Thornton City Council has committed to dole out $72,500 to 27 nonprofits.
Council unanimously approved a resolution during its April 22 regular meeting authorizing the distribution of the 2014 Thornton Assistance Funds to organizations that were recommended by a six-member committee.
“These nonprofits organizations assist Thornton residents and families with not only meeting their basic needs but also enhancing their ability to be self-sufficient,” said Michael Gallegos, who served as chair of the Thornton Assistance Committee.
A total of 32 organizations applied for funding this year, but five were deemed ineligible because they did not submit a request by deadline.
The committee decided to give the full funding requests of nine agencies after reviewing their applications and conducting interviews.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Adams & Broomfield counties received its full request amount of $3,500 to help recruit, train and supervise volunteers who work to attain homes for abused and neglected children in the Adams County court system.
“You may think there’s not many of those, but you’d be surprised,” said Thornton Assistance Committee member Bill Bingham, who read the list of the agencies receiving full funding requests at the council meeting.
Howard Dental Care was given the full requested amount of $3,000.
This agency provides dental services for people with HIV or AIDS, Bingham said, “they are the only ones around that do that.”
Other agencies that received full requested amounts of $3,000 include: Good Shepherd Food Banks and Neighborhood Outreach of Colorado, for the purposes of supplementing food donations; and Low Income Family Empowerment to help residents tap into resources for housing, job searches and GED programs.
Community Health Services received $2,000 to support health care for children of low-income families. Rocky Mountain Cancer Assistance received $2,500 to help ease the financial burden of cancer patients to assist with household living expenses while undergoing treatment. Audio Information Network of Colorado Inc. received $1,100 to provide information through braille material and audio broadcasts to the blind and visually impaired residents. And The Arc of Adams County received $1,000 to help with rent relief, medication and utility payments for individuals with disabilities.
The 18 nonprofits that received partial funding include: Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, $5,000; Clinica Family Health Services, $4,000; Project Angel Heart, $4,000; The Senior Hub Inc., $4,000; Second Wind Fund Inc., $3,500; A Precious Child Inc., $3,000; Arapahoe House Inc., $3,000; Community Reach Center Inc., $3,000; Thornton Community Food Bank, $3,000; Arising Hope, $2,500; Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, $2,500; Centura Health at Home Foundation, $2,500; Catholic Charities and Community Services of the Archdiocese of Denver, $2,450; Children’s Outreach Project, $2,000; Listen Foundation Inc., $2,000; Rocky Mountain Youth Medical and Nursing Consultants Inc., $1,750; The Denver Hospice, $1,500; and Keep Thornton Beautiful, $700.
The other members on the committee this year were Francesca Maes, Holly Peterson, Cindy Marlowe and Mark Gormley.
