Another foster care agency

Thanks, Gazette, for having an important article on foster care for children in need. The only thing missing was the organization Hope & Home. I am going to tell you about it because their story needs to be known.

Hope & Home is the largest foster care agency in the State of Colorado, licensing more foster families annually than all other agencies in Colorado combined. They provide homes for over 500 children in foster care each year. They operate statewide with seven resource hubs, but Colorado Springs is both their origin and one of their most active centers. Their mission is to provide the gold standard of foster care.

It was founded in 1998 by members of a local church who believed that no child should ever feel less than loved. Children entering foster care have experienced severe abuse or neglect. Hope & Home provides: emergency placements, short-term foster care, long-term foster care, kinship support and adoption pathways.

Hope & Home is one of the most decorated foster care agencies in Colorado. They have received: El Pomar award Winner, 15-time Merit Award winner for outstanding service and 25+ years of proven history and statewide reputation for excellence. They have been widely recognized by judges, child welfare experts, colleges, and funding organizations.

There are ways you can get involved: become a foster parent, short-term, long-term, emergency, or adoption-focused. You can support foster families by donating time, resources, or skills. They emphasize the urgent need for foster families in the region due to the 575+ children in the local system at any time.

They were founded by Christians, but they are not a Christian foster agency. They accept children of all religions or no religion. Their Christian roots shape their compassion, not their admission. They protect the religious identity of all children.

Vern Swim

Colorado Springs

Confident in local elections

In Thursday’s letters to the editor section, Janice sent a long list of accusatory questions about elections.

Elections are controlled by the voters. Counting activities are conducted by election volunteers, contact the county and you personally can volunteer in our elections. Volunteers are the backbone of our elections.

Citizenship is established during voter registration. Should we have to furnish a passport or birth certificate every time? Citizenship at the time of registration, then identity in each election (signature matching for mail ballot, ID card for those opting to vote in person).

Vote by mail has many advantages, and I, for one, would never want to return to voting in person. No adverse weather, illness, accident, or car trouble on election day will stop me from voting, since I have several weeks to complete and return my ballot. Single-day voting is antiquated and restrictive.

There is a way to “date a ballot in a drop box”. All ballot dropboxes are under 24/7 public video surveillance, viewable on the county elections website. Sign up for BallotTrax (Colorado Secretary of State website) and you will get notices about your ballot. I received a text from BallotTrax on Mon 6/8 that the County mailed my ballot, it was in my mailbox on Tues 6/9, I turned it into a drop box Thurs 6/11, and received confirmation from BallotTrax on Mon 6/15 that my ballot had been received and counted.

Colorado is not following California’s model; Colorado instituted full vote by mail in 2014, and California in 2022.

Go actually learn about elections here in Colorado. Both the El Paso County elections website, and the Colorado Secretary of State contain mountains of info. The more I looked into our elections, the more confident I became in them. I fully believe that we here in Colorado have the best elections in the country. They’re easy, convenient, secure, and all ballots are paper, so audits are conducted with the exact ballots each voter filled out.

Andy Prochaska

Colorado Springs

The vulnerable in our community

In all the reporting by the Gazette on the (alleged) fraud perpetrated by The Program, I have not seen anything about what will happen to the people who were recruited and believed they were being helped by Medicaid.

Medicaid has a fiduciary obligation to investigate, but where is any humanity in looking out for the most vulnerable in our communities? Are they now back on the street? Is the city expected to now step in and try to find housing? Or can the State Attorney General require The Program to continue housing those it duped until the matter is adjudicated? And join in the investigation, and any possible lawsuits to have The Program homes, vehicles, property seized to help with housing and training for the residents, should fraud be established?

Who is keeping the human beings in mind, beyond the immediate closure of The Program? Asking for a friend’s moral obligation, as a member of the human race.

Deborah Tinsley

Colorado Springs

Iran’s nuclear threat

I am concerned that growing cooperation between Iran and Pakistan could allow Iran to conceal sensitive nuclear activities outside the reach of international inspectors. If Iran were able to shift nuclear-related operations to Pakistan, any agreement based solely on inspections inside Iran could prove ineffective.

The United States should not provide sanctions relief or financial incentives without ironclad verification measures. A peace agreement that cannot verify where nuclear activities are occurring is not a real safeguard.

Iran’s support for proxy groups throughout the Middle East has already destabilized the region. American policymakers should ensure that any agreement prevents deception and provides immediate consequences for violations.

The success of any deal depends not on promises but on verification.

Art Wilmoth

Colorado Springs