lead more independent and elevated lives. CHFA's Direct Effect Award will help Home Builders Foundation continue to provide accessible home modifications to Coloradans with disabilities, creating safer, more accessible homes. To learn more about Home Builders Foundation, please visit hbfdenver.org.
HomeAid Colorado – $10,000
HomeAid Colorado’s mission is to help people experiencing or at risk of homelessness build new lives through construction, community engagement, and education. HomeAid has developed, built, remodeled, and maintained more than 60 housing projects for families, at-risk youth, domestic violence victims, veterans, teen mothers, and people with physical and mental disabilities. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will provide programmatic support to their Housing Development and Community Outreach programs. To learn more about HomeAid Colorado, please visit homeaidcolorado.org.
Homeward Alliance – $15,000
Homeward Alliance's mission is to empower individuals and families who face homelessness to survive, move forward, and thrive. Their services seek to end a person’s homelessness as soon as possible and connect them to behavioral health and other services to begin the process of stabilization. Ongoing case management is offered to maintain housing, health services, and other life sustaining benefits. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help fund the salary for a Housing Navigation Specialist. This position would assist at least 50 people experiencing homelessness with housing vouchers to obtain, and maintain, sustainable housing. To learn more about Homeward Alliance, please visit homewardalliance.org.
HomewardBound of the Grand Valley – $15,000
HomewardBound of the Grand Valley operates two emergency shelter facilities using a housing first model with the intention to house people, then provide services to assist them in addressing their challenges. This past year, HomewardBound provided emergency shelter for 1,045 homeless individuals and families an average of 39 nights each, serving an average 272 meals daily. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will provide community navigation services that will help move individuals and families from homelessness to affordable, permanent housing. To learn more about HomewardBound of the Grand Valley, please visit homewardboundgv.org.
Integrated Community – $30,000
Integrated Community assists and supports immigrants as they integrate, contribute, and maintain their independence in the northwest Colorado community. Integrated Community collaborates with immigrants and their families to solve immediate problems by connecting them to appropriate resources, providing professional interpreter and translation services for our clients to meet their needs, and implements education and literacy programs for children and adults. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help fund their Language Justice Program, which has a positive impact on housing, education, health equity, and legal services. To learn more about Integrated Community, please visit ciiccolorado.org.
La Puente Home – $17,000
La Puente Home works in the San Luis Valley to provide a wide range of services to mitigate the immediate crises of poverty, while also addressing root causes of generational poverty. They address housing and economic development goals through their Adelante Family Resource Center, Emergency Shelter, Crisis Prevention Resources, and Street Outreach programs. These programs provide immediate care for clients experiencing homelessness or for those at risk of becoming homeless, while identifying barriers on their path towards achieving long-term self-sufficiency and assisting with navigation around these barriers. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support their Street Outreach program, which builds relationships with individuals who are unsheltered, living in isolation, or at risk of homelessness and provides navigation or referrals. To learn more about La Puente Home, please visit lapuentehome.org.
Life Inter-Faith Team on Unemployment and Poverty – $10,000
Life Inter-Faith Team on Unemployment and Poverty’s (LIFT-UP) mission is to feed the hungry and provide food security for everyone experiencing food scarcity in Eagle, Garfield, and Pitkin Counties. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the purchase of a mobile pantry on wheels, which will travel to outlying rural communities in Eagle, Garfield, and Pitkin Counties to provide a food pantry where folks with little or no transportation can shop and choose the items they need. To learn more about Life Inter-Faith Team on Unemployment and Poverty, please visit liftup.org.
Make a Chess Move – $10,000
Make a Chess Move’s (MACM) mission is to build a just society by developing tenacious learners, compassionate leaders, and ethically driven critical thinkers. MACM develops and implements programs to create equity for their participants who are systematically disenfranchised from society. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will be invested in wages and honorariums for youth (ages 14-25) to expand programming to 12 Schools. They will also support two staff facilitators under the age of 25 to expand MACM Works Afterschool Programming to two locations with day and afternoon programming. To learn more about Make a Chess Move, please visit MakeAChessMove.org.
