Join us as we extend a hand to those in need - Denver Post ...

Season to Share
november 7, 2010 B the denver post
6 SECTION S
Join us as we extend a hand to those in need
Inside» A look at four agencies seeking
funding from this year’s program »3-7S
Donation coupon »9S
a profile in leadership Amber, 14, flourished at the
Boettcher Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver, where she
became an athlete, youth leader and a junior staff member.
See her story on 6S. Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post

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6 the denver post B denverpost.com B sunday, november 7, 2010 «3S
FromTheEditor
John Lund makes use of the reduced-price insulin and other diabetes care at Inner City Health Center.
Most of the center’s patrons work but can’t afford insurance. John Prieto, The Denver Post
A hand up to health
By Claire Martin The Denver Post
When John Lund, a diabetic, worked as a driver for a small construction-equipment
company five years ago, the insulin he needed was
covered by his health care insurance policy.
Then, as he was delivering some equipment to a
construction site, his blood sugar plummeted. His
driving became erratic. Lund lost his job. The liability
risk presented by a diabetic driver, his boss told
him, was too high.
Without health insurance, Lund suddenly was paying
$100 for a bottle of insulin — and he went
through two to three bottles of insulin a month. Physician
visits were out of reach.
Then he learned about Denver’s Inner City Health
Center, a private, nonprofit, volunteer-based clinic
that provides medical and dental care to the poor and
uninsured. It is among the organizations applying for
funds from this year’s Season to Share campaign.
Thanks to financial donations, the Inner City
Inner City Health Center
Address: 3405 Downing St., Denver
In operation since: 1983
Number served last year: 22,885
Staff: 50
Yearly budget: $3,546,339
Percentage of funds directly given to clients and
services: 82
Health Center can supplement the price of a vial of insulin
to bring the price down to about $10 — a cost
that Lund and other diabetic patients can manage.
Like Lund, more than two-thirds of Inner City
Health Center’s patients qualify as members of the
working poor — low-wage earners whose income
falls 150 percent below federal poverty guidelines,
says chief executive Kraig Burleson.
“Most of our patients are people who work hard every
day but don’t make enough to afford health insurance,”
he said.
By becoming an Inner City Health Center patient,
Lund can get a sharply reduced price on insulin and
prescription drugs.
Not only were physician visits more affordable —
Inner City Health Center patients are charged on a
sliding scale proportionate to their income — but
Lund was assigned permanently to one doctor.
He sees that doctor on every visit instead of being
shunted from one on-duty physician to another, as
many private health-care insurance policy-holders
are forced to do.
“We try not to say ‘no’ to anyone,” Burleson said.
More than 45 percent of the center’s patients live outside
the city and county of Denver. Lund lives in
Thornton.
“The only limitations to accessing Inner City
Health Center’s care is our capacity to provide it.”
Dear Readers,
Every day we have choices to make.
Some are small, like what to have for dinner.
Others are bigger, like deciding how
to care for our kids, where to live, and
who our doctors will be.
There are others in our community
who have different but equally difficult
choices. Some of them have to choose
between paying the rent or putting food
on the table; or between paying the electric
bill or getting that much-needed prescription.
These are tough choices, and
with the downturn in the economy,
more people than ever are having to
make them.
Thankfully, there are outstanding nonprofit
organizations and programs in our
community that work hard to ensure
that those in need have access to the basics,
allowing them to have more and better
choices. These folks work tirelessly
to ensure that no one has to choose between
a place to sleep or a hot meal; or
between quality care and education for
their children or a trip to the doctor.
They help make sure that everyone has
a home, food, medical services, and education
and care for their kids.
The Denver Post is proud to support
these efforts through Season to Share, a
McCormick Foundation Fund. In this
section, as well as in a series of articles
that will run in the coming months, we
will profile agencies that have applied
for Season to Share funding — telling
their stories and the stories of those
they serve. Our hope is that after reading
these articles, you will learn more
about our community and how you can
make a difference by supporting Season
to Share.
It’s a great program — every donation
is matched at 50 percent by our partners
at the McCormick Foundation and not a
single penny is taken out to cover administrative
costs. The Post and the McCormick
Foundation take care of those expenses.
