Post-pandemic Broomfield nonprofits balancing growth, increasing need

by admin May 21, 2023

Broomfield Fellowship in Serving Humanity, known as FISH, has been serving Broomfield residents for 60 years. What started as a simple food pantry has transformed into a large nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing all factors that contribute to need in the community.

“We really want our participants to thrive in our community so we want to address all the factors we can that contribute to that instability,” said Maggie Sava, communications and media manager for Broomfield FISH.

Volunteer Joan Oldenburg stocks shelves at Broomfield FISH Food Bank and Family Resource Center in 2022. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)

FISH offers a variety of solutions to those factors, including assistance with food, housing and emotional support and well-being. Since the start of the pandemic, FISH has grown from serving 7,000 unique individuals each year to 12,000 — and the need for support isn’t slowing down.

“The number of people we’re serving and the needs have grown so much over the pandemic,” Sava said.

“At the beginning it was a lot of triage, addressing immediate need and immediate crisis, but once we adapted to that we had to get back to deeper growth.”

For FISH, growth has come in the form of expanding programs and larger pools of resources. One of the ways the nonprofit has changed the most, recently, has been with the surging need for housing assistance.

“We had to grow and adapt to the growing needs in our community that hasn’t slowed at this point in the pandemic,” Sava said. “Our team has grown and our services have adjusted.”

Alongside FISH, other nonprofits in Broomfield have seen growth and growing needs as well, including Conscious Alliance, which has been helping to stamp out hunger for the past 21 years through its unique services.

BROOMFIELD, CO - JUNE 17: Todd Park Mohr, left, of Big Head Todd, and Joel Cummins, of Umphrey's McGee, play during the grand opening of Conscious Alliance's new distribution center on June 17, 2021, in Broomfield. (Timothy Hurst/Staff Photographer) — BROOMFIELD, CO – JUNE 17: Todd Park Mohr, left, of Big Head Todd, and Joel Cummins, of Umphrey’s McGee, play during the grand opening of Conscious Alliance’s new distribution center on June 17, 2021, in Broomfield. (Timothy Hurst/Staff Photographer)

“Conscious Alliance is an iconic movement of bands, brands, artists and fans on a mission to awaken compassion,” Executive Director Jusin Levy said.

The group has a unique approach to food assistance, partnering with artists and musicians to gather donations. At many concert venues around the country, Conscious Alliance is on hand gathering non-perishable food donations and selling limited-edition posters whose profits go to ending hunger.

“What we have found over the years is that it’s a really wonderful, easy entryway for folks to give back,” Levy said. “They’re already going to the concert, they get something in exchange for donating which is really kind of a badge. It’s also memorabilia, right? It’s a reminder of that connection that they had with their friends, that they had with the music that night, and that they gave back to something to make sure that kiddos and families have access to healthy food.”

Justin Levy, executive director of Conscious Alliance, shows off a Sound Tribe Sector 9 poster at the band's Red Rocks show in September 2017. The nonprofit enlists artists to design commemorative concert posters that are available for purchase or given to a number of donors that bring items to the organization's — Justin Levy, executive director of Conscious Alliance, shows off a Sound Tribe Sector 9 poster at the band’s Red Rocks show in September 2017. The nonprofit enlists artists to design commemorative concert posters that are available for purchase or given to a number of donors that bring items to the organization’s “Art that Feeds” food drives. (Conscious Alliance/ Courtesy photo)

The group opened its national distribution center in Broomfield in 2021 and has continued growing ever since.

“What we’ve found [in Broomfield] is an incredibly welcoming community with really passionate leaders and heartfelt organizations, and there’s been so much collaboration to further support this community here, and the greater Colorado community,” Levy said. “We felt so welcomed in Broomfield and such a part of the community and feel very lucky to be woven into the fabric that makes Broomfield and the greater Colorado area so special.”

One organization that contributes to growth in Broomfield is the Veterans Museum. Open since the early 2000s, the museum was started by a group of World War II Veterans who wanted to honor the role that veterans played in starting the town. What started as a collection of memorabilia from World War II has grown into the flourishing museum open for visitors today.

The Mile High Fife and Drum Corps performing outside the Veterans Museum in Broomfield in 2021.

“It slowly grew to include more than just World War II, it eventually grew and included Vietnam and Korea,” said Megan Huelman, board member and lead of the marketing committee. “Now we’ve gotten to a point where we’ve really covered every branch of the military, as well as every conflict that the U.S. has been in since the beginning of the country — and this area — being involved in military conflict.”

The museum offers a wide range of programming, from larger events on holidays like Veterans Day to smaller Coffee and Conversation events that are held more frequently.

In the coming years, museum staff is excited to focus on educational programming for younger community members, and to grow the participation of younger veterans.

“We’re hoping to get more involvement to kind of help more people understand the value of what a veteran did for us and for our country and kind of learn that it’s an important part of our history,” Huelman said.

Also showing immense growth in Broomfield is the nonprofit A Precious Child.

Carina Martin, founder and CEO, poses for a portrait at A Precious Child headquarters in Broomfield in 2022. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff photographer)

Most well-known for its role as a clothing donation center, A Precious Child offers a wide variety of programming and services for residents in multiple counties, including Broomfield. Basics 4 Babies offers support for families with young children by giving them essentials including diapers, wipes and other baby gear. Inspiring Minds offers access to science, technology, engineering and math activities for students. Precious Perks offers jobs to 16 to 24 year olds at the Precious Child coffee shop where employees can practice obtaining and retaining employment.

The list goes on, with A Precious Child offering a total of 11 programs for families and community members in need. As an organization based around volunteer work, the pandemic hit hard, but its volunteer force has grown to over 7,300 people who are working to aid in their mission.

“It’s so encouraging to see people get back out there and get back to helping their community,” said Courtney Wickberg, chief communications officer at A Precious Child. “Ideally we would have closer to 10,000 volunteers to meet the growing needs of the community.”

A Precious Child serves an average of 33 families every day, and relies on volunteers and donations to serve those families.

These nonprofits in Broomfield, and others like them, rely heavily on the generosity and contributions of the surrounding community, and as the need for assistance grows, so do these organizations.