Partnerships Unlock Potential

A Message from our CEO

Pam Brier

You often hear us talk about what we do here at The Action Center every day, year after year—and I’ll bet you already know us pretty well. But how well do you know our partners who stand arm in arm with us, working together to provide an immediate and compassionate response to those in our community experiencing hardship?

This blog is about those partnerships. It’s about accomplishing more through collaboration than we ever could in isolation. It’s about creating a shared space where we can all come together to help community members facing hardship find stability and create lasting change in their own lives.

Through this spirit of cooperation, we have already witnessed real, tangible progress in the community. In just the last year, tens of thousands of pounds of food are finding their way to more and more food pantries, thousands of K-12 students started the school year with the tools they needed, and hundreds of adults have unlocked their potential through computer skills.

This is an acknowledgment, and a celebration, of all our donors, volunteers, staff, and partner organizations who have made this possible.

Here’s to all our partners—here’s to all of you!

Creating a stronger food network

Working to balance food equity across the West Metro area, The Action Center led Community Food Hub is increasing access to fresh, locally-sourced foods distributed through a network of local food pantries. With The Action Center’s new commercial refrigerator and freezer, we can now store entire pallets of produce, dairy, and meat for all our eleven pantry partners.

Many food pantries face similar challenges of vehicle capacity, delivery logistics, and access to cold storage space. By combining our resources, we are overcoming these barriers, acquiring more fresh nutritious food and minimizing the time from farm to pantry, meaning that food reaches families at its freshest and most nutritious.

Together, we are not just sharing food—we are fostering a community committed to health, equity, and sustainability. Food Hub Partners: Belmar Church, BGoldN, Brown Bag Ministries, CAG, Calvary Church, EChO, Light of the World, Mean Street Ministries, Mountain Resource Center, Recovery Works, Spirit of the Sun.

Partnering for back-to-school success

We just wrapped up our School Supplies distribution for 2024, and we’re thrilled to share that it was our best distribution yet! In total, The Action Center provided 5,410 fully stocked backpacks to students in Jefferson County Public Schools, ensuring they started the year with the tools they need to chase their dreams.

As a testament to the power of partnership, nearly a quarter of the 5,410 backpacks distributed found their homes through partner organizations and school liaisons! Thank you to the legion of donors, volunteers, staff, and community partners that ensured these supplies reached the hands of kids in our very own school district.

Special thanks to all our partners: Jeffco Public Schools, Everett Middle School, Jefferson County Public Library, Jefferson County Public Health, Latinas Community Connections Services, Xfinity, Adventure Dental, IRS

Building computer skills

As a Family Resource Center, we support the growth of all family members—adults, youth, and children. Parents, empowered through education and resources, can then strengthen their own families and communities.

Recently, our strong partnership with Jefferson County Public Library (JCPL) enhanced our offerings to these families. JCPL has developed a 6-week course to address the digital literacy gap in our immediate community, and The Action Center has already hosted several of these courses.

In the course, each student learns how to:

• Use a computer

• Create and manage email

• Access the internet

• Participate in online learning

• Connect to online resources

Upon completing the course, each student receives a free Chromebook and a year of internet. Out of the 600 Chromebooks JCPL aims to distribute, over 200 have already been given to program graduates. We’re proud to report that more than two dozen of those students participated in our own digital literacy classes at The Action Center!

The Action Center thrives when we find partners who share our mission as a Family Resource Center—empowered families build more resilient communities.

Thank you to JCPL for bringing their program and staff to help educate the very families we serve. Together, we are forging a future where our community members have the freedom and the means to fulfill their highest potential.

“Digital literacy and access to the internet are . . . the backbone for all other social determinants of health.”

- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment