Boulder County Holiday Giving Programs Provide Donors with a Range of Choices to Help Others

Programs support families, children, seniors, seasonal workers, and others in need

Boulder
County residents who want to help low-income neighbors celebrate the holidays
this year have several easy options at their fingertips. Four programs within
the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services are offering
opportunities to donate gifts, gift cards, or cash to families and individuals
who could use a boost this holiday season.

• The Family to Family Holiday Program connects
  families in need with gift cards so they can purchase presents for their
  children, and it’s easy to give through the program.
  
  

“There
are many families in our community who are having a very hard time this year,
and for them the holiday season can be especially rough,” said Family to Family
Program Coordinator Deborah Ramirez. “Through Family to Family, anyone can help
parents in these families put a big smile on their children’s faces and give
them some much-needed hope and warmth.”

Now in
its 42nd year, the Family to Family Holiday Program serves the
county’s low-income families and individuals who are clients of the Child
Protection, Foster Care, Adolescent, and Adult Protection (elderly and disabled
adults) programs. Through empowering parents to shop for and purchase their
children’s gifts, Family to Family is helping strengthen Boulder County’s
approach to supporting the community by giving people in need a primary voice
in decisions that affect their lives. Last year, Family to Family served about
400 families totaling more than 1,300 people.

“These
are the only presents I can afford to get my children,” said one recipient of a
Family to Family donation in 2015. Another wrote in a note of thanks, “if you
could know the bright shower of relief and joy your generosity has graced us
with, and see my daughter’s laughter when she receives this gift, then you
would know why I smile after too many tears.”

Family
to Family information is available at www.BoulderCountyFamilyToFamily.org, and online donations can be
made there as well. For more information contact Debbie Ramirez at dramirez@bouldercounty.org or 303-441-1340.

• Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) serves families who are
  working to gain education and skills to help them achieve higher wage jobs and
  better living situations. Participants submit a holiday “wish list” for their
  families. Donors spend a minimum of $30 and a maximum of $100 for each person
  in the family. Sponsors purchase items on the list – or for donors who find
  that a full family sponsorship is more than they can manage, the program also
  accepts cash donations or gift cards to help with groceries and basic household
  needs, as well as cash donations to help with basic needs for FSS families
  throughout the year. Contact Katie at kfrye@bouldercounty.org or 303-441-3923.
  
  
• The Senior Services Program provides
  supports for older adults who are tenants in Boulder County Housing and Human
  Services’ affordable housing units. Many of these individuals have expensive
  medications and other high medical costs, and buying groceries and meeting
  other basic needs can be difficult. Gift cards to local grocery or discount
  retail stores can go a long way toward helping seniors make ends meet during
  the holidays. Contact Kris at kdurso@bouldercounty.org or 303-519-7152.
  
  
• The Casa de la Esperanza Learning Center
  provides academic support and enrichment opportunities for 32 families on-site
  plus another dozen families in a nearby south Longmont neighborhood. These
  families are made up of seasonal workers employed in the local dairies, farms,
  and greenhouses. As the growing season comes to a close in the cold months just
  before the holidays, Casa de la Esperanza families face economic difficulties
  and must endure winter on a very tight budget. Donations of school supplies, winter
  clothing, grocery gift cards, and presents for children are greatly
  appreciated. Contact Vanessa at vescarcega@bouldercounty.org or 303-678-6220.

Boulder
County Housing and Human Services’ vision is to build a healthy, connected
community that empowers people and strengthens families by confronting the root
causes of crisis and instability.