As the school year ends and businesses slowly start to reopen, our COVID-19 response work in the community is transitioning from crisis response to recovery coordination. As a small organization we can respond quickly to needs in the community and innovate for those who need assistance the most. We are committed to cultivating partnerships to help our community recover from this pandemic.

Here’s a look at how we are making this transition from crisis to recovery through partnerships:

Mutual Meals and Jefferson Area Support Fund

Thanks to generous donors we were able to raise over $24,000 in nine weeks to support the Mutual Meals project and housing grants for immigrant families. We are also thankful for a grant from Community First Foundation and a generous donation through the Denver Foundation to support Mutual Meals. This meant that we were able to deliver over 2,300 meals to area seniors, frontline workers and families thanks to awesome volunteer delivery drivers. This also meant that over $18,000 flowed to our partner Edgewater restaurants who prepared the meals, Providence at 5280 and Edgewater Inn. Special thanks goes to the Family Engagement Liaisons and Social Emotional Learning Specialist at our area schools for referring families for the meals (Ana Contreras, Pilar Castro-Reino, Kara Schroeder and Damien Lopez)! We were also able to distribute $500 housing grants to 12 families connected to our local schools.

Because the school year has ended, we are discontinuing our family dinner deliveries starting next week. We will be moving our senior dinner deliveries to Wednesday nights and we will be rotating to other restaurants around Edgewater to help more local businesses recover from the pandemic.

We are also researching and seeking funding to provide popup lunches for children that live in specific apartment complexes in the 80214 area. Historically, some families have not been able to access the school lunch sites in Edgewater due to a number of hurdles and we want to make sure that they have access to food during the summer. We will also continue delivering Action Center food boxes to school families in 80214 on Saturdays through the summer.

Community Victory Gardens

This summer we are hard at work to manage the Jefferson Community Garden and the 25th Avenue Community Garden to grow produce for local families and community members. Victory gardens are coming back as a way to provide food for communities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are looking for volunteers to help maintain these gardens this summer. For more information, email joel@edgewatercollective.org.

Business Recovery

One of the main components of our mission statement is cultivating partnerships for thriving Edgewater businesses. This is important now more than ever. We are providing behind the scenes support and coordination for the Edgewater Business Association as they work to help businesses connect with the City of Edgewater and navigate changing regulations for opening and operating. We are also utilizing the Edgewater Echo and the connected social media accounts to spread and share business news and updates to the surrounding community.

Supporting Schools

Today we are providing funding for our local school teachers and staff to grab a drink or ice cream from local businesses in the Edgewater area. This spring has been especially hard on our school leaders, teachers and staff as they learn new rhythms and are disconnected from the students they love. This year especially they deserve our heartfelt thanks and praise.

As we look to the fall and decreases in school funding, we know that we will have to ramp up our supports and partnerships to support our local Jefferson Area schools.

If you want to hear more about the challenges and assets in our local schools, check out “The Jefferson Project” from 9NEWS which will air on Monday night, May 25 on Channel 20 at 7 p.m. Click here for more on that documentary.

We firmly believe in partnerships and our community as we work together to recover from this crisis. Thanks for your continued support of our collective work!