Eat at the Lafayette Smashburger on August 25th between 10am and 10pm. 10% of the day’s sales will be donated to Sister Carmen!

SCCC has taken major steps in the past two years to help clients move toward self sufficiency. In 2008 we began providing Case Management, now called “Support Services.” This name change is part of an an effort to change vocabulary and shift the paradigm of the general approach service agencies take when working with clients. SCCC’s approach has been to focus on the strengths of the client seeking assistance. In the past year our Program Director has been meeting with representatives of other human services agencies, and with our County Commissioners to help create the official Strengths-Based Approach. Not only can this approach be used by all agencies in Boulder County who work with clients, the approach has actually become a part of Boulder County’s Strategic Plan. Through the Strengths-Based Approach, agencies recognize that clients are not “cases” to be “managed.” Clients are individuals we are working with collaboratively. Economic stability is our collaborative goal. Each client’s objectives may need to be different. We work with a client’s strengths to create a relevant and specific service plan for each client and their family.

Along with the Strengths-Based Approach, SCCC has been working to further integrate the Bridges Out of Poverty initiative into the services we provide. Bridges is often described as a “3 Phase” process. During the 1st phase certified Bridges trainers educate the community on issues of poverty. Our CEO is a trained Bridges trainer.

The 2nd phase of Bridges: Getting Ahead workshops for clients. As announced in our last newsletter, our Getting Ahead workshops, which allow clients to meet with peers and two facilitators to explore the root causes of poverty, have been highly successful. The Getting Ahead workshop meets for 2 1/2 hours once per week for a fifteen week period. We are currently about to complete our fourth Getting Ahead workshop.

Clients who have graduated from Getting Ahead are eligible to participate in Circles, which is phase 3 of the Bridges out of Poverty initiative. SCCC is collaborating to help build the Circles Campaign for Boulder County. Through Circles, Getting Ahead graduates become ‘Circle Leaders.’ Circle Leaders are connected with a circle of about 4 ‘Allies.’ Allies are volunteer mentors from the community who can work together with the Circle Leader to help that person achieve goals set in Getting Ahead. For example, if part of a Circles Leader’s plan is to go back to school, the Circle Leader could be connected with an Ally who studied the same academic discipline. Even beyond the Circle leaders team of Allies are ad-hoc Allies who can step in to volunteer specific skills, such as fixing a fridge, or repairing a car. Circles has been implemented in several other communities and has a very high success rate. Early results based on research from Circles Campaigns in Idaho, Ohio and Connecticut demonstrate that for every $1 spent on the program, $2 in welfare and food stamp subsidies was returned to the state and $4 to the community as new earned income.

Getting the larger community involved in working with clients might just be the way to end poverty. What do you think? Call us, email us, find us online on Facebook and Twitter. Share your ideas. And, if you are interested in becoming a Circles Ally, let us know and we can connect you!

We are thrilled to announce that in mid-March we closed on a new building which will become our second location! The building at 655 Aspen Ridge in Lafayette, only about a 1/2 mile from our current building, is almost three times as big as the space we have now. The new building will house our Food Bank, food storage, offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, and self sufficiency programs. We will be changing the model of our Food Bank in the new location so that clients can pick out their own food items. Our current building will become our expanded Thrift Store and donations receiving area. Both the new location and the current location will be renovated.

We are currently raising the funds needed to renovate both locations. 2.5 million is our total fundraising goal for this project. We have raised about 66% of the goal so far, and will be able to begin renovations this year. Please be on the lookout for more news, and let us know if you would like to be involved in this project!

Click Here:2010 Spring Newsletter

Or, Go to our Newsletters page

Voting open May 15-May 31

In the Universe, a nova is a star that suddenly increases in brightness to several times its normal magnitude. The NOVA Award honors innovation in programming or operational excellence within Boulder County’s non-profit sector.

The NOVA Awards were established by The Community Foundation in 1997 and will be presented this year at Community Ventures on June 15, 2010. The winning organization (or collaboration of organizations) will receive a beautiful John Haertling plaque and a $5,000 cash award.

Click here to vote!

Thank you for supporting the important work of Boulder County’s Non-profit Sector!

Big Red F Restaurants will also hold a fundrasier for SCCC this month. The “El Jefe de Tequila” event at Zolo Grill in Boulder will feature several wonderful courses, all made with tequila. The event is Wednesday, March 31, 2010 starting at 6:30PM. The cost is $75 per person, profits will benefit SCCC. Call 303-449-0444 for reservations and Click here for more details on El Jefe de Tequila

We will be distributing holiday food boxes to clients again this year. These are in addition to the normal food boxes available through our food bank twice per month. In 2008 we distributed about 1,350 holiday food boxes to clients. With the current economic situation, more and more families are in need, so it is possible we will distribute even more boxes this year.

Clients will be able to come in and pick up holiday food boxes food at our Center in both November and December. We will also be delivering holiday food boxes and gifts to senior clients and clients with disabilities.
There are a few ways you can help this year:

~We are in need of grocery gift cards from King Soopers or Walmart in $10 and $15 increments. These grocery gift cards will be given to client families along with their holiday food boxes. Clients use the cards to buy their own meat for their holiday meal.

~We are also in need of “Pie Bags” that we will distribute along with our holiday food boxes. These bags should include pumpkin pie mix, evaporated milk, and a pie crust. Please feel free to have fun with this if you would like. You can package the items in a festive holiday bag and include a recipe. Or, you can just simply deliver the items as is. Whatever you decide to do will be a huge help!

~Bring in new hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves that we can distribute to clients as the weather gets colder.

We are collecting these donations now through December 22nd. Donations are welcome anytime. If you have any questions, please contact Julie Piller, our Holiday Coordinator. We will also be in need of extra volunteers in November and December to help with holiday needs. Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Sierra May Bishop, at 303-665-4342 ext. 25 if you are interested in volunteering. We look forward to working with you again this holiday season!