American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

$7,500,000 – Funds to support nonprofit organizations and childcare providers for meaningful short- and long-term investments that will stabilize their business condition, workforce, and operations (Survive). These funds will come with the requirement that awarded nonprofits engage with a variety of entities that provide business support services (Thrive).

The Boulder County Board of County Commissioners has approved $46,480,000 in Phase 2 ARPA funding, in addition to $5,531,880 for immediate needs approved in 2021. Below are descriptions of the Phase 2 projects in the categories of Economic Challenges, Housing Affordability, and Mental Health and Social Resilience.

$500,000 – The YMCA serves approximately 1,200 children annually in childcare – preschool, before and after school care – at an average cost of $3,250 per year (which does not include the thousands of children served at camps, swimming, sports, and other programs). One-third of childcare families receive financial aid at a cost to the YMCA of $1.3 million annually. ARPA funding will support financial aid at the YMCA for high-quality, accessible, English as a second language childcare for working families.

$975,000 – The need for high-quality, affordable childcare highlighted by the pandemic and now a national priority was already known to the YMCA of Northern Colorado. ARPA funds will help renovate the Boulder Mapleton site to expand infant, toddler, and pre-k licensed childcare into three shifts (24 hours) to accommodate essential workers from industries such as law enforcement, hotels, hospitals, etc.

$975,000 – Capital funding and funding for operational support will contribute to development of an Early Childhood Community Village (The Village) in southeast Longmont to expand and support early childhood development in multiple aspects. Funding will be used as seed money to support the design and development of an Early Childhood Community Village concept focused on serving children ages 0 to five. The Village will bring together in one facility:

• Professional development and training opportunities for early care providers, especially Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers;
• High-quality and culturally and linguistically matched early childhood care and education;
• Medical, social-emotional, and language support for families and professionals; and
• Peer and community support for providers and families.

$2,000,000 – Family Connects is an evidence-based model that combines engagement and alignment of community services and resources with short-term nurse home visiting beginning in the first month after birth. Family Connects is designed to be provided to all families with newborns, voluntarily and at no cost. Family Connects ensures that families have a medical home; provide physical and mental health screenings; assess family strengths and needs comprehensively; and connect families to community resources that support their individual family needs and preferences.

$750,000 – Funding will cover past Business Personal Property Accounts taxes for eligible businesses that closed during the pandemic. There were 1,735 Business Personal Property Accounts that have been deactivated because the business closed or struggled to pay tax obligations between the start of the pandemic and summer 2022. Not all businesses closed or are in arrears because of the pandemic, but many restaurants, gyms, hair studios, and other “contact” businesses that closed did so, at least in part, because of pandemic restrictions, loss of revenue, and other pandemic-related factors. Funds will support paying tax obligations, allowing business owners to recover and move on with their lives.

$1,500,000 – This project builds organizational capacity to:

• Expand the home-ownership program throughout the County to purchase, resell, and administer existing and new ownership units;
• Increase capacity to smaller cities that don’t have affordable housing policy, rental compliance, and fund compliance staff;
• Expand eviction prevention services, both rental assistance and legal assistance; and
• Expand foreclosure prevention services regionally for affordable ownership homes, with a revolving loan fund.

The purpose of the Regional Housing Partnership is to centralize compliance and homeownership program services through the Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership (BCRHP), a regional partnership and expansion collaboration not seen elsewhere in Colorado.

$5,000,000 – A reserve fund will supply grants or zero-interest forgivable loans to provide partial support for (a) acquisition of manufactured housing parks by residents that form residentowned communities (ROCs) or assign their rights to the County or nonprofit land trusts; (b) major infrastructure improvement projects for ROCs or landlords who commit to long-term affordability; and (c) home repair assistance for low-income residents in these communities.

$9,480,000 – Support for affordable housing pipeline projects for gap financing and to deepen affordability on existing projects. Specific projects to be determined as part of the vetting process.

$800,000 – This Habitat for Humanity development will consist of a development of three tri-plex townhomes. Two of the buildings will be two-story structures with four three-bedroom and two four-bedroom units. The third building will be a single-story structure designed with a zero-entryway and doorways wide enough to allow for wheelchair access. The homes are designed for families to age in place and be easily modified to be handicapped accessible. The third building is one story and will have two two-bedroom units and one threebedroom unit. ARPA funding will support the costs for construction of the infrastructure for the development.

$500,000 – Mental Health First Aid/RISE for All will educate the broader community and help reduce stigma and increase awareness surrounding mental health. To effectively reach specific priority populations, it will be important to include a variety of training options including in-person learning; working through schools, faith- and community-based organizations; and offering classes in different languages.

$3,000,000 – Resources a mobile response team to engage individuals experiencing a mental health crisis in order to deescalate, assess, decriminalize, and determine a care plan that would result in increased access to behavioral health treatment, therapy, and supportive services. The program should be culturally responsive and coordinated across jurisdictions and across county services.

$3,000,000 – Provide a community-wide resource to support navigation and care coordination to appropriate mental and behavioral health services for all Boulder County community members.

$3,000,000 – Grant program for mental health-related community-based organizations that allows organizations directly serving the community to either offer specific programs and services to a larger audience than they’re currently serving and/or provide these services for free.

$1,000,000 – Mental health voucher/reimbursement program to allow community members to seek care, including alternative care, without worrying about financial burden.

$500,000 – Model will be developed in collaboration with school and other related partners.