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Caring for Denver
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Denver Aims To Expand Behavioral Services In STAR Program
CBS 4 Denver By Tori Mason August 24, 2020 at 10:58 pm CBS 4 Denver DENVER (CBS4) – More than 55 law enforcement agencies across Colorado participate in co-responder programs, pairing law enforcement and behavioral health specialists. The Mental...
COVER STORY | Denver’s deadly crime wave swells amid a ‘perfect storm of circumstances.’
Alayna Alvarez, Colorado Politics Aug 10, 2020 Denver has reached a boiling point. Gripped by a global pandemic, soaring unemployment, unrest from racial injustice and an unending homeless crisis, residents are scared. They’re angry. They’re stressed and...
Caring for Denver Foundation Announces New Community-Centered Solutions Funding Opportunity
News Release Media Contact: Taylor Roddy (312) 208-6483taylor@caring4denver.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:August 5, 2020 Caring for Denver Foundation Announces New Community-Centered Solutions Funding Opportunity Denver, CO – Caring for Denver Foundation is inviting...
We are failing with COVID, let’s not fail on mental health
The Hill BY BENJAMIN F. MILLER, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 08/02/20 03:00 PM EDT THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL © ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images If there ever was a time for our nation to embrace true reform for mental...
Caring for Denver Foundation Approves $6.7M in Grants to Support Alternative Responses to Criminal Justice Involvement
News Release Contact: Taylor Roddy (312) 208-6483taylor@caring4denver.orgJuly 28, 2020 Denver, CO – Caring for Denver Foundation under leadership from Executive Director Lorez Meinhold and Board Chair State Rep. Leslie Herod recently approved $6.7M in grants to...
Caring for Denver Foundation grants $6.7M to prioritize paths to care over incarceration
Colorado Politics July 30, 2020 The Caring for Denver Foundation is awarding $6.7 million to community-based nonprofits and city departments working to move Denver toward embracing a criminal justice model that treats people more as patients rather than prisoners....
Denver safety director, police chief grilled on the floor of Denver City Council
Colorado Politics Alayna Alvarez Jun 17, 2020 Updated Jun 18, 2020 Chief Paul Pazen of the Denver Police Department addresses members of the Denver City Council’s safety committee in the Denver City and County Building on June 17, 2020. Courtesy of Denver 8 TV...
The STAR Van Offers an Alternative to Police
5280 Magazine Caring for Denver’s STAR van sends a paramedic and clinician to non-criminal 911 calls. The goal is to avoid unnecessary officer involvement—and to find gaps in Denver’s support systems. BY ANGELA UFHEIL • JUNE 17, 2020 • 5280...
How To Change Policing? New Service To Help People In Crisis
Denver CBS 4 Alan Gionet • June 12, 2020 DENVER (CBS4)– It’s a plain van. Actually a re-purposed vehicle that had been destined for traffic enforcement. Yellow lights on top not blue. There’s no logo yet, but they’re working on it. “It’s pretty unassuming,” says...
A long-planned program to remove police from some 911 calls launched as Denver’s streets erupted in police brutality protests
Denverite Kevin Beaty - June 8, 2020 Roshan Bliss has been trying to find ways to curb police violence for years and scored a major victory at the beginning of the month, just as Denver started protesting racism and police brutality. Bliss, a volunteer and co-chair of...
Envision:YOU and Caring for Denver Foundation Announce Telehealth Program for LGBTQ Community
OUT FRONT Magazine Addison Herron-Wheeler – May 26, 2020 To address the COVID-19 crisis, Envision:You—a non-profit, behavioral health advocacy and support organization serving the needs of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community—announced the launch of a telehealth program. The...
Caring for Denver Foundation Announces Priority Funding Areas
News Release Media contact: Taylor Roddy • 312.208.6483 • taylor@caring4denver.org Denver, CO – Caring for Denver Foundation recently released its initial strategic funding report outlining key funding areas to help address the mental health and substance misuse...