All money raised, plus the
match, is distributed to local nonprofits
that serve disadvantaged children, as
well as those who are hungry, homeless
or in need of medical care.
We know times are tough for everyone,
but any contribution, even the
smallest amount, can make a difference.
And what better gift to give than helping
someone who needs a hand
It’s your turn to make a choice. I hope
you will choose to give what you can to
support Season to Share and our neighbors
in need.
Gregory L. Moore
Editor, The Denver Post

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Shelly Occhipinti is
the site coordinator
and runs the kitchen
at Denver’s Trinity
United Methodist
Church, 1820
Broadway, where
lunch is served to
those in need, five
days a week. Cyrus
McCrimmon, The Denver
Post
A hot serving of inspiration
By Tucker Shaw The Denver Post
“We’re a soup kitchen,” says Capitol Hill Community Services cook Shelly
Occhipinti. “Although we never serve soup.”
Occhipinti, who’s been with the
nonprofit for more than nine years,
prefers to prepare other kinds of comfort
foods. Stews. Burritos. Or, on one
recent morning, sausage-patty sandwiches
— two patties per bun.
“Stir that!” Occhipinti barks at a
kitchen volunteer who’s standing by
a massive pan of macaroni and
cheese, one of three side dishes that
will accompany the sandwiches.
“And taste it for salt.” She returns to
her cutting board, where she’s peeling
and seeding a crate of cantaloupe
for a fruit salad. “Fresh fruit and vegetables
are important,” she muses.
“But it’s not always easy to get them.”
Occhipinti rarely follows a recipe.
She cooks by instinct and intuition —
partly because she never knows exactly
what ingredients she’ll have (supplies
from various food banks, vendors
and local producers are unpredictable),
but partly because, she
says, keeping an open mind gets better
results. “If you don’t follow a recipe,
then it never comes out wrong.”
Capitol Hill Community Services,
which celebrates its 26th year of operations
this year, is one of a number of
local agencies applying for funds
from this year’s Season to Share campaign.
Its mission, according to executive
director John Love, is simple.
“We serve food. That’s all we do.”
And how. Occhipinti, a former client,
cooks the 52,000 meals the group
serves every year — primarily at Trinity
United Methodist Church downtown,
but also at other area facilities.
“When I started, 85 clients was a big
day,” she says. “Now, we do 180, 200.
It depends. We’ll get more later in
the month when the checks dry up.”
The key to making 1,000 meals a
week, she says, is teamwork. Planning.
Persistence. “We had a request for
pork chops,” she says. “It took a year of
me bugging our suppliers, but we got
’em.”
With the holidays looming, Occhipinti’s
been planning for months. “If we
want Thanksgiving trimmings like
pumpkin and sweet potato, we have to
plan way in advance. If you wait until
November, you’ll never get them. I
think trimmings are important.”
But Occhipinti rarely knows in advance
just what she’ll have to work
with. “It’s always a surprise. We’ve
had venison. Elk. Yak. Once, a supplier
sent up a bunch of rattlesnake
from Louisiana.”
Rattlesnake “Yes, rattlesnake. I
ground it up and put it in a meatloaf,”
Occhipinti says. “It turned out good.”
Before Occhipinti can share her recipe
for rattlesnake loaf, she’s interrupted
by another volunteer who’s
been prepping buns for the sandwiches.
“I have 200 done,” he says.
“Not enough! I want every bun in
this building split!”
Lunch service starts at 11:45 a.m. By
noon, nearly all 160 seats in the dining
room are full, and the line for seconds
is 20 people deep. Dwight Henson,
a longtime regular, pulls a bottle
of hot sauce out of his jacket and
shakes it over a side dish of peas
tossed with tomatoes and Thousand
Island dressing. “She’s good at salads,”
he says. “I’m a vegetable eater.
Not a vegetarian, but I like vegetables.
And this, this is good.”
