A new guide asks clergy to help prevent gun violence. Colorado pastors see challenges.
This story discusses suicide, suicidal thoughts and gun violence.
When someone threatens to hurt themselves or others, a pastor, priest or other faith leader may be among the first to know. But if that person has access to a gun, would those community leaders know how to intervene?
A new guide developed with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health aims to answer that question with a ‘yes’, outlining how clergy can use red flag laws to help prevent gun violence and suicide. But for two Colorado pastors, knowing the law is only part of the challenge. Building trust, connecting with police and preparing for a crisis that may never come can be just as important.
Earthjustice attorneys are fighting to control their pollution and climate impacts — and your energy bill.
Here’s what to know about proposals for enormous new data centers, and what Earthjustice is doing to control their pollution, climate impacts, and your energy bill.
CCA Responds to Increasing Islamophobia
As election day approaches, islamophobic rhetoric and action is increasing. This is happening at the national level with the federal government targeting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, raiding her home, and instigating ongoing attacks on her privacy and security. Congresswoman Omar has repeatedly been the target of islamophobic attacks throughout her time in Congress, while many leaders from both parties stay silent. In addition, the president and vice president of the United States make continued derogatory remarks about Somali immigrants and have targeted Somali-American communities with increased ICE operations and removing Somali immigrants Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Pueblo native Kayla Rael Garcia is a powerhouse at Girls Inc.
Walking into the West Colfax Avenue office of Kayla Rael Garcia, the first thing you notice is its spartan-like nature. Everything—those few things that you would expect—is perfectly in its place. It is not overstuffed with plaques, awards and kitsch, but simply the nuts and bolts of what she needs to operate.
Photo courtesy: Girls Inc. of Denver
The office is a picture of total efficiency. It’s a reflection of this warm and affable, ready-to-launch sky-rocketing executive. It’s just the way she wants it and a mirror image of the way she operates as CEO of Girls, Inc., of Denver.
Who gets to decide what it means to be a woman?
Should politicians get to decide which girls can play sports or what medical care families can choose for their children?
In a new The Denver Post op-ed, our President & CEO Renee Ferrufino explains why Propositions 134 and 135 should concern all Colorado women, not just those directly targeted by the measures. And why we should be focusing on the challenges women say matter most, like making ends meet.
Colorado's Fiscal Landscape Calls for a New Approach
Colorado's budget constraints increasingly restrict the state's options and its future. This piece by our Director of Government Affairs Joshua Mantell cuts through the rhetoric you might have heard and gives you a clear picture of the state of Colorado's budget. It explains how federal and cash funds can distort the scale of budget growth. It shows how state investments haven't kept pace with growth of the economy. And it shows why Colorado needs a broader fiscal response.
Who do we choose to be in a time such as this? An evening with Hanna Reichel
We are living through a moment that asks something of each of us. How do we meet uncertainty with courage? How do we care for one another when the world feels increasingly fractured? And how do we prepare ourselves to respond with intention?
Join Dr. Hanna Reichel and the NowHere Fund for an evening of live music, shared conversation, and food for thought. Together, we’ll make space to reflect, reconnect, and consider how we want to show up for one another in the days ahead.
Interfaith Immigration Network Shares Ways You Can Help Free People From Detention!
How You Can Help Get People Freed From Detention
Many thanks to Belle Zars of Mountain View Friends Meeting, Greg Mortimer of the Colorado Immigrant Justice Fund, and Brittany Hurley of the Amistad Law Firm for a powerful and informative presentation on how they are helping some people get freed from detention and how you and your congregation/organization can be an important part of that process.
What is the process for getting people freed?
Many detainees qualify to be freed from detention on bond. However, our current administration is making that as difficult as possible -- indeed, getting out on bond, while it is a right belonging to many, is virtually impossible without legal representation.
