Building community through food in southern Colorado

Our team finds it important to visit and connect with network partners right in their communities. We want to see what’s happening locally – especially the great work being done by community coalitions and organizations.

Greta Allen, the Blueprint’s Policy Manager, visited the Pueblo Food Project and Rocky Mountain SER in Pueblo County in late August. She also traveled to Prowers County to make a presentation and meet with Lamar Unidos.

Michelle Ray, the Blueprint’s Visibility Manager who’s based in the Pikes Peak region, is becoming more active with the Southeast Food Coalition of Colorado Springs. In addition to attending coalition meetings, she recently volunteered at Solid Rock Community Development Corporation’s free farmers market and helped facilitate a small-group conversation around local food access during a community dinner at Food to Power.

Find out a little more about each group’s efforts to build community and address hunger locally:

Rocky Mountain SER

On August 14, Greta visited Rock Mountain SER (RMSER) and met with Brandi Adakai who helped build the first-ever empowerment center in Pueblo. In addition to working for RMSER, she also serves on the Blueprint’s Governing Council.

Greta toured RMSER’s community-focused building, getting to see all of their great offerings and hearing about upcoming changes to better serve and support those who live in Pueblo. This included seeing their food pantry and commitment to local food procurement in action.

During the tour, Greta also learned about RMSER’s partnerships with local entrepreneurs. They’re currently collaborating with a local food hall, Fuel and Iron, to create a childcare facility for employees within their community-centered building. RMSER also provides affordable office space in converted classrooms so local entrepreneurs can provide vital community services like therapy, healthcare, physical activity, and English language classes. Such cooperation means RMSER can upgrade its on-site kitchen. Not only will it help provide meals for the childcare program, but they’ll also have space for food entrepreneurs to test recipes and package their cottage food goods in a certified kitchen.

Greta says, “RMSER is truly a community hub, led by the superhuman Brandi whose vision is coming to life in every corner of the converted Catholic school.”

*Photo of Brandi of RMSER (left) with Greta of the Blueprint (right) during a tour of Pueblo’s empowerment center*

Pueblo Food Project

While in southern Colorado, Greta also met with Megan Moore, coalition lead for the Pueblo Food Project on August 14. The community-led coalition “helps create a more vibrant, nutritious, and equitable food system for every eater in Pueblo County.”

They dined at the Fuel and Iron food hall in Pueblo, which supports RMSER, and enjoyed a delicious meal from Mosh Ramen, a recent graduate of the Project’s business incubation program for food and beverage enterprises. They also talked about some of their other programs, including youth fooducates and work with area food pantries.

Lamar Unidos

Greta traveled to Prowers County on August 14 to meet with and present to Lamar Unidos. The local coalition serves as a bridge for community members who are primarily monolingual Spanish speakers. They are passionate about helping their neighbors and expanding their local food system to support each other.

Some of their key efforts include helping folks obtain necessary documents like driver’s licenses, offering “Know Your Rights” classes, and providing college preparedness opportunities.

Southeast Food Coalition (Colorado Springs)

As a Blueprint representative and Colorado Springs resident, Michelle began attending the Southeast Food Coalition meetings in July to listen, learn, share, and engage.

Some of the coalition’s efforts include hosting community surveys and listening sessions, managing a free community fridge, and continuously exploring sustainable solutions for healthy food access in their community. Members include Solid Rock Community Development Corporation, Food to Power, RISE Southeast, Deerfield Community Center, Salvation Army, Project Angel Heart, Care & Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado, and Hunger Free Colorado.

One of the coalition’s and community’s biggest concerns right now centers around the temporary closure of the area’s King Soopers, which won’t reopen until this fall. It really highlights the challenges of accessing nutrient-dense foods like fruits and vegetables when you don’t have a nearby grocery store and cannot easily travel across town. This could be due to mobility issues, lack of transportation, or inflexible work schedules while also having to stretch already limited budgets in light of increased costs for rent, food, and other basic expenses.

While the coalition continues to put the spotlight on the impact on their local community through news coverage, town halls, and other activities, member organizations are feeling the strain as more families and individuals turn to their food pantries and other services for support.

To help ensure healthy food access, Solid Rock CDC began hosting free farmers’ markets this summer. Local farms like Good Steward have donated fresh produce, and the food distribution also includes meats, eggs, and bread. Michelle volunteered at their most recent market on August 19, where a few hundred people came for food and community. In addition to the many nutritious food options, the market also hosts local vendors, a petting zoo, face painting for kids, music, and more. And, despite the program’s great success in connecting folks to food and community, continued funding is a challenge for Solid Rock’s team.

In late August, Michelle also served as one of the “table captains” during a food access dinner and discussion at Food to Power. She helped facilitate a small-group conversation around local food access, right on-site at the Hillside Hub which hosts a food pantry, urban farm, and community-centered classes.