CAPITOL HILL » 10S
Capitol Hill
Community Services
Address: 1420 Ogden St., Denver
In operation since: 1984
Number served last year: 52,000
meals
Staff: 1 full time, 3 part time, fluctuating
number of volunteers
Yearly budget: $230,000
Percentage of funds directly to clients/services:
92 percent

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Amber, 14, came
out of her shell to
become a student
leader at the Boettcher
Boys and
Girls Club, winning
its Youth of the
Year award for her
activities in athletics,
technology and
arts. Cyrus McCrimmon,
The Denver Post
Where kids model excellence
By Sheba R. Wheeler The Denver Post
The daily afternoons spent at the Boettcher Boys & Girls Club could have
been just a way to pass the time for one 8-year-old Aurora youth.
But six years later, Amber’s involvement
in the club has transformed her
into a youth leader, athlete, community
volunteer and a pivotal junior staff
member with a knack for bridging different
peer groups.
“She has a confidence that enables
her to interact with anyone,” says Audrey
Dinnebeil, the club’s education
director. “She is friends with
6-year-olds, plays basketball with
18-year-old boys and is always available
for any adult staff member who
needs help.”
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro
Denver is one of the agencies applying
for Season to Share Funding this year.
Directors say their goal is to help children
excel in academics, become good
citizens through community service
and be successful lifelong.
With member dues of just $2 a year,
the organization has been a safe haven
and a catalyst for a healthier,
more positive lifestyle for 10,000
youths since it opened its first branch
in 1961.
But it’s up to each child to decide
what to do with the tools the club provides
them.
“I can’t imagine my life if I didn’t
know about the club,” says Amber,
who credits it for helping her develop
many skills, including her prowess on
the football and soccer fields, a newly
discovered talent for drawing, and
better grades in school.
Amber earned her first paycheck
when she was hired as a junior staff
member. She won a state pingpong
tournament. She completed more
than 100 hours of community service,
and she loves to coach.
While some students prefer the
comfort zone of one area, such as
dancing in the mirrored hall upstairs,
being a gym rat or painting in the cultural
arts department, Amber took
full advantage of nearly all the programs
offered at the club.
Her artwork has received honors in
city competitions. She’s a club technology
“textspert” who tutors younger
members. The car she designed for
the Pinewood Derby in the Cultural
Arts room has won competitions, and
she entertained 800 community leaders
at the 2010 Youth of the Year Gala
with a salsa dance performance.
It’s that adventurous spirit and a desire
to achieve that helped her win
the club’s Junior Youth of the Year
honor last year.
When Amber first started coming
to the club, gang violence permeated
the neighborhood. Amber learned
how to handle herself well in a potentially
stressful situation with aid from
club staffers, says Art Mitchell, Boettcher
branch director.
“She’s feisty, and sometimes the
kids would push her buttons, but she
stands her ground and doesn’t tolerate
bullying,” says Mitchell. “She has
become one of those kinds of ladies
you say, ‘Hey, I wish that kid was my
daughter.’ ”
BOYS AND GIRLS » 10S
Boys & Girls Clubs of
Metro Denver
Address: 2017 W. Ninth Ave.
In operation since: 1961
Number served last year: 10,035
Staff: 75 full-time, 50 part-time
Yearly budget: $8.3 million
Percentage of funds directly
to clients/service: 80 percent

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Patricia, 45, with
her hat hung at the
foot of the bunk
bed she shares with
another guest at
the Delores
Project, says the
project’s safe place
to sleep is helping
her put her life
back together.
Kathryn Scott Osler,
The Denver Post
Women, kindly welcomed
By Bill Husted Denver Post Columnist
“Home is the place where, when you have to go there / They have to take
you in.” — Robert Frost in “The Death of the Hired Man”
The Delores Project is west Denver’s
shelter for women who, when
the sun heads down toward the mountains,
have no place else to go. About
50 of these women turn up every
night. More would stay, if they could,
if there were more beds. But The Delores
Project is built to take in 50
“guests.”
Not clients. Always guests.
“The life circumstances of these
women are not so different than
mine,” says executive director Terrell
Curtis, who has been at the shelter
since 2007. “I always had strong
family support, and that’s what these
women are lacking. I just don’t give
up hope on them. This is an organization
that believes in the strength of
the women it serves.”
