OUR Center sees surge in need,
Nonprofit seeks to aid those hurt by coronavirus economic losses
Just after noon Friday, staff at the OUR Center were racing to keep up with a steadily growing line of cars outside the nonprofit’s building at 220 Collyer St. in Longmont.
In one line, patrons could pick up bottled water and a hot lunch of chicken-friend steak, while in another line groceries and toiletries were distributed.
Pushing a cart piled high with meals bagged and packaged in plastic foam containers, Charity Bonner looked up names on a clipboard and allowed people to reach through their car windows to grab their own plastic bags containing the food. Bonner wore a mask and spoke to people from behind a clear plastic shield mounted to the cart.
“This is our busiest time,” said Bonner, the grant writer and development specialist for the nonprofit Outreach United Resource Center..
The hot lunch program distributes 140 meals Monday to Sunday. Since September, participation in the program has ticked up by 22%.
Food insecurity is only one area the OUR Center has continued to see a growing need. Since midMarch, when the coronavirus began surging across Colorado,
the OUR Center has helped families grapple with financial losses, stemming from slashed work hours, furloughs and layoffs.
These struggles aren’t expected to evaporate with the new year, so the nonprofit is looking for ways it can continue to support people into the new year.
“There’s definitely a potential for this need to continue to grow,” said Marc Cowell, the OUR Center’s nonprofit executive director. “I’ve given up on trying to guess what the trends are going to be, because they always change, but one thing I feel very confident saying is that there are going to be some families that take months and possibly years to recover from this pandemic.”
The OUR Center this month launched the Pandemic Response Fund, which was kicked off by a $50,000 donation from Longmont’s Golden Triangle Construction. Through the response fund, the nonprofit, which provides rent, utility and food assistance to people, has a goal to raise $400,000.
The OUR Center’s Resource Team, which assists with rent and utility assistance for families, has seen a 300% increase in need since March.
“Our team is 100% doing that kind of bump in the road work,” Cowell said. “We are working to make sure people stay housed, making sure they keep their utilities on.”
From March 16 through Sept. 30, the nonprofit processed 1,007 vouchers for a total of $574,215. Of those, roughly 98% were for rent or utility assistance and about 2% were for miscellaneous necessities, like prescription eyeglasses. By comparison, the nonprofit gave out 899 vouchers for a total of $322,579 last year from January through December.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we get close to $1 million of direct financial aid that we distribute to families (this year),” Cowell said.
Cowell said many families the OUR Center helps have parents who have lost one their multiple jobs and are therefore unable to make ends meet.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reported last week there were 6,242 regular initial unemployment claims filed for the week ending in Oct. 10 — bringing the total in regular unemployment claims filed since midMarch to 575,599, according to a news release from the department. The release said the state also saw 2,532 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims filed for the same week, a grand total of 742,894 claims, including federal PUA benefits, the release said.
Cowell said grants and foundations stepped up to help the nonprofit meet the surging demand. Cowell said community support has also “been off the charts.” With the need expected to persist for months or years to come, Cowell said the nonprofit still needs help.
“That (support) was a tremendous help,” Cowell said. “I feel confident that we are in a good place financially to help families through Dec. 31. But the next kind of horizon point we are looking at is 2021. What does that bring? What sort of supports do we need to bring in house to continue to help at the current level or an increase or decreased level?”
OUR Center volunteer Margaret Norris, of Longmont, is among those who helps to distribute groceries to families in need. She said she’s observed “many more people” in need since the pandemic.
Volunteers have had to shift food distribution operations to outdoors. In prepandemic times, she said people could go inside and shop for themselves to pick out the food and toiletries they needed most. Now, Norris talks with those in line to find out what they need and another volunteer gets the items and brings the order to their car.
Norris, a retired psychologist, has been a volunteer for two years. Whether it’s 90 degrees or the air is choked with wildfire smoke, like Friday, volunteers are there to help.
“It’s not something you do just when it’s convenient or easy,” Norris said. “You do it because people need food every day.”
Even with changes to operations and skyrocketing demand, Norris said she thinks the OUR Center has adapted well.
“I think the staff has made heroic efforts to making these changes,” Norris said. “Those changes happened pretty much overnight.”
Cowell said the nonprofit is working to finish its fundraising plan for the Pandemic Response Fund. People can donate online at ourcenter.org and the money will be used for the response fund, Cowell said. There is also a list of needed items people can check out, if they’re interested in making a donation. In particular Norris said the nonprofit needs nonperishable proteins, toothpaste and shampoo.
“We want to continue to help bridge the gap from the pandemic and help people stay stable, because we know that … it’s difficult to stop that spiral and come back out of it,” Cowell said.