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Boulder County, Colo. -- On Aug. 25, when the St. Vrain
Community Hub at 515 Coffman Street in Longmont opens to the public, Boulder
County will take another major step toward integrating health, housing, and
human services to make it easier for residents to get the help they need when
and where they need it.
The Boulder County Housing and Human Services and
Community Services departments, Boulder County Public Health, and Workforce
Boulder County, along with Mental Health Partners, an independent healthcare
nonprofit, will now provide an integrated host of services at this single location.
“Each day, we see first-hand how the need for our
services in Boulder County continues to grow,” said Boulder County Public
Health Director Jeff Zayach. “It was vital for us to create this space to meet
the growing needs of the individuals and families in the Longmont community in
a way that integrates services and focuses on prevention.”
In 2012, Boulder County assessed the space needs for
its Boulder and Longmont campuses to better understand how and when community
members access services. A key finding of the assessment was that services needed
to be integrated across the departments to provide “one-stop” opportunities for
clients to get the help they need.
“We are thrilled to see this new building open to
the public after many years of hard work and partnerships to create a truly new
vision for providing health, housing, and human services under one roof,” said
Boulder County Commissioner Chair, Deb Gardner. “We are proud of all the
efforts that have gone into prioritizing the needs of our clients and creating
an environment where services can be integrated more effectively and
efficiently for Boulder County families in need.”
The St. Vrain Community Hub enhances and connects
access to services and is easy to navigate. The look, feel and layout of the
building were purposefully designed to focus on welcoming clients to help
reduce feelings of anxiety and to communicate that the services provided are
for anyone who needs help, and for anyone trying to get back on a path to
stability.
“We’ve made so much progress in recent years in
meeting our neighbors earlier in their need, and locating our services together
and integrating them will allow us to support residents even more efficiently
and holistically,” said Boulder County Housing and Human Services Director
Frank Alexander. “And equally important, it will communicate to our residents
that they are welcome and we’re all here to help them, no matter which door
they come through.”
The St. Vrain Community Hub reflects the ongoing collective
efforts of a range of county organizations and community partners to find
innovative ways to work together to improve access to services.
“We live in
such a unique, forward-thinking community,” said Boulder County Community
Services Director Robin Bohannan. “This new building will reflect that, and
we’re all very excited to meet our clients there.”
As directed by the Boulder County Commissioners, the
St. Vrain Community Hub is also extremely energy efficient. Constructed to the highest
level of environmental building practices in its design and construction, this
building will become the first LEED Platinum* NC (New Construction) certified
building in Longmont. It will utilize sunlight for both internal lighting and
electricity generation, re-use energy, and reduce water consumption, among
other efficiencies.
Information about the locations of the services
available at the St. Vrain Community Hub, as well as phone contacts and parking
is available at www.BoulderCountyStVrainHub.org.
A community open house for the St. Vrain Community
Hub will be held at a date to be determined in late September or early October to
give residents and community partners a chance to get a closer look at the
services offered in the building and to meet the people who help provide them.
A date for the open house will be announced in the weeks ahead.
*The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (or LEED) Platinum standard is certified through a scoring system executed by the United States Green Building Council.
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