West Colfax Lately: What's Next from The Action Center
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Walking into The Action Center in Lakewood is like suddenly entering the elves’ workshop. There are boxes lined up on tables and volunteers packing all kinds of food. In the midst of these tasks is a busy volunteer with a unicorn hugging his midsection. It’s a blowup unicorn meant to keep a child afloat. While another determined worker is introduced as the “fun officer.”
Despite the fun atmosphere, the staff and volunteers are working purposefully to get boxes of fresh, healthy food ready for struggling neighbors to pick up in the drive-through.
A staff member says she’s embarrassed by all the stuff piled in the main entrance. All I see are happy people filling boxes with care and hard work. But I never saw the main entrance before the pandemic. Many things changed with the pandemic and The Action Center needed to adapt on a dime in order to keep helping the community.
Luckily, this wasn’t its first rodeo. One year before the City of Lakewood was incorporated, a group of volunteers who were concerned about struggling families in their community formed The Action Center. The year was 1968. The Smithsonian calls it, “the year that shattered America.”
Reporting on the newly formed organization, the Colorado Transcript from June 9, 1968, said that The Action Center would “meet problems of culture, deprivation and social disorganization in areas described as ‘comfortable suburbia.’” No matter where you lived, 1968 was not a “comfortable” year and concerned neighbors decided to do something about it.
Sometimes history finds ways of repeating itself in supremely inspiring ways. The Action Center did just that when it faced the socially shattered year of the COVID pandemic with determination, grace, and real grit. And yes, magic. that. The staff and volunteers had to adapt quickly. They came up with a drive-through solution that let people come for fresh food recruit new volunteers and contend with the constant flux of changing protocols and quarantines to keep people safe.
COVID Response
Before March 16, 2020, people could “shop” at The Action Center as if it were a regular grocery store with beautiful cases full of fresh food. The COVID restrictions changed that. The staff and volunteers had to adapt quickly. They came up with a drive-through solution that let people come for fresh food that’s pre-packed in boxes ready for pick up. At the peak of the pandemic, The Action Center supplied 250 households with a week’s supply of groceries every week! More than 35,000 households have been served in the drive through with more than three million pounds of food.
“Everyone else in the world who wasn’t on the front lines were told to stay home, but our staff and volunteers couldn’t stay home,” says Pam Brier, Executive Director of The Action Center. “They are passionate and want to give, but they never thought of themselves as frontline workers in that way.” They took the risk to themselves and their families and managed to change the way the organization works by doing jobs they’d never done before.
Adapting wasn’t a piece of cake. Many of the volunteers were the age of the folks who were at highest risk. Many of them had to stay home, so the staff had to quickly recruit new volunteers and contend with the constant flux of changing protocols and quarantines to keep people safe.
During this past year, these amazing volunteers contributed 35,000 hours of work.
Besides providing critical food support during the pandemic, The Action Center provided over $2 million for rent or mortgage assistance to help struggling families. This program is expected to continue for the next year. There has also been nearly $375,000 provided for utility assistance, and hundreds have come to The Action Center to pick up their mail. The Action Center also provides those experiencing homelessness with a mailing address. This allows people to receive critical mail regardless of their living situation.
Going Forward
When you’re in a routine and seeing what isn’t working it’s hard to stop and say we’re changing. But COVID forced a reflective disruption that translated into action for The Action Center. That disruption of routine helped the staff realize that going forward they needed to focus more on members of the community who are the hardest to reach. The next step is moving outside the walls and bringing food and services to them. Also, adding diverse staff and board members is an important step that will not only serve the community, but partner with it more inclusively. To jumpstart this new focus is a pilot program that reaches out to five schools in the area as points of contact.
With COVID restrictions lifting, one of the short-term goals for The Action Center is, transitioning back into the building to serve people more personally and deeply. At its peak during COVID, The Action Center served 250 households a day – now it’s down to 150 households per day, which is about double what it was pre-COVID. In order to continue meeting the larger needs and provide personal assistance, the center will offer two days a week where people can come inside for self-select groceries and/or connect with an advocate, and two days a week where we continue drive-through service. Early October is the target date to start the new plan. Very nimble, indeed.
The next big thing has been to hire a housing navigator who will work with the rent assistance staff to help participants stay housed and stable, while working with families to find more affordable housing. With the cost of living rising and almost 6% of our Jeffco neighbors unemployed, these are services that can make all the difference. The whole community becomes healthier from the ground up.
The Action Center started in a tumultuous year as a grassroots organization that was volunteer and community based. That continues to be its strength today, along with some brass-tacks magic that gives people a tangible stepping-stone to stability, community connection and vitality. Unicorns couldn’t do a better job.
