Equity & Community Resilience focuses on creating a more connected, vibrant and inclusive community for all. It includes taking a community-led approach to recovery, focusing on fostering a sense of belonging and taking action to ensure all who live here can thrive.
Outcomes:
- Foster a sense of belonging and community trust
- Accelerate the City’s Housing Strategic Plan’s vision that “everyone has healthy, stable housing they can afford.”
- Expand and leverage existing partnerships to quickly connect people experiencing homelessness (PEH) to resources and services
Recovery Project
Status
Metrics
Funding for direct financial assistance to Fort Collins Utilities customers who are struggling to pay bills due to the pandemic. Both residential and commercial customers can apply for support. Learn More
View Testimonial >
In Progress
Spent to Date: $448,115
Allocated: $460,000
# Customers Provided Utilities Pandemic Assistance:
2,053
Additional Metrics >
This program provides eviction prevention education and support for both landlords and renters, with funds going to local community partners who specialize in this work. Specific services provided through this program include:
- Eviction Legal Clinics
- “Know Your Rights” Training
- Direct Client Representation
- Inclusive Educational Outreach
This program has also been funded by ARPA dollars in the 2023-2024 budget.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $114,383
Allocated: $640,000
# of Renters Served: 539
# of Landlords Served: 57
In 2022, this program kept more than 300 families housed
Services Provided:
The City has used ARPA dollars to fund a variety of different programming related to homelessness in our community. This additional funding helped prevent homelessness in Fort Collins from increasing during the pandemic, in contrast to many communities across the nation.
The majority of this funding was granted to nonprofits and community partners who provide services and programming directly to people experiencing homelessness. The strategies being funded are proven to reduce the likelihood of prolonged or chronic homelessness and connected those in need to resources and support. Initiatives Include:
- Expansion of Outreach Fort Collins to include street outreach coverage of midtown.
- Increased Case Management to connect individuals with crucial resources and services, including housing.
- 24/7 Sheltering: Access to 24/7 shelter provides better outcomes for people experiencing homelessness because of increased stability due to daytime shelter access.
- Expanded Seasonal Overflow Shelter to support more individuals during extreme winter weather.
- Rapid Rehousing Programming: Short-term rental assistance and services so people can obtain housing quickly and increase self-sufficiency.
- Murphy Center: Funding to support expanded hours and general operations to increase access to services.
This program has also been funded by ARPA dollars in the 2023-2024 budget.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $635,387
Allocated: $3,462,000
# Served in Shelters Through this Program:
1,137
# of Additional Individuals Participating in Case Management Due to this Program:
46
# of Case Management & Resource Navigation Clients Moved into Housing:
119
Individuals/Families Housed through Rapid Rehousing:
# of Individuals: 10
# of Families: 35
Staff support for social services grant programs, including homelessness programs, social recovery, childcare system support and learning loss.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $10,910
Allocated: $147,923
Coming Soon
This program provides fee relief to developers building affordable housing projects within the community. More Information
In Progress
Spent to Date: $168,000
Allocated: $350,000
# of Affordable Housing Units Funded by this Program:
12
ARPA funds to support City’s Land Bank. Additional information about how ARPA funds are used by the Land Bank will be posted here as project progresses. Learn more.
Not Started
Spent to Date: $0
Allocated: $1,000,000
Coming Soon
Funding for the development of the Heartside Hill project. This development is being funded in partnership with local, regional and state partners and if approved will create 71 new units of affordable housing in Fort Collins.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $0
Allocated: $1,100,000
Coming Soon
Funds for this project support activities to connect community members together and create a sense of belonging. Dollars support improvements to the popular Adopt a Neighbor volunteer program, allowing community members to more easily connect with those in need, and funds Asphalt Art projects, activities that increase connection in neighborhoods.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $20,287
Allocated: $40,000
# of Volunteer Hours – Adopt a Neighbor Program
145
# of Participants – Asphalt Art Programming:
130
Adopt a Neighbor: Funding was used to update software for the City’s volunteer site (Engage) to establish a “bulletin board” matching system. This system is more efficient than the previous manual staff matching process. Overall, the time to match volunteers has significantly decreased since this upgrade – allowing residents in need to get connected more quickly to volunteers willing to serve. Learn more about this program.
Program Highlight >
Asphalt Art: Asphalt Art is an outdoor, community-led project that fosters connection between residents and enhances the unique character of neighborhoods – building a stronger sense of place and community.