That's where the Colorado Immigrant Justice Fund (https://www.coloradoimmigrantjusticefund.org) comes in. CIJF works with skilled, dedicated immigration attorneys who are willing to work for well-below-market fees to help free people from detention. CIJF pairs qualified detainees with attorneys who represent the detainee (free of any cost to the detainee) to get the detainee out of detention on bond; all legal fees are paid by CJIF. The attorneys put together the extensive information needed to support an application for getting freed on bond; they also represent the detainee at the bond hearing and at any appeals or other legal actions (such as a habeus corpus petition) that might be necessary to ensure that the detainee is freed. You can learn more about CJIF and their great work in providing the legal representation needed to get people out of detention in this presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17GiBXf2rQHCu5-Ron2SN3z42dpbsSfGad3iS_jyCvek/edit?slide=id.g40a26f0d85f_0_293#slide=id.g40a26f0d85f_0_293
Colorado Nonprofit Association has Announced its Support for Amendment 87
If approved by voters this November, Amendment 87 would generate an estimated $2.7 billion annually for K–12 education, health care, and early childhood care and education by replacing Colorado’s current flat income tax with a graduated structure.
For Colorado’s nonprofit sector, this matters. Nonprofits are being asked to meet growing community needs while navigating reductions in public funding and increased demand for services. After careful consideration, CNA supports Amendment 87 as an opportunity to strengthen investment in critical public services, support stronger state and nonprofit partnerships, and help sustain the services Colorado communities rely on.
We recognize that changes to Colorado’s tax structure involve important tradeoffs and will affect taxpayers differently. We encourage Coloradans to learn more about the measure ahead of the November election.
Ending Well: How Can Grantmakers Close Funding Relationships with Care?
As trust-based philanthropy practitioners, we’re confident we know how to enter into trust-based relationships with grantee partners. We’ve studied the practices and guidelines, we’re committed to the mindset, we’ve attended trainings.
But what happens on the other side? How do you end multi-year grants in a way that is just as thoughtful and caring as the beginning? How can we plan ahead to set grantees up with stability, transparency, and opportunity, instead of cliffs?
As we found out from a recent Trust-Based Philanthropy Peer Exchange event, this is something many funders grapple with. Eighty-four people joined the discussion, and while we didn’t leave with a list of perfect answers, a few key themes came to the surface.
It was powerful to see what can develop from a gathering of minds, which itself was sparked by a conversation a few of us had at a recent TBP convening. Funders want help, guidance, and opportunities to candidly share what’s messy so we can do better. We’re hoping to learn with each other.
Fresh Food Connect - Organization Highlight
Our CEO Kayla spent a week in San Diego meeting the people behind our fastest-growing market in person, and came back with a lot to be excited about.
She welcomed two new team members on the ground: Emma Burns, our new bilingual Outreach Coordinator, and Crystal Hilsley, our newest board member (more on her below!). Together, they visited four of our San Diego operators, including Healthy Day Partners, Heaven's Windows, I Love to Glean, and Porchlight Community Services, each doing the work of turning donated produce into meals in their own way.
The trip closed with an evening at Healthy Day Partners' Encinitas headquarters, bringing together gardeners, operators, funders, and staff to celebrate the season.
The highlight? Pam MacCallum was honored as Fresh Food Connect's #1 contributing gardener in the entire country, having donated 1,500+ pounds of homegrown produce to Healthy Day Partners over the past few years.
Growth like this doesn't happen without the community behind it, so a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the trip possible, especially Bill Hornung of the Harry Chapin Foundation and our partners at Hunter Industries.
We’re Home at The Roots!
After nearly two years away and more than five years since we first imagined what this campus could become, Project Worthmore has officially returned home to The Roots!
