GRANTS

FROM PAGE 7 sta ng shortages or “because they’re a Spanish-speaking family who have experienced going to a clinic where there are no Spanishspeaking providers,” she said. e grant will support graduate students in becoming nurse managers, educators, and practitioners at the master’s and doctoral levels. It aims to enhance health equity in 15 counties in southern Colorado.

Tepeyac Community Health Center in Denver received over $1 million from the grant program.

Tepeyac’s program will initially focus on increasing equitable access to clinic positions, training, and licensing. Tepeyac historically has served the Latino communities in the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods since the early 1990s.

Two additional rounds of grant funding with the remaining $58 million will be available through Opportunity Now Colorado, with the next application period opening in August. e last of the grants will be announced by December 2024. Chalkbeat is a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools.

Denver Botanic Gardens

Denver Botanic Gardens at York St. hosts summer concerts, organized by Swallow Hill Music and Denver Botanic Gardens. and Evenings Al Fresco on select Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:30to 8:30 p.m. Musicians and small ensembles will appear throughout the gardens. For tickets, visit the website at https://shorturl.at/fNR47.

Photographer Andy Marquez

The Peach Festival e Peach Festival will be held in Centennial on Aug. 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 8242 S. University Blvd., Unit # 150.

Littleton area photographer Andy Marquez has published a new book, “Sacred Seasons,” hardcover, $24.95. Available from the artist: andymarquez.com. or andymarquezimages@ gmail.com. Added $10 for shipping.

A-1 Stump

and Much More! 720-982-9155 lawnservice9155@gmail.com

Alpine

Call or

10% off when coupon presented

A father and son team!

Terry 303-424-7357 Corey 720-949-8373

Help Wanted

Registered Occupational Therapist/COTA

Full-Time and part-time

Registered Occupational Therapist/ COTA for 2023-24 School Year. OTR must have, or be eligible for appropriate Colorado licensure. Provide Pre-12 intervention, assessment, direct & indirect services just east of Denver on I-70, Bennett & Strasburg. Full Time Salary range: MA $50,450$56,050 PhD $55,700 -$61,300. Part-Time Salary prorated based on the number of days employed. Excellent Benefits. Access to a company vehicle or mileage reimbursement. May be eligible for a loan forgiveness program! Flexible scheduling with the opportunity to complete some work at home. To apply for this position, please visit our website ecboces.org and click on the “Jobs” page, click on the job you are interested in & then click on the grey button “Apply Online”, located at the bottom of the job listing. EOE Questions contact Tracy at (719) 775-2342, ext. 101 or email tracyg@ecboces.org

Educational Audiologist

Part-Time

East Central BOCES is looking for a part-time Educational Audiologist for the 2023-24 school year. CDE Special Services and Colorado Audiologist licensure required; CCC’s or AAA certificate; knowledge of current technologies in Audiology including HAT systems and cochlear implants preferred. Experience with children 0-21 preferred. Complete evaluations, provide direct services, and consultation services, manage hearing equipment and oversee hearing screening program. Benefits include: a signing bonus, mileage reimbursement. Flexible scheduling with some opportunity to work from home. May be eligible for a loan forgiveness program. Ph.D. Salary $51,450-$60,550. For Questions, please contact Tracy at tracyg@ ecboces.org or 719-775-2342 ext. 101. To apply for this position, please visit our website ecboces.org and click on the “Jobs” page, click on the job you are interested in & then click on the grey button “Apply Online”, located at the bottom of the job listing. EOE

Real Estate & Rental

Office Rent/Lease

Office or Commercial Space for Rent

Two Offices ~ Available Immediately

Great Location and Prices!

NEW CONSTRUCTION!

• 1,000 sq. ft office. $2,500 per month with one-year lease.

• Be the 1st to rent one of these great spaces!

• Both offices are located at: 755 Crossroads Circle, Elizabeth, Colorado Contact 303-660-0420 or 800-3735550

Low Monthly Pmt Request a free Quote. Call before the next power outage: 1-855-948-6176

MobileHelp, America’s premier mobile medical alert system. Whether you’re home or away. For safety & peace of mind. No long term contracts! Free brochure! 1-888489-3936

Miscellaneous

Are you a pet owner? Do you want to get up to 100% back on vet bills? Physicians Mutual Insurance Company has pet coverage that can help! Call 1-844-774-0206 to get a free quote or visit insurebarkmeow. com/ads

My Caring Plan has helped thousands of families find senior living. Our trusted, local advisors help find solutions to your unique needs at no cost to you. Call 866511-1799

Safe Step. North America’s #1 Walk-in tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-the-line installation and service.

Now featuring our free shower package & $1600 off - limited time!

Financing available. 1-855-4171306

Become a published author. We want to read your book! Dorrance Publishing trusted since 1920. Consultation, production, promotion & distribution. Call for free author`s guide 1-877-729-4998 or visit dorranceinfo.com/ads

Miscellaneous

Inflation is at 40 year highs Interest rates are way up. Credit Cards. Medical Bills. Car Loans. Do you have $10k or more in debt? Call National Debt Relief to find out how to pay off your debt for significantly less than what you owe! Free quote: 1-877-592-3616

Pets

Dogs

which cated state enrolled Programs 1 ever, preschoolers — of in end been receive until state, May, ceive number program month. each given enrollment number rooms. feeling hire ties have have the turn the “It’s when game you going every of ers least they at leaves providers like Bright feeling pinched.

