Many of our neighbors still have a long road to travel.
Dear friends,
The saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers”. Clearly, that person was not from Boulder County, where May is our wettest month of the year. Let’s continue to bless the rains, and remain hopeful for a safe fire season.
The warmer weather, growing vaccination rates, and social reopening are certainly full of promise for a “return to normal”. We must continue to ask ourselves, for whom?
As of March 20, 2021, Boulder County employment rates are still 23.8% lower than they were in January 2020. In Colorado, employment rates among workers in the bottom wage quartile are down by 6.1% compared to January 2020. Many in our community are still struggling and we are grateful to the nonprofits who continue to strive to meet the needs of our neighbors. We have and will continue to support those efforts through our COVID-19 Response Fund.
Next month, CFBC will begin accepting applications for our cornerstone grantmaking program, the Community Trust. This year, we are taking a closer look at the structure of that program and reflecting on how we might improve our work to better serve the needs of our community. We invite you to join us on this journey and welcome your thoughts and insights as we survey a broad cross-section of stakeholders, including nonprofit, government, business and faith leaders, donors, and people with lived experience.
We continue our work to support our community and the victims of March’s shooting through our Boulder County Crisis Fund. In addition to the work of our advisory committee, CFBC staff participates in a funders’ collaborative that’s focused on ensuring needs are met. Next week, the memorial fence on Table Mesa will be taken down with great love and care by volunteers and staff from the Museum of Boulder and SoBo Rising. If you would like to be a part of that process, you can sign up here.
Earlier this month, Boulder County received the first of two distributions of American Rescue Plan Act funds. Our community has an opportunity to “build back better”. I sincerely hope we use it as a way to deepen our commitment to community-engaged decision-making.
On a personal note, I celebrate my first year serving as your CEO next month. I continue to be humbled and honored by the responsibility and look forward to seeing many more of you in person in the coming months. We can celebrate together the time warp that has been 2020/2021.
Warmly,
Tatiana Hernandez, CEO
P.S. … As you prepare for this Memorial Day weekend, please consider supporting our Veteran’s Fund, which supports and honors veterans and their families throughout Boulder County.