Medicine Horse Center – $15,000
Medicine Horse Center serves the Four Corners Community by helping to support the social, emotional, and mental wellbeing of their clients. They partner with local human services organizations, school districts and nonprofits, to reach their community’s most vulnerable populations to offer no-cost and low-cost equine assisted therapy and learning programs, making access to mental health services more accessible for all. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support a pilot program that will involve a peer-led support group of up to ten female veterans, who have experiences military sexual trauma. To learn more about Medicine Horse Center, please visit medicinehorsecenter.org.
Mercy Housing Mountain Plains – $10,000
Mercy Housing Mountain Plains (MHMP) provides affordable housing and services to assist residents in stabilizing their lives and achieving their full potential. MHMP operates 17 properties throughout the state that serve more than 2,700 low- to moderate-income families, seniors, and individuals with special needs. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will help fund their Health Navigation Program to provide access to healthy food and healthcare services for senior residents at Francis Heights Apartments. This will support senior health at Francis Heights through MHMP’s focus on health and housing to address social determinants of health while deepening relationships with healthcare providers. To learn more about Mercy Housing Mountain Plains, please visit mercyhousing.org/mountain-plains.
Metro Denver Homeless Initiative – $15,000
Metro Denver Homeless Initiative’s mission is to lead and advance collaboration to end homelessness in Metro Denver. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Housing Stability Flex Fund, which is designed to remove the last financial barrier that prevents a household from obtaining or remaining in permanent housing. Through the streamlined referral process, staff at partner organizations can access the Housing Stability Flex Fund as a last resort, when all other potential funding is exhausted, to assist in both the process of securing permanent housing and preventing the loss of housing. The Housing Stability Flex Fund is designed to rapidly meet the needs of individuals who are in a housing crisis. To learn more about Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, please visit mdhi.org.
Mountain Family Center – $15,000
Mountain Family Center (MFC) provides hunger relief, housing assistance, and more to Grand County. With inflation hitting the grocery stores and gas pumps, many community members are finding it harder to keep enough food on the table while keeping up with rent, utility, and other household expenses. Since 2020, MFC has provided over $750,000 in housing assistance. Freeing up one month’s rent or mortgage payment can allow a family to catch up on their living expenses. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support rental and mortgage assistance payments for 12-15 households who are struggling to meet their basic needs. To learn more about Mountain Family Center, please visit mountainfamilycenter.org.
Movement 5280 – $10,000
Movement 5280 functions as a refuge for homeless youth who have aged out of the foster care system, as well as other at-risk young adults. Their programs, SURVIVE, THRIVE, and REVIVE meet the spectrum of needs with a holistic approach from the most basic such as food, shelter, and clothing (SURVIVE); to the acquisition of practical life skills (THRIVE); and substance use recovery groups (REVIVE). CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the THRIVE workforce readiness program. THRIVE focuses on building supportive relationships with homeless and at-risk youth through mentoring, volunteering, employment, and leadership opportunities available within the agency and its community. These relationships lead to skill-building, networking, and self-confidence for youth who engage in the program. To learn more about Movement 5280, please visit movement5280.org.
Open Heart Advocates – $25,000
Open Heart Advocates is the sole provider of victims’ advocacy and victims’ services in Moffat County. Their programming spans services from mobile crisis response in both Victim Services and Crisis Behavioral Health Services to ongoing continuum of care, looking at immediate safety to stability, healing, growing, and thriving. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support their crisis and trauma programs, allowing clients to access services free of charge. To learn more about Open Heart Advocates, please visit openheartadvocates.org.
Partners in Housing – $30,000
Partners in Housing’s mission is to guide families in housing crisis from insecurity to stability, self-reliance, and prosperity. Families receive intensive services during their year in the program with a holistic approach to wrap-around services. Program objectives include employment training and placement, housing navigation, budget counseling, credit counseling, physical and mental health supports, and childcare. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support two program components crucial to client’s success – employment assistance through the Work It! Program, and budget and credit counseling. To learn more about Partners in Housing, please visit partnersinhousing.org.