There is a wealth of evidence that neighborhoods with a stronger sense of connection and belonging are more resilient, especially in times of crisis. By enhancing programming that allows neighbors to support each other through volunteerism, the City is strengthening support networks communitywide. There is a strong appetite from community members for ways to connect safely and reengage with neighbors. Pilot projects of Asphalt Art in the City brought a sense of neighborhood pride and allowed neighbors to reconnect after isolation during the pandemic. Learn more.
This program aims to integrate arts and culture experiences into the Fort Collins community with particular emphasis on supporting diverse artists and engaging in key locations within the city. Past engagement activities have included: supporting live music at local events, pop-up acoustic music in public parks, and co-creating dances in public spaces.
This program has also been funded by ARPA dollars in the 2023-2024 budget.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $114,403
Allocated: $468,394
# of Attendees at Program Activities:
2,819
# of Hours of Programming:
134
To date, programming has occurred within three distinct categories:
- Co-creation: Working alongside community members and community groups to co-create initiatives that meet the goals and objectives of all parties involved. Example: Our Animal Body, a collaborative community poetry project led by a community-based artist team.
- Pop-up performances: Hiring artists to perform in public spaces (parks, trails, etc.) with little or no advanced promotion. Example: Acoustics in the Park pop-up series.
- Plugging in: Hiring artists to support events planned by nonprofits and other community groups where their presence can enhance the experience. Example: Hiring live musicians to perform at CARE Housing resident events.
Program Highlight >
This program provides grants to local creatives (artists, designers, musicians, etc.) who were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants will provide financial support to artists as they create art to be shared with the community.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $0
Allocated: $170,000
Coming Soon
This program provides grants to event sponsors to help cover security and safety costs at special events. Many events are struggling to return after losing revenue due to pandemic-caused cancelations.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $51,649
Allocated: $125,000
Cumulative # of Attendees at Events:
43,474
Funding to expand, systematize and enhance engagement with diverse groups, including those who have been historically undeserved and most impacted by the pandemic.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $0
Allocated: $55,000
Coming Soon
This program supports ongoing Spanish interpretation for City Council meetings and high-priority civic engagement events.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $11,881
Allocated: $26,294*
*Part of budget moved to Equity Office Professional Services Increase Program
Cumulative # of Events Supported with Interpretation:
23
This position will work directly with the Fort Collins Native American community and local Native-serving nonprofits to build relationships, conduct community engagement and support community-led initiatives.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $35,983
Allocated: $313,217
Coming Soon
This program provides grants to local individuals, nonprofits and community partners to initiate and support community-lead work that supports those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including youth, older adults, LBGTQIA+ individuals, historically underserved groups and veterans.
In Progress
Spent to Date: $0
Allocated: $400,000
Coming Soon
Closed Projects
Funding to support the establishment and expansion of an Equity and Inclusion Office in the City, which coordinates equity and inclusion efforts and works to strengthen relationships with historically underserved groups and community partners. More about the Equity and Inclusion Office.
As of 2023, ongoing work for the Equity and Inclusion Office is funded by non-ARPA dollars.
Complete
Spent to Date: $33,266
Allocated: $33,266*
*Budget increased as some funds were moved from Language Access Services program
Additional Information
Additional information about these ARPA-funded projects, along with all of the programs funded in the City’s 2023-2024 Budget can be found on the City’s Budget Website.
Non-ARPA Projects
In addition to the many ARPA-funded programs that relate to the Recovery Theme of Equity & Community Resilience, there are many other projects and programs supported by the City through non-ARPA funding that relate to the theme.
About Recovery Dashboard
This dashboard is a snapshot of the Fort Collins community’s progress in achieving recovery as laid out in the Resilient Recovery Plan and includes projects funded by the City’s $28.1 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF).
Key
- Status: Defines if the project is complete, in progress or no started. Please note many projects in progress may not have spent funds but are in the planning and launching phases.
- Spent to Date: Amount of funding spent on the project thus far.
- Allocated: Amount of ARPA SLFRF dollars budgeted for a particular project.
- Metric: Piece of data that demonstrates the outcome and impact of a project.
Glossary
- ARPA: American Rescue Plan Act, federal act passed in March 2021, established $1.9 trillion in COVID-19 relief funding. The City received $28.1M of ARPA funds in 2021.
- ARPA Funds: ARPA Funds or American Rescue Plan Act Funds refers to the funds the City of Fort Collins has received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. In the majority of cases, ARPA Funds is used as shorthand to refer to the $28.1 million SLFRF received by the City
- SLFRF: State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). $360B was allocated via SLFRF to state and local governments to assist with recovery. The City of Fort Collins received $28.1 million SLFRF funds for pandemic response and recovery.