Caring for Denver Foundation Announces New Alternatives to Jail $7M Funding Opportunity
News Release April 7, 2020 Media Contact – Taylor Roddy • 312.208.6483Denver, CO – Caring for Denver Foundation announced today it is inviting proposals for a new $7 million dollar funding opportunity for programs, projects and/or activities that...
Caring for Denver Foundation Announces Funding in Support of COVID-19 Community and Frontline Responders
News Release Media Contact – Taylor Roddy • 312.208.6483 Denver, CO – Caring for Denver Foundation announced today funding designed to help organizations and frontline responders during the COVID-19 crisis. Caring for Denver Foundation was created to quickly...
Caring for Denver Issues First Grants Worth About $2 Million
5280 Maya Chiodo 2/04/2020 In 2018, voters approved a $0.25 sales tax by passing the Caring for Denver ballot initiative. Now, a newly formed foundation is starting to dole out grants to programs that help Denverites experiencing mental health and substance misuse...
Denver hosts first information session regarding mental health funding tax
Fox Denver 31 Seth Juneac Denver nonprofit organization hosted an information session Saturday to gauge the public on mental health and substance misuse issues in the community. Caring4Denver is tasked with identifying how to prioritize the funds coming from...
Caring Denver Foundation Aims to Include Input from Queer Community
OutFront Magazine Seth Holder, 11/12/19 On November 7 at the Center for Visual Art, Caring for Denver Foundation held its public launch event. The well-attended event included leaders such as Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod and Carl Clark, M.D....
Caring 4 Denver: What You Will Be Voting for in November
Conor McCormick-Cavanagh, 9/27/18 In November, Denver voters will weigh whether to pass Herod’s Caring 4 Denver ballot initiative, which would increase the sales tax by .25 percent, or about $45 million annually, to bolsters the city’s existing mental-health...
Will Denver Vote to Fund More Mental Health and Addiction Services?
5280 Daliah Singer, 10/18/18 House Representative Leslie Herod is asking for the public’s help to address the Mile High City’s dearth of mental health and addiction services. “I see how much the community is hurting. I see our alarming rates of...
Initiated Ordinance 301 — Caring 4 Denver — aims to relieve a mental health system under duress
Denverite Kevin Beatty, 10/15/18 Initiated Ordinance 301, which appears on Denver’s ballot this year, is one group’s answer. The people behind the initiative marketed as Caring 4 Denver hope it will start moving the city toward improved care for both...
Denver voters asked to raise taxes to increase mental health, substance abuse funding
7 News 10/14/18 In Denver, one of those issues is being called Caring 4 Denver, which would raise $45 million every year to fund mental health and addiction services for children and adults by adding a 25-cent tax on every $100 in purchases. On this...
Denver can and should help those with mental health needs, Leslie Herod & Carl Clark
10/13/18 Caring 4 Denver will appear at the end of ballots in Denver as Initiated Ordinance 301 and will be a one-quarter-of 1 percent sales and use tax increase (25 cents on a $100-dollar purchase), and raise $45 million per year, to be used for improving the...
“Help Denver win its war against the opioid epidemic” -Dr. Rob Valuck & Rep. Leslie Herod,
Colorado Politics 8/31/18 Caring 4 Denver will create a culture of change in our community. We can create a conversation where opioid addiction is destigmatized and help is available for those who need and want it. We have the power to make Denver one of the success...
Denver Voters To Decide On A Tax That Will Fund Mental Health, Substance Abuse Care
CPR John Daley, 8/23/18 A Denver ballot initiative could bring in tens of millions of dollars a year to help people with mental health and substance disorder issues. State Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat, is spearheading the “Caring 4 Denver” campaign....
“Tax hike for Denver mental health and drug services makes the ballot” -Joey Bunch
Colorado Politics, 8/22/18 A request for a 0.25 percent sales tax for mental health services and addiction treatment qualified for the November ballot in Denver Tuesday. The measure is expected to raise $45 million to improve “the quality, availability and...