Pueblo Rescue Mission – $20,000
Pueblo Rescue Mission provides shelter and support services to those experiencing homelessness in Pueblo. Key program components include a 99-bed shelter, daily meals, resource navigation services, and case management. Their programs and activities are designed to be a catalyst that helps community members reach their goals and fulfill their potential. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support wraparound services including case management, employment assistance, life skills, transportation, outreach services, community meals, and resource navigation. To learn more about Pueblo Rescue Mission, please visit thepueblorescuemission.org.
Rebuilding Together Metro Denver – $15,000
Rebuilding Together Metro Denver’s mission is to repair homes, revitalize communities and rebuild lives. They provide critical home repair services for at-risk homeowners, including emergency repairs, home modifications, exterior ramps, energy efficiency solutions, and safety equipment at no cost to low-income homeowners. Priority is given to older adults, those living with disabilities, veterans, and multi-generational families. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will assist with expanding their part-time Program Coordinator position to a full-time position starting in January 2023. The position will help build the organization’s capacity to more effectively respond to homeowner inquiries and carry out more services to homeowners. To learn more about Rebuilding Together Metro Denver, please visit rebuildingdenver.org.
Recovery Resources – $20,000
Recovery Resources helps people heal from addiction, crisis, and trauma so that they can thrive as happy, healthy and engaged citizens of their communities. By building resilience skills and healthy coping strategies, their clients can better navigate the daily struggles that come with addiction recovery and homelessness. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support their Roaring Fork Valley Resilience Center and its programs, which include the Community Connection Point, The Unsheltered Outreach Program, and the Recovery and Resilience Support Program. These programs primarily serve marginalized and vulnerable populations who are facing struggles with homelessness, risk of homelessness, addiction, and trauma. To learn more about Recovery Resources, please visit recoveryresourcescolorado.org.
Rural Homes – $20,000
Rural Homes is a pilot project to build over 100 homes in rural towns for the local workforce, demonstrating a model for financing and constructing workforce housing. Rural Homes has partnered with the Impact Development Fund to provide low interest loans to lower income buyers, additional down payment assistance, loans to people with ITIN numbers (as opposed to SSN numbers), and the use of non-traditional credit score evaluations for people without formal credit scores. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support a bilingual outreach coordinator to expand Rural Homes’ Latinx homebuyer outreach. To learn more about Rural Homes, please visit ruralhomes.co.
School Community Youth Collaborative – $20,000
School Community Youth Collaborative’s (SCYC) mission is to support youth on their path to healthy adulthood. SCYC concentrates on providing volunteer, pro-social, and leadership opportunities to youth to achieve personal success and become civically minded community leaders. SCYC serves four schools in Montezuma County. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will increase SCYC’s capacity to provide out of school time programming in Montezuma County. The programming aims to bridge achievement gaps and educational needs for all students in order to increase graduation rates. To learn more about School Community Youth Collaborative, please visit scyclistens.org.
Senior Housing Options – $8,964
Senior Housing Options’ (SHO) mission is to provide residential communities and caring services to enrich the lives of older adults in Colorado. SHO addresses the displacement of older adults and adults with disabilities experiencing no and low-income in Denver. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will spearhead the Home Sweet Home Packet program. This new initiative is intended to provide both a warm welcome experience for those just settling into their new homes and for current residents in SHO’s Metro Denver and Weld County affordable housing units, 288 individuals total. The packets provide items that emphasize the importance of self-care and safety, physically and mentally, and a reminder to take care of oneself. They also mitigate the stress of food insecurity that some residents experience with the cost of food rising and SNAP benefits decreasing. To learn more about Senior Housing Options, please visit seniorhousingoptions.org.
