Frequently Asked Quetions
What is the Community Integration Initiative?
This is a project funded by the Colorado Trust’s Supporting Immigrant & Refugee Families Initiative (SIRFI). A Steering Committee made up of local citizens manages grant monies that encourage and benefit community integration activities in the Aspen to Parachute region. Family Visitor Programs is the Fiscal Agent.
What is the purpose of the Community Integration Initiative?The purpose of the Initiative is to help both immigrants and long-term residents understand one another better and become more connected to their communities.
The primary goal is to work alongside our neighbors to insure that the Aspen to Parachute community is a welcoming place for everyone who comes here to live and work. We want to be a community that accepts people, helps to orient newcomers and provides an atmosphere of support for all people who are new to the community
What are the goals of the Initiative?Through its various projects, the Initiative is focusing its efforts on four main goals:
- Building of relationships between immigrant and receiving communities;
- Increasing the awareness and appreciation between Immigrant and Receiving communities regarding each other’s culture;
- Increasing immigrant’s access to information and orientation regarding the communities in which they live and work;
- Helping in the development and promotion of leaders in all cultural communities.
What is Immigrant Integration?
Immigrant integration refers to a two-way process, in which members of immigrant and receiving communities work together to create a more cohesive community.
What does the Initiative do?
To fulfill the community goals, the Community Integration Initiative both carries out and supports a variety of activities that help all residents contribute to and fully participate in their communities.
Through an extensive community interview process, immigrant and established residents identified ways to strengthen community integration in the Aspen to Parachute communities. Community goals were then compiled based on the suggestions of over 1,000 community members. Click here for a full version of the document.
Through Initiative grants, the Community Integration Initiative funded various projects throughout 2006:
These include grants to CASE, Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club, Even Start Family Literacy, English in Action, Access Roaring Fork and Colorado West Regional Mental Health.
The focus of the Community Integration Initiative is Communication.
Activities include:
Mini Grants – the Initiative provides small grants to fund projects that will achieve the Initiative’s goals of Communication. The purpose of the mini-grants is to encourage activities and/or events that bring together the receiving and immigrant communities.
Community meetings and trainings - these can include networking meetings, educational sessions with guest speakers, facilitated large group discussions or informal get-togethers. The Initiative is also developing a plan for organizing orientation workshops for newcomers which will provide practical information on various topics. The Initiative provides cultural proficiency trainings, as well as the logistics for the West African Support Team.
Information Kiosks will be used to display information that could be accessed by all newcomers in the Aspen to Parachute communities.
Updating Living in the Aspen to Parachute Region – an educational guide developed to provide newcomers with information and resources regarding general laws, social, medical and environmental expectations while residing in the region.
Community Grants - CASE (Congregations and Schools Empowered) – a community organizing project that brings together immigrant and receiving communities to work together on solving social issues. The project develops leadership skills among members. The Initiative provides CASE with some funding.
Immigrant Stories - this is an oral history project that is gathering the recollections of immigrants and their families from Aspen to Parachute. Community members will tell their immigrant stories through a partnership with radio station KDNK.
Food for Thought - in this short series of three films immigrant and receiving community families participate in rich discussions as they prepare and share a multicultural meal.
Who is involved with the Community Integration Initiative?The Community Integration Initiative is open to everyone in the community. The Steering Committee is currently comprised of community members who also work in health and human services agencies, city and county governments, foundations, schools and religious organizations, and serve in other community roles. The Steering Committee takes the lead in carrying out the work of the Initiative. All interested community members are invited to be involved in the various committees of the Initiative.
Whom does CII serve?The Initiative serves both the immigrant and established communities, as the above examples illustrate.
How can I participate in this Initiative?The Community Integration Initiative invites all community members to become involved in this important work! To learn more about becoming a Steering Committee member, telling your immigrant story, applying for a mini-grant or to learn more about other ways you can help to make our region more welcoming, please call the Initiative’s Coordinator Hanya Gottardo at 970-319-1677 or e-mail at info@communityintegration.