Denver Will Vote on Proposed Sales-Tax Increase to Support Mental Health
Westword Chris Walker, 8/10/18 The initiative’s sponsors say that the money would address numerous public health and criminal justice crises facing the Denver area, such as extremely high suicide rates, increasing opioid overdoses, and elevated recidivism...
Caring 4 Denver on Colorado Inside Out
Colorado Public Television, 8/10/18 “This looks like the big winner on the Denver ballot.” -Patricia Calhoun Patricia Calhoun, Justine Sandoval, Ross Kaminsky, Dave Kopel and host Dominic Dezzutti discuss Caring4Denver on Colorado...
Supporters of a Denver tax proposal raising money for mental health and addiction services drop off signatures
Denverite Esteban L. Hernandez, 8/1/18 “People from all walks of life have come together to support mental health and addiction treatment for our friends, family members and neighbors,” Herod said. “We have countless stories of people walking past one of our...
Feedback: Caring for Denver’ is a vote for mental health
Colorado Politics Brandon Turner, 7/12/18
How a Quarter Can Keep Struggling Non-Criminals in Denver Out of Jail
Westword -Michael Roberts, 6/14/18 Denver District Attorney Beth McCann is also a Caring 4 Denver booster. Herod says the DA understands that “what we’re doing right now doesn’t work and it’s costly; it diverts the attention of law enforcement from other safety needs...
Caring for Denver Campaign Kickoff
Denver Channel 7 Molly Hendrickson, 6/14/18 Representative Leslie Herod discusses the Caring 4 Denver initiative and how it will help people in Denver.
Community Seeks Tax Hike In Denver For Mental Health And Opioid Crisis
CBS 4 News Alan Gionet, 6/14/18 News coverage of the Caring 4 Denver campaign launch.
Opinion: Lawmakers should continue to improve mental health care spending in Colorado
DU Clarion Elizabeth Lochhead, 4/30/18 Therefore, more funding for mental health and substance abuse services is itself a possible way to spend more efficiently. Yes, this will likely require an increase in sales tax, but taxpayers are already spending for high...
Denver tax proposal would raise $45 million per year for mental health, housing, addiction
Denverite Andrew Kenney, 4/5/18 The Mental Health Center of Denver is partnering with state Rep. Leslie Herod to campaign for a half-billion dollars of new spending on mental health, addiction services and housing over the next decade. They want local voters to...
Denver sales tax hike would raise millions for mental health care, substance abuse treatment
Denver Post Jesse Paul, 4/5/18 Backers of the effort, including Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, the Mental Health Center of Denver and Mental Health Colorado, say it’s a necessary step to create a sustainable way to help struggling people in Denver and...
Proposed Sales Tax Would Fund Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment
Westword Ana Campbell, 4/5/18 Resources to treat mental-health issues and substance abuse are woefully limited in Colorado. One in every ten residents lives in a place with little or no access to medication-assisted substance-abuse treatment, while across the...
Caring4Denver Campaign Aims To Fund Mental Health Programs
CBS 4 News Mark Ackerman, 4/5/18 State lawmaker Leslie Herod, a Democrat representing Denver, is appealing directly to City of Denver voters to help people with mental health and substance abuse problems. Standing on the west steps of the state Capitol on Thursday,...
Denver voters could decide on sales tax for mental health, addiction
Colorado Politics Joey Bunch, 4/5/18 “I think the most tragic part of it all is that people who know they need help can’t get it,” said Herod, who has worked extensively on the issue in the statehouse. Robert Clark, the president and CEO of the Mental Health...
Denver Ballot Initiative Aims To Finance Mental Health, Substance Abuse Programs
CPR John Daley, 4/5/18 A ballot initiative in Denver could bring in tens of millions of dollars a year to help those with mental health and substance disorder issues. State lawmaker Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat, is spearheading the “Caring 4 Denver” campaign....
Group Petitions For Sales Tax Increase To Solve City Problems
CBS 4 Denver, 4/4/18 Mental health, substance abuse and affordable housing groups have said for years that resources in Denver are limited. A group called Caring for Denver wants that to change. They are proposing raising the sales tax to pay for such services. The...