EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Westside CARES reaching out to resolves complex challenges
Westside CARES began its work in 1984 after several area churches joined together to resettle and assist individuals and families evicted from the city-run “County Poor Farm” when it was closed. At the end of the process, the informal coalition of churches gathered for a celebration service. Out of the shared work came the idea to create a more formal and permanent relationship to care for all westside neighbors. Today, Westside CARES is an interfaith nonprofit collaboration of 22 faith communities meeting its mission, “To provide care and compassion to our neighbors in need.”
Westside CARES serves over 10,000 unique individuals each year, all of whom live on the west side of El Paso County. Their pantries serve nearly 22,000 people each year, a third of whom are children.
Westside CARES Chief Executive Officer Kristy Milligan says their programs fall into one of three categories: home, health, and hope. The home programs engage cooperation and preventative strategies to help neighbors in need attain and maintain housing. The health programs include healthy four-day bags of food, onsite visits with an RN (including flu shots, care coordination, dental and vision support, prescription and copay assistance), clothing and laundry support, hygiene items, SNAP administration, and more. The hope programs aim at connecting neighbors with a supportive loving community and include mail service, Thanksgiving and holiday programs, community cleanups, and back-to-school supplies.
Westside CARES defines success as different for every single person they see. In some cases, success is reducing the stigma associated with accessing support. In some cases, success is preventing a utilities shutoff. In some cases, success is equipping a family to succeed with back to school supplies and holiday support. They also ask whether change was created for people. They conduct follow-up calls on rental assistance, which reveal an 85% efficacy for the program in effectively averting an eviction and stabilizing the household. Of the 51 previously homeless neighbors they have helped to find housing over the last two years, 47 of them are still housed today.
One of Westside CARES’ clients since 2017, Anthony Dugan, describes Milligan as a “dynamic leader and a courageous advocate for our community”. Dugan said she outlined, on paper, immediate goals for him which he still remembers and helped him achieve those goals. Dugan says the entire staff “treats you with dignity and respect.”
Despite the ongoing pandemic, Westside CARES hasn’t missed a single day of offering care and compassion to its clients. They have implemented robust safety protocols at all sites. Additionally, with the temporary and permanent closures of some partner agencies, Westside CARES has been able to step into critical gaps by increasing its rental assistance programs, expanding its pantry program and increasing its laundry help program.
Milligan says several things set Westside CARES apart from other like organizations. “The first is that we see the intrinsic dignity of every human that walks through our doors, which is why we use the equalizing language of “neighbors” instead of “clients” and talk so much about beloved community. We believe that we need our neighbors as much as they need us and that trusting relationships are the conduits of transformation – and neighbor feedback directly informs all our programs”.
Also Westside CARES is smaller than many of the other organizations in town. (Milligan is the only full-time employee). That allows them to pivot quickly to meet emerging needs within the community and create individual plans for clients that allow them to move toward sustainability.
Empty Stocking Fund benefits 20 health and human service agencies in the Pikes Peak region who serve over 250,000 neighbors in need from birth to end of life. Your donation is powerful.
Give now at EmptyStockingFundCO.org, or call 719-476-1673 to make a credit card or stock donation. Make checks payable to Empty Stocking Fund and mail to P.O. Box 910942, Denver, CO 80291-0942.