At last night’s celebration of the Community Foundation’s impact over the past year – and the impact of the friends, partners, donors, and grantees who are working together toward a more caring community – a full house enjoyed fellowship, music, and highlights from our newly-published Boulder County TRENDS Report.
At last night’s celebration of the Community Foundation’s impact over the past year – and the impact of the friends, partners, donors, and grantees who are working together toward a more caring community – a full house enjoyed fellowship, music, and highlights from our newly-published Boulder County TRENDS Report.
Recalling the foundation’s first Listening Tour earlier this year, CEO Jeff Hirota remarked, “The stories and people we heard are imprinted on our hearts.” Indeed, we’ll add more listening opportunities in future, to better hone our programs and initiatives according to the specific and changing needs of the diverse communities, families, and individuals we serve.
TRENDS is also key to our informed decision-making, and TRENDS Editor and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Chris Barge described a handful of the 150 community indicators we track. Sharing good news, first, Chris highlighted a drop in our uninsured rate, as well as our community’s strong sense of volunteerism. He also shone the spotlight on where there’s room for improvement: for example, we have a ways to go when it comes to charitable giving, and we need to do more as a community to address a persistent achievement gap, and the needs of residents experiencing homelessness.
But perhaps the greatest inspiration of the evening was hearing from college student Lluvia Macias who has overcome many obstacles on her journey toward fulfilling her dreams in the field of medicine.
In all, this special evening was a celebration of everyone who loves living in Boulder County…and a call to action to those who want to make a difference here at home.
