"...we need to explore the intersections between the current pandemic, the associated economic crash, and the other crises we face. This refocusing of efforts is especially important in the area of climate action." By Brett Ken Cairn, Senior Policy Advisor for Climate...
Dear TRENDS Diary, FOCUS Reentry is a nonprofit mentorship program for the jailed population before and after they get released. Much of that has shifted. We’re doing remote work: helping our clients get medications, enroll in benefits, get necessary supplies,...
Dear TRENDS Diary,Between the three Walnut Cafes, we had about $30,000 worth of food inventory. We had a meeting before that weekend they shut us down. I told everyone that regardless of what happens, we’ve got you. We’ll feed you.Right away, we gave away all of our...
Dear TRENDS Diary,I got the most unexpected check-in call today from BVSD transportation. It was the woman who assists my special-needs son on his morning bus ride to school (or did, before the shutdown).My son was assigned to a new school in another town just a...
Dear TRENDS Diary,I’m a developer of affordable housing, and I own a handful of affordable rental properties in town. Because of the income limits on these units, the tenants are nearly all in jobs that have been impacted by COVID-19 — restaurant workers, massage...
Dear TRENDS Diary,Like all of Boulder’s yoga studios, Radiance Power Yoga shut down all in-studio classes in mid-March. Yoga teachers generally don't make much and a few of the studio's teachers were living paycheck to paycheck, so this got scary for them...
Dear TRENDS Diary,I live in Wild Sage co-housing in North Boulder. There are a few of us in the community that sew, and there are people who have fabric stashes. We created a sewing circle, following recommended rules: Six or fewer people at a time, spaced six feet...
Dear TRENDS Diary,Roberta: I was having a hard time at the beginning of the pandemic because of my post traumatic stress disorder. I was having nightmares again, and I was not sleeping well. One day, I remembered that I have a sewing machine, I have fabric — I can...
Dear TRENDS Diary,As we learn our way through the Covid-19 pandemic, we find ourselves in the midst of what will likely be a transformational experience in human history. When we were celebrating the first year in a new decade, no one could have imagined the world in...
Dear TRENDS Diary,I’m the Chief Financial Officer of Gaia in Louisville, a conscious media and community company that includes yoga instruction.The need for children’s yoga came from my own personal experience. I have a 4-year-old and 6-year-old at home. I was seeing...
Dear TRENDS Diary,I am a musician with 300 Days band. Due to COVID-19, my gigs have been cancelled and the record I was recording in April has been postponed.I wanted to find a community I could service and give myself a reprieve from the chaos. Knowing this was...
Dear TRENDS Diary,I’m the founder and president of Mythology Distillery. We’re a whiskey, gin and vodka distillery based in Denver. Similar to many other Colorado distilleries, we switched our production to hand sanitizer to help first responders and organizations in...
Dear TRENDS Diary,We’re on lock down. You know, the virus thing. Now, there’s lots of time to write. But I’ve been fighting the sadness of closing down our Warrior StoryField project.We are a team of war veterans and civilians working together to build two huge steel...
Dear Diary,“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ “ - Fred RogersThat quote from Mr. Rogers was my inspiration. There’s so much negativity in the news...
A couple days before the governor’s stay-at-home orders took effect, Diego Bonta and Angie Fryer and their two sons decided as a family that they wanted to buy some flowers for some of their close neighbors and friends.They delivered the flowers to their Boulder...
It started on March 20, right as things were starting to get dire. I saw a blog post from the team out of San Francisco who started a similar program.I retweeted the story and said, ‘Who is doing this in Colorado?’ I had a little back and forth with Vikas Reddy, Brad...
Dear Trends Diary,I have been organizing a growing group of volunteers who want to help their neighbors with errands. My hope has been to foster a sense of care and connection in a time of seeming isolation. Because of this idea, I have now met more Boulderites in two...
Lyn Schuman Simuns used to have a very active life before the COVID-19 outbreak. Whether the Longmont resident was volunteering for Boulder County or for Intercambio teaching ESL classes, she was always on the go; but suddenly, in one week, everything stopped.“I...
"So many times over the last few weeks we’ve heard, 'We’ll get through this together.' We are fortunate here in Boulder County to have a talented and dedicated organization that has been in this with us for decades, whether we realized it or not. Now, in our time of...
Today, on April 3, 2020, nonprofit organization will be able to apply for the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) when the application officially becomes available. This loan program is available to small (fewer than 500 employees) §...