The Roots allows us to expand the way we serve our community. Our newly reimagined food market provides a grocery store–style experience where clients can browse fresh produce and culturally familiar foods with greater choice and dignity. Later this year, we will open a medical clinic, expanding access to primary care and helping remove barriers that too often prevent families from receiving the healthcare they need
Graduated Income Tax Qualifies for the November Ballot
We are thrilled to report that tax fairness will be on the November ballot! The Colorado Secretary of State informed us earlier this week that we had collected 130,938 valid signatures, exceeding the required threshold both statewide and in each of Colorado's 35 Senate districts. The graduated income tax is on the ballot! That means Colorado voters will decide whether they want to cut state income taxes for 97 percent of Coloradans and raise them on those making more than $500,000 a year. The graduated income tax measure would bring in $2 billion annually that will be used for child care, healthcare, and K-12 education. Members of the Protect Colorado's Future coalition, which has backed the measure, are ebullient and energized for the next two months of campaigning.
Colorado Nonprofit Association - Last Chance: Join Our Second AI Confluence Cohort!
Sign Up for Our AI Confluence Program by Tomorrow!
Registration Closes Tuesday, September 1st
AI is already changing how nonprofit teams work. The question is no longer whether AI will show up in your organization, but how your team will navigate it thoughtfully, responsibly, and strategically. If your organization has been wondering where AI fits, what risks to consider, or how to move forward with confidence, now is the time to join AI Confluence.
AI Confluence: Build
Girls Inc. of Metro Denver Announces New Board Chair and Board Leadership for Next Phase of Expansion
Girls Inc. of Metro Denver Announces New Board Chair and Board Leadership for Next Phase of Expansion
Denver, CO – Girls Inc. of Metro Denver (GIMD) is proud to announce Simone D. Morrison, CEO of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, as its new Board Chair, leading the organization into its next chapter of growth, expansion and community impact.
He wants to ‘thrive’ in prison. This years-long mural project helps him do that
ORDWAY, Colo. — Mario Rios’ paintings have graced the walls of the Colorado State Capitol, SUNY Fredonia and the Museum of Art Fort Collins. But his most ambitious project yet is also the most exclusive, on view only within Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, where Rios is serving a life sentence without parole.
Over the last seven years, Rios has transformed the hallway of the prison’s mental health wing into a floor-to-ceiling mural. Titled “Metamorphosis of Change,” the mural is inspired by the story of Frankenstein’s monster.
Rios, 47, has been incarcerated for 19 years. The mural has been a work-in-progress for more than a third of that time. The artwork, he said, is a source of pride, an opportunity for reflection and a chance to connect with other incarcerated people.
“In the Right Hands” Documentary
Trees, Water & People, an environmental nonprofit based in Fort Collins, created “In the Right Hands”, a short film that explores the importance and impact of trust-based philanthropy.
https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/tools-resources/intherighthands
Trust-based philanthropy is a growing movement and practice in the philanthropic sector which encourages authentic donor-grantee relationships, unrestricted and long-term grant structures, and more flexible reporting requirements; ultimately, trust-based philanthropy seeks to reduce burdens upon nonprofits and other grantees, and facilitate investment in more long-term, systemic change by allowing communities greater autonomy and flexibility in the use of funding. Though these practices are not entirely new, the concept of trust-based philanthropy became more formalized under the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project and gained further momentum following the COVID-19 pandemic, which demonstrated the need for more flexible funding structures.
‘Truth and healing can exist in the same space’
DENVER — Colorado turns 150 years old this year and to mark the milestone — and the concurrent 250th anniversary of the founding of the country — the state Legislature established a commission to plan a series of commemorative events.
And what are Colorado’s Indigenous communities planning to bring to the parties?
The truth.
On a bus.
“We want to talk about what happened, what really happened, and our histories and bring that into the modern day, and see how we can we heal from this,” said Diné artist Nazhoné Morgan, who helped turn an ordinary school bus into a mobile exhibit on Colorado’s Native culture and history that will travel the state sharing the stories.
Before You Sign: Proposed Ballot Questions Explained
Before You Sign: Proposed Ballot Questions Explained
Community Board Submission
This board exists to help nonprofits, community leaders, and changemakers share opportunities, challenges, ideas, and gatherings. If you have something to offer—or something you need—we invite you to contribute.