It is most important for Curtis and
the army of volunteers who staff and
maintain this house that they continue
to give dignified shelter to these
women who have so few resources.
All are welcome with three caveats:
You are a woman. You are alone. You
exhibit safe behavior to be here.
They don’t ask a lot of questions at
The Delores Project, one of a number
of local agencies applying for funds
from this year’s Season to Share campaign.
A woman doesn’t have to show
her ID, as she probably doesn’t have
any.
Women can come in at 5:30 p.m. and
must leave by 8 a.m. They make reservations
at the shelter during the day,
on the phone, so they don’t arrive with
nothing but hope. They get a hot dinner,
a bed in a safe dormitory, breakfast,
a kind word, encouragement.
“On any given night,” says Curtis,
“there are 1,600 women on the street.
And there are fewer than 150 shelter
beds for women.”
Patricia, 45, has been here for a few
months, trying to get her ID and her
Social Security card and her divorce
decree. Trying to get it together.
“It’s pretty nice for a shelter,” she
says. “I don’t think the men’s shelters
are this nice. I like it here. You don’t
feel like you’re locked up. It gets you
motivated to better your life. It’s your
choice. We all come here scarred. I
flipped out about five years ago. I’m
here out of my own stupidity.”
By stupidity, she says, she means
doing heroin and crack cocaine. “It’s
really hard, once you dig that hole, to
climb back out when you’re living on
the streets.”
During the day, many of the women
go to the Gathering Place, a daytime
shelter for women and children.
Sometimes, Patricia goes there.
“Lately, I’ve been taking care of
what I need to take care of,” says Patricia.
“This place (Delores) gives
you a roof, so I don’t have to stress
about that all day.”
Each night, the dinners are provided
by volunteers. The security is provided
by the Delores Project.
At least until tomorrow morning.
The Delores Project
Location: West Denver
In operation since: 2000
Staff: 20
Yearly budget: $750,000
Percentage of funds directly given
to clients and services: 85%
More information: thedelores
project.org

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Season to Share beneficiaries
Last year, Denver Post Season to
Share distributed a record
$2.53 million to 74 local nonprofit
agencies that help low-income
children, as well as those who
are hungry, homeless or in need
of medical care.
Children
Alternatives for Youth ($10,000)
This Longmont agency offers a continuum
of services for at-risk students
and their families to encourage
high school graduation and
family stability. Programs include
tutoring and mentoring for elementary
school students, targeted
support for truant and troubled
middle-schoolers, and a school for
expelled middle and high school
students.
Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Colorado ($30,000)
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado
provides one-on-one mentors
for 1,830 youth. Its services and
programs are proven to improve
school performance and prevent violence
and substance abuse
among the more than 33,000 elementary
students who are living in
low-income, single-parent homes
in the Denver metro area.
Boulder Day Nursery ($30,000)
Boulder Day Nursery served 115
children last year with quality, caring
child care with fees paid on a
sliding-scale. Most of the children
served are from single-parent,
low-income homes.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro
Denver ($15,000)
Eight Boys & Girls Clubs in the Denver
area offer kids homework help
and tutoring, technology centers,
art rooms, sports, fitness and lifestyle
activities, hot meals and a
safe place to be during off-school
hours — all for a $2 annual membership
fee.
Colorado Bright Beginnings
($35,000)
This agency works to provide a
bright beginning for all Colorado
children by helping families support
their children’s physical, emotional
and intellectual development
during the critical first three
years of life.
The Conflict Center ($30,000)
The Conflict Center’s School Program
works with students, staff
and parents to create an atmosphere
of peaceful learning by fostering
relationship-building and
conflict-management skills.
Denver Kids Inc. ($50,000)
The mission of Denver Kids Inc. is
to help high-risk students, grades
K to 12, successfully complete
high school, pursue post-secondary
options and become productive
members of the community.
Nearly 1,000 Denver Public
Schools students are served annually.
Families First ($35,000)
In an effort to prevent child abuse,
Families First offers a toll-free Family
Support Line, parent-education
classes and support groups, and
residential treatment for abused
and neglected children.
