Three organizations shared the results of their American Rescue Plan Act Immediate Needs grants at the Board of Larimer County Commissioners' regular Administrative Matters meeting Tuesday.

The COVID pandemic impacted our community in many ways, and thanks to American Rescue Plan Act Immediate Needs Grant funding, local organizations were able to weather some of those impacts.

Larimer County used Immediate Needs Grant Funding [ING] as a conduit to quickly get these urgently needed ARPA funds to organizations to help fund transformational programs in our community.

Partnership for an Age-Friendly Community

The Partnership for an Age-Friendly Community https://www.pafclarimer.org/ fosters community collaborations to strengthen the lives of older adults in Larimer County, through housing options, health and wellness, mobility and access, and the positive benefits of aging in our community. Their ING grant helped them mitigate a $50,000 loss in revenue during the pandemic.

A benefit of the grant was the enhancement of self-directed volunteer teams that offer a lived experience for their activities. The funds also enabled them to fill a project coordinator position for technical support that was lacking during the pandemic.

They were also able to:

• Create a virtual online catalog for technical buddy support
• Manage a Zoom project for 20 isolated individuals to connect with their community
• Bring music events  to long-term care facilities
• Carry out intergenerational conversations and connections with varied age groups in our community.
• Work with the Red Feather Lakes Community on transit issues and possible solutions for their community and help to stock their food pantry.
• Work with the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization on a transit and walkability assessment.
• Partner with Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development for those 55+ whose employment was displaced by the pandemic.

The projects carried out through the grant also enabled them to deeply engage in partnerships with many community-wide nonprofit organizations.

Bistro Nautile

COVID-19 had a devastating effect on local restaurants which also have a large economic impact on both consumer spending and employment in our community. The Bistro Nautile restaurant used its ING grant to expand and improve its streetside patio so patrons could continue to enjoy its fine food and permit them to stay open until the pandemic was under control. Bistro Nautile https://www.bistronautile.com/ has been a long-standing restaurant and local business for 22 years, first starting as Fish Restaurant.

The restaurant featured one of the first patios in Fort Collins and without the patio, they would not have been successful during the pandemic; the restaurant lost 60% in sales, during this time. Since restaurants were permitted to operate with people seated outside during the pandemic, Bistro Nautile decided to improve its patio.

They first started patio improvements with a few donated patio tables and then later used the grant funds to further enhance the area by Fort Collins standards. They ordered new tables and chairs, umbrellas, a fence, and a deck for the patio to make it permanent.

The ING funding served as a lifeline to the restaurant, and now Bistro Nautile is busy again serving great food.

The Yarrow Collective

The Yarrow Collective https://www.yarrowcollective.org/ is a peer-run organization that offers mental health support and resources. Their peers are those who have lived experience in homelessness, trauma, substance issues, and other life-challenging circumstances.

They used their ING grant to train Yarrow peer facilitators, hire a youth coordinator position, peer-to-peer support as an alternative to suicide. In 2022 the Yarrow Collective Alternatives to Suicide groups reached 573 adults and 223 teens.

Grant funds also enabled them to provide 47 peer support sessions to persons exiting incarceration to enable a smoother transition. The increased staff time also created positive relationships with the Larimer County Jail Alternative Sentencing and Community Corrections to provide peer support.