Under the revised funding plan, which Shuler said was communicated to providers by June 27, the state assessed the number of kids enrolled in programs on July 9. Programs will receive funding Aug. 1 based on that count of kids. However, the latest round of matching preschoolers with speci c programs — so far it has facilitated four sets of matching — was completed later in July. at means providers could end up with preschoolers on the rst day of classes who they haven’t been paid to educate. ey won’t receive funding for those students until the next payment from the state, scheduled for Sept. 8.

Each month from August through May, Shuler said, providers will receive a payment determined by the number of students enrolled in their program on the 15th of the previous month. e sum will be adjusted each month so that the amount given to providers accounts for any enrollment swings and re ects the number of students in their classrooms.

“It is very di cult for a provider to hire their sta , prepare their facilities for kids and then not necessarily have all of those seats full but yet have to pay payroll and have to pay the mortgage payment and have to turn the lights on and have to turn the heat and/or AC on,” Bright said. “It’s very di cult for us to do that when you’re now told late in the game that we’re only going to pay you based on enrollments and we’re going to true up your enrollments every month.” e state is rolling out something of a nancial safety net for providers so that they’re guaranteed at least the same amount of funding they received last year under the state’s previous preschool program, called the Colorado Preschool Program. At the end of the school year, the state will compare the amount paid to each provider this year under universal preschool to the amount paid to each provider last year through the Colorado Preschool Program, according to Bright. If a provider earns less in universal preschool than the amount they earned last year through the Colorado Preschool Program, the state will pay them the di erence, he said. e Early Childhood department was not able to clarify details of its plan to ensure providers receive at least as much funding this school year as they did last year. e only nancial path forward, he said, involves keeping kids who enroll last-minute on the sidelines until the state pays providers for them. at means, for instance, that any family who enrolls their 4-yearold from late July through mid-August will have to wait to start universal preschool until September, when Bright receives money from the state for that particular child. e Early Childhood department doesn’t believe any preschools will have to postpone the start times for any kids, with Shuler writing in an email that “payments will be reconciled for the next month and providers will receive pay if children start earlier.”

It’s not yet clear whether providers like Bright who own more than one preschool center — including two that participated in the Colorado Preschool Program and six slated to be part of universal preschool — will be compensated for each licensed facility, which will a ect the amount of funding owed by the state.

Bright added that he can’t wait until the end of the school year for funding that is crucial to his ability to keep running his business.

She said the department is also con dent that the rst payment in August, along with the monthly payments recalculated to compensate providers for any enrollment changes, will “help support providers” and are “much more providerfriendly” than other preschool subsidy programs that have paid based on the number of kids attending their program.

Bright noted that under the Colorado Preschool Program he received funding for the entire school year starting in August with monthly payments through May, contingent on his facilities having all seats funded by the state lled with kids by Nov. 1.

He doesn’t see another option other than a delayed start for kids who enroll late.

“I would drown my company if I were to provide services that I was not paid for,” he said.

Bright and other preschools are also worried about having to shutter centers altogether.

One of the six ABC Child Development Centers Bright owns that is participating in universal preschool has 12 classrooms, only three of which are full with kids whose families have opted into universal preschool. He needs all classrooms full to stay nancially whole at the center, which mostly serves lowincome families.

He expects all the classrooms to ll by November, but to keep the school open until then, he needs the upfront funding from the state. If the school stays open with empty classrooms, he’ll have to lay o teachers and will be unable to accept new students until the state pays their tuition.

Meanwhile, Melissa Lelm, director of Early Childhood University in Greeley, has enrolled only 33 students through universal preschool, far short of the 96 licensed spots in her center. e state has matched another 10 students with her facility, but though Lelm has repeatedly called and emailed those families to encourage them to accept their match, she’s been met with silence. At the same time, she has to renew her lease this year with her landlord wanting to raise her rent.

“I don’t know if we’ll be in business at the end of May of 2024,” said Lelm, who has worked in early childhood education for more than 40 years.

Lelm recently laid o four employees who are now collecting unemployment, keeping only one teacher and one teacher assistant on her sta . And as the Early Childhood department pivots to paying providers based on the number of kids enrolled, she anticipates her reserves will dwindle as she tries to cover even the smaller payroll. She’s applying for grants to help ll in the gaps and has so far collected $26,000, including from the state’s Child Care Stabilization and Workforce Sustainability Grants and a $4,000 state Capacity Building Grant that can fund necessities such as furniture and educational and health care materials.

“ at money will go very quickly for payroll and rent,” Lelm said.

She might be forced to lay o her teacher assistant if enrollment continues to stagnate, but Lelm knows that having more than one trained adult in the classroom helps kids and teachers form better bonds.

Lelm wonders if she’ll be up against the same uncertainties around how many students she’ll serve and how many sta she needs each year of universal preschool — if she manages to stay open.

“I just hope it works,” she said. “I don’t know if they thought it through thoroughly enough.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.