Sims-Fayola Foundation – $10,000
Sims-Fayola Foundation’s mission is to improve the life outcomes and experiences of young men and boys of color and increase the capacity of the youth service professionals who work with them to provide their services through an equity and gender lens. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support salaries for Empowerment Coaches for the Empowered Ambition Youth Development Program. The overarching goal of this Program is to assist young men and boys of color in increasing their capacity to be better stewards of their choices, careers, and ultimately their lives while developing into positive, culturally aware, and emotionally healthy role models. To learn more about Sims-Fayola Foundation, please visit sffoundation.org.
Steamboat Reading – $10,000
Steamboat Reading provides a community of support for struggling readers and their families through one-on-one tutoring, formal evaluations, advocacy, and parent education. Steamboat Reading intervenes early to help children develop foundational skills to be confident, competent readers, setting them up for success throughout their lives. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the general operations for the tutoring program, ensuring that all families have access to the critical services Steamboat Reading provides and setting children up for a lifetime of success by ensuring they can read. To learn more about Steamboat Reading, please visit steamboatreading.org.
Sunshine Home Share Colorado – $10,000
Sunshine Home Share Colorado helps people, above the age of 55, stay in their homes by safely matching them with someone seeking housing. Home sharing creates a mutually beneficial relationship, exchanging supportive services and companionship for affordable rent. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the home sharing program as well as a financial education program toward low and middle-income older adults. To learn more about Sunshine Home Share Colorado, please visit sunshinehomeshare.org.
The Gathering Place- A Refuge for Rebuilding Lives – $25,000
The Gathering Place (TGP) offers services to combat poverty and address the impacts of marginalization and oppression that are often contributing factors to poverty or homelessness. By offering low-barrier access to a broad range of basic necessities and wrap-around care options, TGP guides women, transgender, and children living in poverty from a place of crisis and instability to one of stability and security. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Case Management Program through staff expenses, member assistance with obtaining vital documents, and supporting move-in expenses like providing dishes and toiletries for households transitioning from homelessness. To learn more about The Gathering Place, please visit tgpdenver.org.
The Inn Between of Longmont – $15,000
The Inn Between of Longmont moves people from homelessness to housing stability through their supportive housing program. The Inn began in 1993 with one 31-unit building, they now own six buildings with 88 units. Capacity increases have allowed them to be adaptable to rising housing costs, offering families facing of homelessness an affordable housing option with time and opportunities to build more economic strength. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will enhance the Supportive Housing program through an Education Career Development Manager position, which is designed to advance Transitional Housing participants’ income capacity. To learn more about The Inn Between of Longmont, please visit theinnbetween.org.
The Matthews House – $15,000
The Matthews House empowers youth and families to close the poverty cycle in Northern Colorado. The Matthews House provides ongoing support to families as they work to navigate systems and facilitate the achievement of each participant’s goals through case advocacy, assessment, planning, and resource management and referral. Staff help participants with resource navigation support in five pillars: well-being, education, employment, housing, and life skills. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support families who are experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in the community. The funds will support navigation to secure housing as well as wrap-around case management services to maintain housing. To learn more about The Matthews House, please visit thematthewshouse.org.
The Reciprocity Collective – $15,000
The Reciprocity Collective supports individuals experiencing homelessness in gaining sustainable employment, purpose, and health. Through their street and shelter outreach and integrated programs, The Reciprocity Collective provides “right-now” help and longer-term, individualized support. Their services focus on mental and physical health, basic needs, housing, and employment. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will provide general operating support for the community outreach and community case management programs. To learn more about The Reciprocity Collective, please visit thereciprocitycollective.org.
The Rock Found – $10,000
The Rock Found provides stability through housing and employment, education, and credentialing. They operate two transitional houses for men on parole and have one shared house for women on parole through a partnership with Room to Grow, offering sober living. Much of their current funding is restricted to this population only. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will allow The Rock Found to further assist the community at large. To learn more about The Rock Found, please visit therockfound.org.
