ULC April 2015 Partner Spotlight – Amp the Cause!
The Urban Land Conservancy celebrates the achievements of its partnerships that create and preserve nonprofit facilities and affordable housing for communities in metro Denver. ULC’s Monthly Partner Spotlight is awarded to partners who demonstrate the value of collaboration, furthering our mission to improve the lives of Denver area residents through our real estate investments and community assets.
Amp the Cause is a Denver-based nonprofit organization that improves the lives of families through entertainment, annual events, and community service projects. Started in 2004, they have been raising critical health and education funds, generated awareness of local charities, used monetary and in-kind donations to help children with life-threatening illnesses, and provided opportunities for kids to participate in educational programs in a safe and healthy environment.
For the eight nonprofits working out of the Curtis Park Nonprofit Center, landscaping is not part of their critical programming. Thankfully, ULC had the privilege of being chosen as a beneficiary for Community day with Amp the Cause for the first time! On April 25th ULC was one of the fortunate nonprofits selected for the 2015 Community Day where over 1000 volunteers helped make needed improvements to nonprofit facilities across metro Denver.
“Amp the Cause’s 10th annual Community Day brought together over 1000 volunteers to help 59 non-profit organizations all in one day. With the help of our dedicated volunteers, we were able to make a huge impact on the surrounding Community through service projects that included painting, landscaping and much more,”states Executive Director, Rebecca Rallis. “This year, Amp the Cause was fortunate enough to work with Urban Land Conservancy to help revitalize the Curtis Park area. It is our hope that Community Day will offer all of our non-profit partners an opportunity to engage volunteers while also providing more freedom to use their budgets in crucial areas such as programming and services rather than facility maintenance.”
ULC, with support from the the Denver Office of Economic Development, was thrilled to acquire the Curtis Park Community Center and Nonprofit Center in 2012. It was owned for almost 70 years by American Baptist Church of the Rocky Mountain Region, who chose to sell it to ULC for preservation as an educational center and nonprofit hub. After ULC completed extensive interior capital improvements, the community center became home to Family Star Montessori, and the nonprofit center now houses the following organizations: African American Leadership, Black United Fund, Burns and Brent Counseling and Consulting, Family Star administrative offices, IMPACT Personal Safety, Sharing Pathways, Summit Church and Tubman Hilliard Global Academy.
ULC’s Community Day experience was incredible. Not only did we have beautiful weather for our many outdoor landscaping projects, but we had a wonderful group of volunteers who were not afraid to use a lot of elbow grease to create a beautiful entrance to the Nonprofit Center. Our fantastic group of volunteers from Southwest Airlines revitalized the landscaping around the building by constructing a retaining wall and planting colorful, ambient bushes and shrubs to brighten the building. Other volunteers included ULC staff and family, including Kellie and Keri Myers who generously designed, planned and did extensive preparations for the project, and Lalo Diaz who led the construction of the new retaining wall. This project was important because we want our nonprofit partners to love the building they work in, but also the new, professional landscaping brings color and life to this historic Curtis Park community asset.
ULC’s Office Manager Amanda Roy-Bangoy coordinated the project, “ULC is so excited about this new collaborative partnership and we are already looking forward to future opportunities to work together. Improving facilities with community vision is a great experience for ULC, volunteers and all of our partner organizations.”
Our wonderful volunteers weeded, dug trenches, cut stone for the construction of a new retaining wall, planted over 30 shrubs and bushes, put in siding to keep rocks from overflowing to the sidewalk, and had fun doing it! The property looks amazing and the volunteer experience was something we will not soon forget!
Congratulations Amp the Cause on another successful Community Day! We were thrilled to have been part of the 10 year anniversary of this incredible service event, and the Curtis Park Nonprofit Center improvements are not only being admired by the nonprofits working within the center, but the entire community can celebrate improvements made in their own neighborhood!