Family Advocacy, Care,
Education, Support ($35,000)
FACES offers home visits that include
parent education, therapeutic
support and case management
for the prevention of child abuse
and neglect.
Family Star ($35,000)
This early childhood and parent education
center helps children enter
school ready to learn, regardless
of family income.
Florence Crittenton Services
($30,000)
This agency’s Early Learning Center
offers quality care to the infants
of the teen moms attending
middle and high school at Florence
Crittenton School.
Girls Inc. ($25,000)
Girls Inc. offers innovative educational
programs that prepare girls
ages 6 to 11 to succeed in school
and create confident and successful
futures — becoming strong,
smart and bold.
HOPE Center ($35,000)
HOPE Center’s preschool and child
care programs serve 220 typical,
gifted and special-needs children
each day.
Kempe Foundation ($25,000)
Kempe’s therapeutic preschool
helps abused and neglected children
ages 3 through 6 increase social
skills, improve academic performance
and school readiness
and begin to heal.
Mile High Montessori ($50,000)
Mile High Montessori operates six
Montessori programs serving 400
low-income preschoolers each day,
as well as two drop-in child-care
centers that serve clients of the
Denver Courts and Department of
Human Services.
The Kempe Therapeutic Preschool helps abused and neglected children improve their
social skills and prepare for a regular school environment. Denver Post file photo
Mount Saint Vincent Home
($40,000)
Mount Saint Vincent Home provides
a caring, therapeutic home
for abused and severely neglected
children ages 5 through 15, as
well as wraparound services for
families.
National Sports Center
for the Disabled ($25,000)
NSCD’s Sponsor An Athlete Scholarship
Program ensures that low-income
youths with disabilities can
participate in adaptive sports and
therapeutic recreation programs.
Parenting Place ($35,000)
The Parenting Place’s Family
Strengthening Program offers education,
case management, resource
referral and support to reduce
the stress of parenting and
prevent child abuse and neglect.
Project PAVE ($20,000)
Project PAVE’s School-Based Violence
Prevention Program provides
effective, culturally relevant violence-prevention
education to elementary,
middle and high school
students in an effort to prevent
teen-dating violence and domestic
violence.
Ronald McDonald House
($15,000)
The Ronald McDonald House provides
low-cost temporary lodging
and supportive services to families
with a seriously ill or injured child
who is receiving treatment at a
Denver-area hospital.
The Tiny Tim Center ($30,000)
This Longmont preschool served
393 children in 2008, half of whom
have special needs. The outreach
program provides physical, speech
and occupational therapy for children
birth through age 12, onethird
of whom are Medicaid eligible.
Warren Village ($40,000)
The Warren Village Learning Center
offers high-quality preschool
and child care to children living in
Warren Village’s transitional housing
program, as well as children
from throughout the community.
YMCA of Metropolitan Denver
($15,000)
The Y’s School Age Childcare program
offers affordable before- and
after-school care at five YMCA
branches and 23 public elementary
schools.
YWCA of Boulder County
($40,000)
YWCA’s Children’s Alley offers Boulder’s
only drop-in, emergency or
temporary child care with a sliding
scale for fees. It serves low-income
parents who work nontraditional
hours.
Homeless
Aurora Interchurch Task Force
($30,000)
Aurora Interchurch Task Force
helped 9,377 people in 2008 with
food, clothing, rent and utility assistance,
transportation and case
management services. It was organized
in 1968 and has never
charged a fee.
Broadway Assistance Center
($25,000)
Broadway Assistance Center works
to meet surging needs in the Baker
neighborhood with emergency
food, rent and utilities assistance,
clothing, a health clinic and general
support.
Catholic Charities ($50,000)
Catholic Charities’ Samaritan
House provided 35,000 nights of
shelter last year to Denver’s homeless
individuals and families.
Community Ministry
of Southwest Denver ($20,000)
Community Ministry has seen an
18 percent increase in requests for
food in the past year. It has provided
food boxes, clothing and other
supportive services for 5,250 families.
