Orange Shirt Day 2021:
Healing the Generations
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Thank you to all you came out and supported Orange Shirt Day! We had beautiful weather and lots of community members who came in support. With donations from the community, we were able to give all boarding school survivors and elders gift bags and blankets. It was a lovely day of healing, remembrance and community. We appreciate all who contributed and volunteered.
We are so grateful to the donors, artists, partners, vendors, sponsors, speakers, singers and dancers who made the day possible. Special thanks go to our hosts, the Native Student Alliance at University of Denver, for all the support and space.
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Staff Spotlight:
Joshua Emerson
Joshua Emerson is the Housing Navigator with DIFRC. His position helps to provide homelessness prevention services to the Native American population of Metro Denver by administering grant funds, providing case management and assisting in housing search. He also works with the administration of the Native American Housing Circle. For the past few months, DIFRC has enjoyed Joshua's presence and impressive work experience with his background in Community Development Financial Institutions Funds and his work with affordable housing finance and tribal finance.
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Before he ended up in Denver, Joshua grew up on the West side of Phoenix, Arizona near Navajo Nation as a Dine’ and Red Cheek born for the biligaana.
Outside of work, you can find Joshua at the many Colorado Comedy Clubs. He loves stand-up whether he's performing or part of the audience. He hopes to be this generation's Charlie Hill as a Native American comedian featured on late night television.
Aside from his passion for comedy, Joshua also feels very passionately about voting rights and urges everyone, especially minorities, to vote.
"Be active in the community. In a democracy, the public gets a government they deserve. The pandemic and post pandemic has show cased the space between the public and the government that serves them," he said.
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We want to encourage Denver high school students to serve as Caring for Denver Foundation Youth Advisors to make an impact in their community.
The application deadline for this leadership opportunity is Oct.10.
Youth Advisors will work with YouthRoots and the Caring for Denver Foundation to keep youth voice front and center during the 2021-22 youth funding cycle. Youth Advisors will work to improve mental health outcomes by elevating youth voice and empowering youth to be mental health advocates, as well as identifying emerging mental health needs among Denver’s youth. The Youth Advisors program is a collaboration between Caring for Denver Foundation and YouthRoots, a national youth philanthropy organization that teaches high school students how to make the world a better place while developing their leadership and life skills. Denver High School Students who are interested can apply online here.
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A Message from Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger |
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Coloradans Will See an Increase to SNAP Benefits
Due to historic reevaluation of benefit calculations, Coloradans participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will see their monthly benefits increase beginning Oct. 1. SNAP serves more than 250,000 households and 499,000 individuals in Colorado each month, providing food assistance benefits to safeguard the well-being of low-income, financially eligible households.
The change will reflect a 21 percent increase from the base calculation from pre-pandemic levels. This means the amount households receive, excluding additional funds provided as part of pandemic relief, will go up by an average of $36.24 per person per month, or $1.19 per day. The new maximum benefit will rise to $835 a month for a family of four.
Get Involved
Could SNAP (food stamps) work better for you and your family? Make your thoughts heard! Does it help you make the food choices you would like to, for you and your household? Please join one of several upcoming listening sessions to share your thoughts and suggestions. Nourish Colorado is working with several other partners across the state to host listening sessions with SNAP shoppers this fall. Colorado Blueprint wants to learn how to advocate for improvements in the SNAP program that make it easier for you to make the food choices you want for you and your family. The listening sessions will last for 90 minutes and will include individual questions and group discussion about people's thoughts and recommendations. If you are a current or recent SNAP participant and would like to join an upcoming listening session, please fill out this form as soon as possible! Participants will be provided a $50 stipend for their participation. Listening sessions (pick one only) will be held:
- Listening session #1 - Tuesday, 10/5, 10:00-11:30 am
- Listening session #2 - Wednesday, 10/6, 6:00-7:30 pm
- Listening session #3 - Saturday 10/16, 9:00 - 10:30 am
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Why does ICWA matter?
Child welfare systems often fail AI/AN children and families.
In 1978:
25%–35% of all AI/AN children were removed from their homes by state child welfare and private adoption agencies.
- 85% of AI/AN children removed were placed outside of their families and communities—even when fit and willing relatives were available.
ICWA Is Still Needed Today:
- AI/AN children are four times more likely to be removed by state child welfare systems than non-Native children even when their families have similar presenting problems.
- 13 states have significant overrepresentation of AI/AN children in their foster care systems where AI/AN children are in state foster care at a rate 14 times higher than their rate in the general population.
- 56% of adopted AI/AN children are adopted outside their families and communities
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Pre-schedule your Colorado Gives Day donation today!
Did you know? You can pre-schedule your Colorado Gives Day donation to DIFRC today and ensure you give first for first peoples in honor of Indigenous People's Day (Oct. 11), Native American Heritage Month in November, and the holiday giving season in December--including Colorado Gives Day on December 7.
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