GraceFull Community Cafe & Foundation

Thank you to Denver Westword for sharing such a beautiful article on the work and culture of GraceFull. https://lnkd.in/guQmJPbP

Gather Eat Give is GraceFull's Spring fundraising event. Our goal is $90,000. We have sponsorships available and would love to share your business with our network. Email tami@gracefullcafe.com to become a sponsor today!

We were delighted to gather today and celebrate Mike Sandgren. Mike is the founder of the Change the Trend organization - a beautiful collaboration of stakeholders working to address homelessness in the Tri-Cities of Littleton, Englewood, and Sheridan. Change the Trend has been an invaluable resource to GraceFull Foundation. We are always looking to collaborate well with community partners to serve our guests experiencing the challenges of poverty and homelessness. We have been active participants for the last 5 years and it's been a joy to see the network grow to an average of 50 participants on a weekly meeting, with a listserv of over 200. We are wishing Mike well as he moves into a new role. GraceFull Foundation was asked to step into leadership with Change the Trend and our Program Manager over Advocacy and Community Partnerships, Julie Hall, will be the new facilitator. We are honored to steward this amazing network as Mike moves onto his next adventure. Learn more about Change the Trend - https://lnkd.in/gcsXgkEQ and the Tri-Cities Homelessness Initiative - https://lnkd.in/g8VVkW-A

So many exciting and wonderful things at GraceFull! Read the latest GraceFull Moments recap of February: https://lnkd.in/g3U5BJNF

Save the date for our annual fundraising event called Gather Eat Give. More details to come on how you can become a sponsor, purchase a ticket or support GraceFull. 

Community Breakfast is one of our favorite days of the month! On the first Saturday, a Business Sponsor funds breakfast for everyone at the cafe that day. What a gift to the community! The food is delicious as always and the company of all our guests is delightful. Thank you to Littleton Christian Church for being our sponsor for March! We are now booking for 2025 if your business, church, organization or team would like to impact the community in this way. Contact foundation@gracefullcafe.com #foodismedicine #foodsecurityforall #everyonedeservesahealthymeal

Arapahoe County is our partner of the month! We are grateful for the ways they are in the community serving populations in need: *One of our favorite resources to refer our guests to is our Arapahoe County Housing Navigators. There are three people filling this role right now, and they are amazing! They work at community partner locations throughout the week and also take appointments. If any of our guests are needing support in working on next steps for housing - they are available. We are grateful for this partnership. *In January, we hosted the Arapahoe County team as they administered the annual Point in Time count - a census for those you are unhoused which helps to bring important funding to our region to address housing needs. *We also support the work of the County Homeless Coordinating Committee by participating in their executive and technical advisory action groups developing a strategic plan. *As stakeholders, we are currently participating in the housing needs-assessment. We will be supporting the County's work by utilizing our lived experience focus group to speak into solutions. We are grateful to have a County acknowledging the needs of the community and inviting us all to the table when creating solutions.

Meet Riley Leischner! She was born and raised in Littleton, Colorado. She is getting her Master’s in public health wanting to gain and use her knowledge and experience to help the Littleton community. You will see her food running in the cafe and alongside Julie Hall helping with advocacy on the Foundation side of our organization. She is a true believer that Food is Medicine and wants to help in any way she can. In her free time, she loves encouraging other girls in the community by coaching youth girls’ lacrosse. She is also an avid snowboarder. Riley has graciously offered to work with GraceFull Foundation throughout her internship this semester. She has expertise in addressing food insecurity, and we are excited to have her joining us in our advocacy and community partner work. She has already been a great asset to the team, and we look forward to her partnership with us this semester. If you see her around, please introduce yourself and make her feel welcome!

Thank you to Ent Credit Union for honoring our founder and owner, Heather Greenwood, with the Community Advocate Award. To recognize Heather's dream of a cafe where everyone is welcome, everyone receives a delicious healthy meal, and friendships and connections are made is truly amazing. Heather has dedicated the last 7yrs to creating a healthier, stronger and more connected community. Well deserved, Heather! https://lnkd.in/genkKCCY

Merry Christmas from GraceFull! https://lnkd.in/gQebv-ch