Chamber News
The 2012 Leadership Fort Collins (LFC) class participants have been challenged to work in small teams to design and complete a class project in a single day. The participants were encouraged to design a project that would impact the Fort Collins community while meeting a local need.
One team is working to generate increased resources for The Matthews House, a community organization that helps young adults and families in transition to navigate difficulties on the road to self-sufficiency. This team will be hosting a fajita cart in Old Town Square for Cinco De Mayo to raise new resources. The cart will be available from 10am to 8pm near the Bike Library. 100% of the funds raised will go to The Matthews House.
Another team identified transportation for those in poverty was noted as a key topic. Read on to learn about the impact of poverty and how you can help.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED: The Rising Incidence of Poverty in Fort Collins
As you sit at your relatively new computer connected to the internet sipping on your freshly brewed coffee think about the fact that many people right in your community are worried about how to put food on the table, pay the rent, and get to work. Many of us have never experienced what it is like to not be able to provide for ourselves or our children. Poverty is here in Fort Collins and it is on the rise. According to Shields, Aronson, Mushinski, and Keyser (2008) poverty was 14% in 1994. From 2006 to 2010 the percentage of people below poverty in Fort Collins was up to 18% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). With a population of approximately 144,000 people (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012), that rise equates to around 26,000 of our neighbors, friends, and community members living below poverty.
As part of the 2012 Leadership Fort Collins program, the class participated in a poverty simulation led by United Way of Larimer County. It became evident that many of us did not understand the importance of transportation in someone’s struggle to get out of poverty or the number of our fellow citizens in Fort Collins that live below the poverty line. If someone is unable to physically get to work or to the places that offer services, then that person will become very limited in his or her ability to rise above the poverty level. While poverty is a very complex situation, we do know one thing… being able to get to work will help someone earn a living.
The Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center of Hope recognizes the transportation predicament and periodically provides bus passes for those in need.The Murphy Center, which provides consolidated services to those in need, frequently runs out of the funds to purchase bus passes or make them available all year. For this reason, the 2012 Leadership Fort Collins class is seeking donations to help raise funds for the bus pass program at the Murphy Center. A monthly bus pass, through the Murphy Center for those in need, is $12.50 and a 10-ride pass is $4.50.
If you would like to help your friends, neighbors, and community rise out of poverty, please visit http://murphycenterforhope.org/ and click on the Give Now” button or visit the donation site directly at https://npo.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=1000556 to enter the amount you wish to donate. Consider donating enough money to cover 10, 20, 50, or 100 monthly or daily passes. Be sure to indicate on the Dedication line LFC Bus Passes.” The Murphy Center is a program of the Larimer Center for Mental Health and all donations are tax deductible.
Donations also may be mailed to the The Murphy Center, Attn: Zach Penland, 242 Conifer Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524. Be sure to indicate on the memo line LFC: Bus Passes.” If you have any questions, please call 970-482-3922 and ask for Ryan.
Thank you for not only caring about your community, but also working towards making a difference.
Shields, M., Aronson, M., Mushinski, D., & Keyser, D. (2008, November 14). What explains recent increase in poverty in Larimer County and Fort Collins?
U. S. Census Bureau. (2012, January 31). State & county QuickFacts: Fort Collins (city), Colorado. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08/0827425.html