Denver Rescue Mission
($20,000)
Denver Rescue Mission’s STAR
(Strategic Transitional Assistance
and Response) program offers
homeless families the opportunity
to stabilize in safe, supportive
short-term housing.

6 the denver post B denverpost.com B sunday, november 7, 2010 «9S
Denver Urban Ministries
($50,000)
The ministries offer emergency services
and support — including a
food bank, job services and legal
counseling — to vulnerable individuals
and families. The agency
recorded more than 66,000 client
contacts last year.
Douglas/Elbert Task Force
($30,000)
This emergency-services agency offered
food, utility and rent assistance,
as well as other supportive
services for 13,500 people in Douglas
County last year.
Emergency Family Assistance
Association ($40,000)
The association provides assistance
to families, seniors and people
with disabilities in Boulder and
Broomfield counties who are experiencing
a crisis and need help
with self-sufficiency.
Gateway Battered Women’s
Services ($30,000)
Gateway Battered Women’s Services
offers confidential housing and
supportive services for women and
children who are victims of domestic
violence in Arapahoe County.
Growing Home ($25,000)
This comprehensive program offers
emergency and transitional
shelter, rent and utility assistance,
case management, parenting education,
health services and a food
bank.
Inter-Faith Community Services
($20,000)
Since 1968, Inter-Faith Community
Services has used community resources
to provide basic human
services and enrichment services
to low-income people, while fostering
self-sufficiency and respecting
the dignity of each client.
Interfaith Hospitality Network
of Greater Denver ($25,000)
This agency provided shelter and
supportive services for 94 families
last year through a collaboration
of more than 60 congregations.
Jeffco Action Center ($50,000)
Jeffco Action Center’s programs include
homeless shelters, food and
clothing banks, utility and rent assistance,
a health clinic, tenant/
landlord counseling, and the Santa
Shop, where parents and legal
guardians can shop from donated
gifts to ensure a positive, happy
holiday for their family.
Jewish Family Service ($25,000)
The organization’s Family Safety
Net program offers emergency services
to families in crisis, including
rent assistance, a food bank, casemanagement
services and referrals
to other resources.
Metro CareRing ($50,000)
Metro CareRing provided food, personal
hygiene items, work-related
services, utility assistance and referrals
to community resources to
35,000 people last year.
Mountain Resource Center
($20,000)
Mountain Resource Center in Conifer
provides emergency services to
Jefferson County’s mountain populations,
including a food pantry,
employment services, case management
and a new on-site pediatric
clinic.
Outreach United Resource
Center ($40,000)
The center serves Longmont’s
low-income residents with food
and clothing banks, hot meals for
breakfast and lunch, child care,
rent and utility assistance, and
case-management services. Nearly
22,000 people were served last
year.
Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley
($33,000)
Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley provides
safety, support and resources
to individuals affected by domestic
abuse in the Longmont
area. It advocates for the right of
every individual to live a life free
of intimidation, exploitation and
abuse.
SafeHouse Denver ($33,000)
SafeHouse Denver is a domesticviolence
shelter that provided 237
women and children with safe shelter
last year. An additional 1,400
individuals received supportive services.
The Salvation Army ($25,000)
The Salvation Army’s Lambuth Center
provides homeless families
with housing, food and supportive
services.
Stride ($25,000)
Stride offers housing and supportive
services for families in crisis in
Lakewood, allowing them to stabilize
and return to self-sufficiency.
How to donate
Through Denver Post Season to Share, a
McCormick Foundation Fund, more than
$2.5 million was granted to 74 charities last
year. These organizations serve disadvantaged
children, as well as those who are hungry,
homeless or in need of medical care. Donations
are matched at 50 cents on the dollar, and 100
percent of all donations, plus the match, go
directly to local nonprofit agencies. To make a
donation, see the coupon in today’s paper, call
800-518-3972 or visit seasontoshare.com.
Urban Peak ($50,000)
Urban Peak’s Denver program provided
shelter, case-management,
education, employment and
health services to more than 920
homeless and runaway youths last
year.
Women’s Crisis & Family Outreach
Center ($33,000)
This agency, Douglas County’s domestic-violence
safe house, answered
more than 8,000 crisis
calls and provided 2,707 nights of
safe shelter last year.
Hunger
Arvada Community Food Bank
($30,000)
Requests for food have jumped 21
percent since the downturn in the
economy, and this food bank is
seeing six new families each day.
One of the agency’s programs,
Feeding the Future, provides 660
children with backpacks full of
food each Friday to cover the weekend
when school meal programs
are not available.
Capitol Hill Community Services
($45,000)
Capitol Hill Community Services offers
hot lunches five days each
week to Denver’s homeless and indigent
populations. More than
51,000 meals, served mainly by
volunteers, were provided to
34,400 individuals.
Colorado AIDS Project ($50,000)
This organization’s Food Bank provides
groceries that meet specific
nutritional needs for people living
with HIV/AIDS. The Food Bank received
nearly 15,000 visits last
year from people with incomes at
or below 125 percent of poverty
level, meaning an income of
$13,000 annually.
Community Food Share
($50,000)
This food bank expects to distribute
food equal to 5.5 million
meals in Boulder County this year.
Their innovative programs target
low-income seniors, students and
families.
Denver Inner City Parish
($15,000)
Denver Inner City Parish’s food
bank and emergency services offer
support to low-income residents of
the La Alma and Lincoln Park
neighborhoods.
Food Bank of the Rockies
($50,000)
Last year, Food Bank of the Rockies
distributed 16 million pounds
of food to 600 hunger-relief programs
in metro Denver.
FoodWorks ($50,000)
FoodWorks’ food-canning facility
offers nutritious food for agencies
serving the hungry, as well as a
job-training program for homeless
and low-income individuals.
Project Angel Heart ($50,000)
Project Angel Heart provides
home-delivered, nutritious meals
to individuals living with
HIV/AIDS, cancer and other
life-threatening illnesses, as well
as their dependents.
Share Our Strength/Operation
Frontline Colorado ($30,000)
Share Our Strength’s Operation
Frontline Colorado program offers
nutrition education, cooking classes
and budgeting tips to 500 families
annually in an effort to promote
positive eating and cooking
habits.
Medical
Avista Adventist Hospital
($25,000)
Avista Adventist Hospital provides
volunteer medical staffing for the
CareVan, a mobile medical clinic
that serves homeless individuals
and families with primary and sickcare,
immunizations, and the tools
A volunteer works at the Clothing Bank, a service of the Jeffco Action Center. The nonprofit organization
provides food, clothing, a homeless shelter and medical services. Denver Post file photo

10S» sunday, november 7, 2010 B the denver post B denverpost.com 6
and resources they need to take responsibility
for their own health care.
The Children’s Hospital Foundation
($50,000)
The Child Health Clinic at Children’s Hospital
provides primary care, sick care, immunizations,
developmental testing and physical
exams for children who are uninsured
or on public-insurance programs.
Clinica Family Health Services ($50,000)
Clinica is a federally qualified community
health center that provides preventative
medical, dental and behavioral-health care
to the low-income, uninsured residents of
south Boulder, Broomfield and west Adams
Counties through four clinics.
Clínica Tepeyac ($45,000)
As one of our community’s only health resources
founded to serve uninsured Latinos,
Clínica Tepeyac’s overall goal is to reduce
health disparities and increase this
vulnerable population’s access to health
care. They expect to see 18,000 clinic visits
this year.
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
($45,000)
This agency’s Stout Street Clinic has been
delivering health care to Denver’s homeless
population for nearly 25 years. Last
year, Stout Street Clinic provided medical
and mental-health care to more than
12,000 men, women and children, ranging
in age from infancy to 85 and older.
Colorado Neurological Institute
($25,000)
The institute’s NeuroHealth Center is an
outpatient rehabilitation clinic that assists
individuals who have had a stroke, Parkinson’s
or other acquired neurological problems
to achieve their highest level of function
through therapies and support, regardless
of their ability to pay.
Community Health Services ($40,000)
Community Health Services operates three
school-based health clinics in Commerce
City and three community-health clinics in
Westminster and Commerce City, serving
more than 2,800 children and adults last
year.