Tri-Lakes Cares – $15,000
Tri-Lakes Cares mission is to improve people's lives through emergency, self‐sufficiency, and relief programs. Tri-Lakes Cares provides a safety net for low-income households in the Tri-Lakes region and helps those households willing and able, to work toward self-sufficiency. Many households in the service territory do not earn enough income to meet all their basic needs of housing, food, utilities, transportation, and health care. This disparity between household income and necessary daily living expenses often results in generational and situational poverty. CHFA's Direct Effect Award will provide general operating support for the organization. To learn more about Tri-Lakes Cares, please visit tri-lakescares.org.
United Way of Weld County – $15,000
United Way of Weld County’s mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of their community. United Way leads Weld’s Way Home, a county-wide initiative to end and prevent homelessness. As part of its community capacity developing role, in April 2019 United Way opened a Housing Navigation Center (HNC) to help those experiencing homelessness regain housing and prevent those at-risk of homelessness from losing it. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Housing Navigation Center services, which includes: diverting people from homelessness by helping them return to support networks; assisting people in getting back into permanent housing as quickly as possible; helping people maintain their housing with supportive services; connecting guests with mental/physical health care, non-emergency shelter, and other long-term resources; providing essential services to help people survive homelessness; and offering space to homeless services providers for wrap-around services. To learn more about United Way of Weld County, please visit unitedway-weld.org,
Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments – $10,000
The Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments (UAACOG) helps provide the holistic, supportive framework required for living within a society and directs these efforts to low-income households who need this support the most. UAACOG administers State and Federal Housing Vouchers, USDA/RD Mutual Self-Help Housing, Housing Navigation for homeless individuals, low-interest Home Repair loans, Homebuyers Workshops, Housing and Credit Counseling, Community Service Block Grants, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Head Start (daycare and pre-school), and Area Agency on Aging programs. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support UAACOG’s general operations. To learn more about Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments, please visit uaacog.com.
Vail Valley Charitable Fund – $10,000
Vail Valley Charitable Fund provides financial assistance to those suffering from a medical crisis or long-term illness. In response to overwhelming dental needs, Vail Valley Charitable Fund established the Eagle County Smiles, which helps children through age 18 by assigning them a dentist for treatment, prevention, and education about healthy habits. The newly established Eagle County Grins program provides uninsured adults with up to $3,000 for treatment. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Eagle County Smiles and Eagle County Grins program. Support for these dental programs provides increased health access and affordability and improves overall health outcomes for underserved populations. To learn more about Vail Valley Charitable Fund, please visit vvcf.org.
Valley Food Partnership – $7,500
Valley Food Partnership strengthens the regional food system and community well-being through education, access to quality local foods, and promotion of sustainable agricultural. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support the Local Farmacy Rx (LFRx) program, which is a cooking and nutrition education and produce incentive program. Weekly cooking and nutrition classes are offered in Montrose, Ridgway, and at Haven House (a transitional housing program). Participants receive $50 in LFRx bucks per class attended to spend at local food retail outlets, providing voice and choice in their food as well as putting money directly into the pockets of farmers and ranchers. To learn more about Valley Food Partnership, please visit valleyfoodpartnership.org.
We Don't Waste – $15,000
We Don’t Waste increases food access by recovering quality, unused food from over 130 food-related businesses and distributing this food through its Mobile Food Markets and through partnerships with roughly 90 nonprofits serving food-insecure individuals. Through these efforts, food from We Don’t Waste reaches over 500,000 individuals annually, including children and families, seniors, people experiencing homelessness and/or economic hardship, veterans, people living with disabilities, and more. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will be used to support Mobile Food Market program expenses, including supplies, occupancy expenses related to food storage at the Food Recovery and Distribution Center, personnel costs, fuel and maintenance for food-recovery vehicles, and food tracking management software. To learn more about We Don’t Waste, please visit wedontwaste.org.
Westside CARES – $20,000
Westside CARES mission is to provide care and compassion to neighbors in need through direct services, including stabilizing households and preventing homelessness, ameliorating poverty, and building community. CHFA’s Direct Effect Award will support up to 35 families acquiring or maintaining housing through Westside CARES’ rental assistance or housing navigation programs and would include and ancillary programmatic supports like application fees and documentation procurement. To learn more about Westside CARES, please visit westsidecares.org.