FRIENDS Continues Mission in Changing World Community Support More Important Than Ever

FRIENDS Continues Mission in Changing World

Community Support More Important than Ever

Gina Coufal is the Founder and Executive Director of Development at FRIENDS of Broomfield. We would like to thank her for taking time to provide us with an interview about how FRIENDS is adjusting their programs to continue serving their participants. ~ Megan Mayes

Q: How would you describe FRIENDS of Broomfield? A: FRIENDS is a nonprofit organization providing services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For the last 20 plus years our mission has been to enhance our community by creating opportunities for individuals through an innovative and person-centered approach.

Q: How have your programs changed in response to the pandemic? A: We were forced to close on March 15 and it devastated our participants and families. We only re-opened for “in-per son” services recently, serving a very small few. We realized early on that we needed to find a way to support our Friends.

Staff creatively developed and quickly offered about 20 on line classes for participants to ZOOM into including art, cooking, science, music, hiking, social hour, DIY, health and safety classes, and more. Online classes have been very popular as most seriously missed seeing their peers. As re strictions have changed, we have been able to provide split schedules for up to seven individuals on site at a time, and several more receive one-on-one staff support at home or in the community.

Q: How have your FRIENDS responded to these changes? A: Our participants do best with structure and routine. They have had a rough time with being quarantined, schedule changes, and not having the ability to participate in activities the way they did before the pandemic. In addition, without constant opportunity to work on skills for everyday living,

they lose ground and have to relearn tasks they had made progress with. The hardest situation has been with partic ipants in our Supported Employment program. It’s hard enough to find a job, especially for someone with an intellec tual/developmental disability. Of 20 participants, several lost their jobs permanently, six are back in job development, and the rest are waiting for word they can return to their job. The lack of income has been tough on them as well, given they all fall below the poverty level anyway. Still, they are the most positive individuals I’ve ever met.

Q: What can community members do to support FRIENDS during this time? A: Being a non-profit is challenging. FRIENDS is a service provider agency and we can only bill for services that are provided.

Without programs operating, we may not recover the revenue needed. We are fundraising what we can but it’s tough in the current environment. Grant funders are also focused on front line Covid relief (food insecurity, housing, and healthcare) so

FRIENDS doesn’t qualify. Participating in our GirlFRIENDS virtual Luncheon on August 1 and making donations to help us provide PPE and other program supplies will go a long way to helping us ensure our doors stay open for our Friends! We need our community to accomplish this. Please visit when it’s safe to do so, and see firsthand what your support can do. It’s truly heartwarming to see our friends living their best lives!

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Photo courtesy of The City and County of Broomfield

SEPTEMBER 19 Broomfield Days Trade Fair 2020

While Broomfield Days is not until September, registration for the Broomfield Days Trade Fair is happening now. The trade fair is from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on September 19 in North Midway Park. Applications to reserve a booth are linked on the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce website, and you can also find member and non member rates to rent a space at Broomfield Days. Spaces are assigned on a first-come firstserved basis. For more information on pricing, applications, or the vendor space location map, visit the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce website at www.broomfieldchamber.com or the Broomfield Chamber Trade Fair Facebook page.

SEPTEMBER 26 Golf Fore! Kids

Bal Swan is hosting its annual golf tournament, Golf Fore! Kids, on September 26, at the Broadlands Golf Course. The event directly benefits Bal Swan Children’s Center and supports the school in reaching its yearly fundraising goal of $737,000. Registration for an individual golfer is $130 or $500 for a foursome. Along with 18 holes of golf, the day includes a cart for each party, as well as a sit down lunch. Golfers will tee off at 7:00 a.m. To register or make an independent donation, visit Bal Swan at www.balswan.org.

Farmers' Broomfield Market Provides, Adapts to the Times

Fresh, Local Products Sold Each Tuesday

By Megan Mayes

Dave Carter is Volunteer Market Manager for the farmers’ market, and has been since it’s creation in 2011. He even remembers the very first night, when the concept of a community farmers’ market was just an idea shared over a few drinks. It very quick ly became reality, and the Church Green Team was

The mission from the beginning has been to “create a destination that connects the community with healthy food and local farmers, and demonstrates the stewardship commitment of Holy Comforter Episco pal Church.” The space and atmosphere were designed with the hope that people would want to stop by to hang out and connect with their neigh bors after coming home from work. During normal operations, this included live music and food trucks for visitors to enjoy.

Although it was organized by members of The Holy Com forter church and sits on their previously empty lot, the farm Photo by Pat Eichner ers’ market was created with the intention of serving the entire Broomfield community through more than fresh pro duce. The organizers take all of

their net profits and give back to the community through grants to Broomfield FISH, A Precious Child, Meals on Wheels, and oth er organizations. They have also Photo by Pat Eichner made sure that every person can have access to high quality and healthy food by doubling the val ue of WIC and food stamps used at the market. All of these efforts have contributed to shape the culture of the market into a community focused establishment.

Recently, Carter has felt encouraged by the increase in community involvement, particularly from people outside of the church community who would like to vol unteer in and for the market. He said, “there is a space for everyone regardless of how much time they can give.”

The entire operation is made possible by a team of about 40 volunteers. They do a variety of jobs, including scheduling, finance, outreach, setup, and clean up. The team is popular with vendors because they are happy to help set up equipment and tents, and even help operate booths as necessary. Carter is their Chief Spokesperson and Vendor Coordinator. He is well equipped for the po sition based on his career in agriculture and experience with farmers’ markets in other capacities. He is the Executive Director of the National Bison Asso ciation and has his own herd which he runs in partnership with two other ranchers.

The farmers’ market continues to sup port Broomfield every Tuesday afternoon by ensuring that shoppers have a safe and clean place to get food with social distancing mea sures enforced. They have arranged their market to have one entrance and one exit, with hand sanitizer pro vided and masks required for shoppers, vendors, and volunteers. If people arrive at the market without a mask, they are provided one for free so they don’t have to leave.

At the early “mini markets” this season there were about seven vendors, but plans are to slowly increase the size as health precautions allow. The market has also made accommodations to help vendors who have been financially impacted by these limitations. Vendors are welcome to the market free of charge as long as they are providing wholesome food to the community.

For more information or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please visit Broomfield Farmers’ Market at Holy Comforter on Facebook or email market@holycomforterchurch.net.