Mission
We serve residents of the St. Vrain Valley with hot meals (breakfast weekdays, lunch 7 days/week), groceries & personal care items (3 Market visits per month), childcare & early childhood education (for ages 6 weeks to 6 years), direct financial assistance with rent, utilities, minor medical care, & local transportation, financial skills & self-sufficiency classes, parenting support groups, agency referrals, and much more. We have recently revised our service delivery methods for quicker turnaround responses for utilities, eyecare, car repairs, and housing referrals. Our Housing Stabilization programs help families with long-term stability and connection to other resources and referrals.
Our target population is low-income families that reside within the St. Vrain Valley School District geographic boundary. Ninety percent (90%) are Longmont residents. Ninety-five percent (95%) of our participants are considered low-income and, particularly with the rapidly rising cost of housing in our area and the inflationary concerns felt nationwide, more families continue to need our services. We are seeing more families than ever come to our doors, and we are only able to assist about half of those with financial resources. Many households are still dealing with basic needs costs rising faster than wages. At the same time, resources are dropping precipitously, with federal pandemic dollars gone and cuts to local government funding.
OUR Center has been providing basic needs service since March 1987. We are a trusted leader in the nonprofit space by the various stakeholders who rely on us, from participants (clients) to civic and faith leaders to the community as a whole. We strive to provide “a hand up, not a hand out” to those most financially vulnerable, to the best of our ability with the resources provided to us.
Poverty has disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minorities for generations. At OUR Center, we are taking steps to stop the cycle of poverty one family at a time by implementing two-generational programs. These programs not only impact the family now but also teach and encourage good practices for self-sufficiency in the future as well. It can be difficult for families to get ahead, and a small “bump in the road” can throw a family off track; therefore, we aim to help our community by making programs more accessible, adaptable, and manageable, and providing a variety of services to help a family stay housed and safe.
More about this organization
Aspen Center for Child Development, a Program of OUR Center, was established in 1989 in downtown Longmont and is a local “gem” in the field of early childhood education. We serve children ages 6 weeks to 6 years, providing excellent childcare and school readiness programs in our Infant, Toddler, Preschool, and Pre-K classrooms, and are one of only a handful of “4-star-rated” schools through Colorado Shines. Tuition is based on parent/guardian household income and is another factor in our mission of helping families be self-reliant. With freezes in CCCAP (Colorado Child Care Assistance Program) funding, more families face a crisis in finding available and affordable care. Our goal is for our enrollment to include at least 50% of lower-income families and assist them with scholarships, as their incomes do not support market-rate daycare, to allow them to continue to work to support their families. At the present, appr. 1/3 of our families receive assistance, but the need is great.
Funding for early childhood education scholarships at Aspen Center can be provided through the “OUR Kids, OUR Future Fund” through the Longmont Community Foundation.
Aspen students come from all backgrounds and enjoy a warm, inviting class environment and outdoor play areas with age and developmentally appropriate practices that support school readiness. We believe all children have the right to an engaging space that honors their capabilities and creativity. Our program is play based and focuses on developmentally appropriate, creative experiences with children. Our highly qualified early childhood educators guide children’s learning by using their strengths and interests as catalysts for exploration, discovery, and problem solving.
Aspen Center charges tuition on a sliding scale based on household income, helping to support working families who may not otherwise be able to access such high-quality care. With the freeze on CCCAP funding, childcare access is at a crisis point and more families are being left out. We currently support approximately 1/3 of our families with tuition aid. Our goal is for at least 50% of our families to receive tuition assistance.
We are seeking scholarships funds to be able to serve more low-income families. This is in keeping with OUR Center’s mission, “We help people move toward self-sufficiency by unifying community resources”.
