Congregations and Schools Empowered (CASE)

The Community Integration Initiative provides CASE with some funding.

Why is CASE Needed?
In the winter if 2003-04 a group of community members began meeting around local concerns in the towns of Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt. Issues that immediately surfaced were: concerns around public education, the limited availability of affordable housing for working families, public transportation and inadequate health care.

Today the Aspen to Parachute region continues to undergo rapid growth due to an influx of tourists, retirees, second home-owners and the work force needed to sustain and maintain such growth. Many local residents are often forced into sub-standard housing close to the jobs, while the long-time residents of the valley feel discomfort of a rapidly changing community and region.

CASE envisions a community where congregations, schools and community groups understand their interconnectedness and work together in breaking down the isolation between individuals or groups, and develop the skills and capacities to address mutual concerns effectively.

What is CASE?
This is a local, non-profit, inter-faith, community-based organizing initiative formed with the hope and intention of building stronger communities in the Aspen to Parachute region.

A trend across the country and in the region, is a growing sense of individual isolation, lack of trust between neighbors, and minimal involvement in the democratic process on the whole. CASE involves members of several congregations and schools, as well as concerned individuals, in the struggle to renew a sense of community. CASE encourages those within the community to identify the issues that directly affect them and to empower them to voice concerns, and to tackle effectively these issues themselves.

CASE found a proven model of bringing communities together on various issues trough the Pacific Institute for Community Organizations (PICO). This model is currently used by 150 communities throughout the country. It teaches people to re-weave the fabric of the community. The model identifies and equips local leaders with the skill set necessary to tackle complex community concerns. Relationship building between diverse people is the essential ingredient to creating healthy communities.

What is Congregation-School Based Community Organizing?

A proven, effective model for training and developing leaders in communities is to involve ordinary people in identifying, researching and resolving their own self-identified community issues. Local faith-based and school groups are the major building blocks of this model.

CASE identifies, develops and trains local leaders within congregation/school communities to reach deeply into their neighbors through a process of one-to-one listening in order to elicit both the community’s hopes as well as concerns. Congregation/school based organizations then create a forum for people of various faiths, ethnic backgrounds and incomes and join together to address issues of common concern.

Interested?Please contact CASE for more information on how you can be involved in creating a stronger community:

Tel: 970-384-2060 x 13
Fax: 970-945-2089

2007 Activities

Housing Meetings 
This year CASE held 3 meetings - April to June. The first meeting was held at St Stephen’s Catholic Church in Glenwood Springs.  CASE made a power point presentation to 19 elected officials from throughout the region.  There were about 20 residents (Immigrants and Receiving community members) who gave testimony about their housing concerns and problems.  After this the elected officials spoke briefly.  The meeting was ended by asking each elected official as to whether or not they would agree to further meetings to work on a valley-wide effort to address our mutual housing problems.  They all agreed.  Over 250 people attended this first meeting.

The second meeting was held at Glenwood Springs High School and again attended by 20 elected officials and about 40 spectators. Presentations from the Director of Summit County Housing Authority and from Valley Housing Partners were given.  After this there was a facilitated discussion with local elected officials on ideas as to how the region would move forward. A third meeting was agreed and it was requested that CASE invited representatives from local large employers like the Aspen Ski Company, school districts, hospitals, oil and gas producers, etc.

The third meeting was held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Glenwood Springs.  Fewer elected officials attended (11), 10 representatives from large employers in the valley, and another 40 spectators.  The elected officials heard the employers’ perspective and what solutions are being used by them currently, if any.  CASE then proposed a pathway forward.  They proposed 3 more meetings to address specific aspects of the housing problem. After this, CASE would host an all-day Housing Summit to hash out the details of this collaborative effort. After a great deal of discussion, there wasn’t any consensus. The meeting ended with the hope of having a July one.

Member Meetings
CASE discussed that maybe they were having problems with attendance of officials due to the summer schedules.  As a result, it was agreed to take a break for July and August.  In September CASE sent out a letter to all the elected officials asking whether or not they were committed to our process.  Very little positive feedback was received, so CASE decided not to continue with the elected officials. 

CASE will take a different approach to the housing issue.  They have agreed to rally support for proposed attainable housing projects as they come forward.  They also plan to raise public awareness regarding the need for density.

DREAM Act – During the winter a group of Latino young people was formed regarding the DREAM Act.  This is a piece of federal legislation that aims to help high school graduates that are here “illegally”. 

Many young immigrants came to the US as children with their parents.  They did not choose to come here.  Many have attended US schools for most of their lives and finished high school.  They are often times unable to attend college because they can’t afford out-of-state tuition.  Because of their “illegal” status they will be forever limited in their opportunities to get ahead.  What the DREAM Act does is allow them to attend college at the in-state tuition rate or join the US military.  If they complete their degree or term of enlistment, they can then get a green card and ultimately be on a pathway to citizenship.

In the spring the group sponsored a town hall meeting with representatives from Senate Salazar’s office and Congressman Salazar’s office.  Over 150 people attended. The young people planned and led the meeting.  There was also time for public comments during which heard from the senator’s and congressman’s representatives.  They both stated that they support the Dream Act legislation.

In the summer the group also sponsored a lecture with a college professor from California who is an expert on state level legislation to approve in-state tuition for illegal immigrants who have graduated from US high schools. She gave a well-received presentation on how she helped Texas to pass this type of legislation.  She also reviewed similar laws passed recently in other states.  This has motivated the young people to work on similar legislation here in Colorado.