Dental Aid ($50,000)
Dental Aid’s three full-service dental clinics
provided comprehensive oral-health care
to 8,000 of Boulder and Broomfield counties’
uninsured and low-income residents
last year.
Denver Health Foundation ($40,000)
The Patient Assistance Fund provides medical
and prescription co-pays, medical devices,
transportation and other necessities for
indigent patients at Denver Health.
The Denver Hospice ($25,000)
The Indigent Care Fund allows all patients
and their families to access Denver Hospice’s
services, providing comfort and dignity
at the end of life, regardless of their ability
to pay.
Doctors Care ($38,000)
Doctors Care is the medical home for 5,300
low-income and uninsured children and
adults. Services are provided through a network
of nearly 700 volunteer health professionals.
Howard Dental Center ($30,000)
Howard Dental Center provided comprehensive
dental care in a private setting to 525
men, women and children living with
HIV/AIDS last year.
Community Health
Services in Westminster
and Commerce
City provides
preventive
and primary health
care services. It
served more than
2,800 children and
adults last year.
Denver Post file photo
Kids in Need of Dentistry ($30,000)
KIND offers four dental clinics, as well as
mobile dental services, for kids in need,
providing more than 7,400 visits last year.
National Jewish Health ($25,000)
Pediatric programs at National Jewish offer
children with chronic respiratory illnesses
a continuum of treatment and educational
services to help them manage their disease
successfully.
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
($35,000)
This organization’s Care Management Program
offers financial assistance, home-care
services, rehabilitation and safety assessments
for those living with multiple sclerosis.
Rocky Mountain MS Center ($50,000)
The Rocky Mountain MS Center’s King
Adult Day Enrichment Program serves 60
people with multiple sclerosis and other
neurological disorders each day with exercise,
recreation and social activities, with
fees on a sliding scale.
Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics ($50,000)
Rocky Mountain Youth health clinics are operated
in partnership with community organizations
serving youths, providing accessible,
high-quality health care regardless of
a child's insurance status or ability to pay.
Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation
($30,000)
The Charity Care Fund assists patients who
are uninsured and in urgent need of health
care to access services at Saint Joseph Hospital’s
four outpatient clinics.
CAPITOL HILL:
Hassles are not
on the menu
«
FROM 4S
Henson, bearded and clad in a Colorado
Rockies jersey, cites Love, Occhipinti,
and the Capitol Hill Community Services
crew as the reason this soup kitchen
stands apart. “They are very welcoming
here, and not overbearing. It makes a difference.”
He quickly turns the conversation
to politics. “I’ll be running for mayor
next year,” he says. “I want to bring the
casinos to Denver. Why would we send
all that money to the mountains Then
we could eliminate the property tax.”
Love, who lunches with the clients every
day, smiles. “Don’t get him started
on politics.”
Occhipinti, clearly a skilled cook and
an able manager, loves her job. Not for
the hectic pace or the long hours but for
deeper reasons. “Years ago, I was in
their position. When you’re there, you
don’t understand why. But then it comes
full circle, you’re here in this kitchen,
and you understand why.”
Tucker Shaw: tshaw@denverpost.com
BOYS AND GIRLS:
Club helps kids
gain confidence
«
FROM 6S
Amber said getting involved in the
club required her to be outgoing instead
of quiet and shy, because even though
the staff members were always willing
to help, she had to learn how to ask for
it.
Those new skills have paid off for her
since she became a ninth-grader at Aurora
West College Preparatory Academy
(formerly West Middle School).
Just one tour around the Boettcher
branch club’s library, technology learning
center, and cultural arts department
convinced Amber’s parents that it was
the right place for their daughter to take
root. Now Amber instills that same confidence
in other parents when she leads
tours herself.
“Parents just want to know that their
kid will be in a safe place and supportive
environment,” she says. “Boys & Girls
Club is it.”
Sheba R. Wheeler: 303-954-1283
or swheeler@denverpost.com

6 the denver post B denverpost.com B sunday, november 7, 2010 «11S

12S» sunday, november 7, 2010 B the denver post B denverpost.com 6
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