Club Q
Shock. Horror. Fear. Despair. Anger. Frustration. Hope. It’s difficult to come up with the right word(s) to capture our feelings about the Club Q mass shooting. We have known for a long time that our LGBTQIA+ friends and neighbors have suffered disproportionate health burdens because of society’s response to who they are and who they love. This horrific event put a fine point on this reality.
We are grateful to everyone in the community who has come together in support of the victims and their loved ones; the helpers (first responders, medical teams, clergy, etc.); as well as those who now feel an even greater sense of fear related to expressing their true selves. And yet, it doesn’t remove the pain.
May we use this as an opportunity to build bridges with people who may not look, talk, think, identify, believe and/or love like us. In the name of those who have suffered and sacrificed, may we build a more peaceful, inclusive and loving reality, together.
Housing Grant Awards
Colorado Springs Health Foundation recently completed a funding cycle focused on transitional and affordable housing. Approximately $1.35M was awarded to ten organizations. Requests ranged from transitional housing, affordable home ownership, affordable housing rehabilitation, general operating funds for affordable housing-focused organizations and more. Here is a list of grant awards:
| Applicant Name | Proposal Name | Grant Award |
| Artspace Projects | Artspace Colorado Springs Affordable Artist Housing | $ 200,000 |
| Catholic Charities of Central Colo. | Hunt Family Housing | $ 250,000 |
| Elevation Community Land Trust | El Paso & Teller Homeownership | $ 250,000 |
| Family Life Services | General Operating | $ 15,000 |
| Greccio Housing | Affordable Housing Preservation Initiative | $ 235,000 |
| Innovations in Aging Collaborative (fiscal sponsor) | Affordable Housing Collaborative’s Transition to New Formal Organization | $ 15,000 |
| Partners in Housing | Family Self-Sufficiency Program | $ 50,000 |
| Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity | General Operating | $ 75,000 |
| Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation | Workforce Housing Fund – Healthcare | $ 250,000 |
| Sunshine Home Share Colorado | Home Sharing Creates Affordable Housing | $ 10,000 |
| TOTAL | $ 1,350,000 |
The next time that CSHF will have a funding opportunity that includes housing will be Summer/Fall 2023. It will cover our entire Healthy Environments funding focus area, which includes: (1) efforts that encourage greater physical activity; (2) efforts that increase access to healthy, affordable food; and (3) efforts that increase or retain transitional or permanent affordable housing.
And, congratulations to all the awardees! We are honored to support your excellent work.
Upcoming Winter/Spring 2023 Funding Opportunity
CSHF’s Winter/Spring 2023 Funding Opportunity is open. This is available to Pikes Peak region tax-exempt and tax-supported organizations doing work in three of our four funding focus areas: (1) Access to healthcare; (2) Suicide prevention; and (3) Prevention or healing trauma. Here is the timeline:
- 28, 2022: Opportunity released and application available.
- 2022 – Feb. 14, 2023: Pre-application phone calls. This is a required step in our process for any interested organization.
- 2022 and Jan. 2023: Informational webinars on the funding opportunity will be offered. Participation is optional. See below for details.
- 16, 2023, noon MT: Application deadline. No exceptions.
- Late April 2023: Grant decisions communicated to applicants
Note: Our Healthy Environments funding opportunity will be held in the Summer/Fall 2023.
CSHF staff will offer informational webinars regarding the Winter/Spring 2023 opportunity in order to give potential applicants the chance to learn more about the funding opportunity and ask questions. Participation is one of these webinars is not expected or required. Please register if you plan to attend.
New Trustees
The Colorado Springs City Council recently appointed two new trustees to CSHF’s board: Patrick Sharp, CEO of Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, and Joel Yuhas, UCHealth Southern Colorado Region President and CEO.
In addition, Council approved a bylaws change that allows for the appointment of Trustees who live outside of Colorado Springs but within El Paso or Teller County. This will enable CSHF’s board to better reflect the entirety of the region served.
We are excited to welcome Joel and Patrick to the board and are grateful for their willingness to serve. To learn who else serves on the board, check out the CSHF website.
What We Are Reading or Listening to Now
- From The New York Times: It’s Not Just You. America’s mental health crisis isn’t just about feelings. It’s about money, power and politics, too. This is a multi-chapter piece with several articles per chapter.
- From The New York Times: Can Smartphones Help Predict Suicide? A unique research project is tracking hundreds of people at risk for suicide, using data from smartphones and wearable biosensors to identify periods of high danger — and intervene.
- From The Atlantic, Doctors Are Failing Patients with Disabilities by Emma Yasinski. This is one of several articles in the national press regarding some recent (and very depressing) research about healthcare access for people with disabilities.
And for the animal lovers out there because, well, I (Cari) can’t help myself…
- From The New Yorker, a sweet story of a pet deer: The Deer Who Lived Upstairs
- From The New York Times Magazine, Sam Anderson’s introductory essay in Animal Voyages
And, from Jamie, a feel-good story:
- From CBS News, a teacher shows Steve Hartman’s “On The Road” every day to his class.