I was standing in our basement the other day handing a box of food to a parole officer who was taking the food to one of the families she works with. Now, you might expect that I was thinking about how horrible it is that we have families in our community who worry about where their next meal is coming from, and I was, but the overwhelming feeling I was experiencing was, “I love Christmas!”

We have great needs in our community all year long and there are amazing gifts of generosity that happen every day.

However, at Christmas we get to see the generous spirit that I believe inhabits every one of us humans overflow. This season shows me what is possible, what we as individuals and particularly as a community are capable of. 

I am feeling deep gratitude to all those people who are inspiring me and encouraging us this Christmas at the Matthews House. Here are a few…

• Colorado Carriage and Wagon gave 15 of our girls an evening carriage ride, probably not an experience they would ever have had.
• Whole Foods Market, through the generosity of thousands of their customers donated $4,000 of food to the Matthews House, so much that we have been able to not only meet the needs of our youth, but share with other agencies and families we are connected to.
• The Shepherd of the Hills Quilting Group delivered 7 beautiful handmade few full-size quilts that we’ve passed on to youth in our program. They LOVE them!
• A book club that made food and hung out with the youth at our Christmas Party.
• Several volunteers who decided we needed holiday decorations in every room and then handmade and hung them.
• Crossroads Church who held a toy drive and provided toys for several of our youth who have little ones of their own.
• Dozens of people who provided gift cards so our youth could all receive a Christmas present, and
• Burn Longboards, a local company who put on an entire evening event to benefit the Matthews House.

This just scratches the surface of all the people and things we are thankful for this Christmas season. Yes, there are always more needs, more heartbreaking stories, but there are also incredible stories of hope and generosity – and that is what this season is about.

We are so encouraged by the compassion and support of our community.

THANK YOU ALL!!!

On Friday night, Dec. 11, Burn Longboards, a new Fort Collins-based company, held an event called Carve for a Cause to benefit the Matthews House.

The event featured longboards crafted by Burn and painted by local artists, Taylor Gallegos, Scotty Roebuck, Dustin Groeneman and Elle Martinez. These boards were auctioned off while guests enjoyed good company, beer donated by Odell Brewing and appetizers from Cafe Vino.

We are thrilled to be the beneficiary of this well-organized and successful event which raised over $1,500 for the Matthews House!

Not only did we raise a significant amount of money for our program, but we also made great connections with community members who will get involved as mentors and in other support and advocacy roles.

This was a great partnership and we thank Burn Longboards owner Moses Horner and intern Katie Powell for the opportunity to be involved and for all the hard work they put into making this event a classy and tremendously successful event.

If you've been shopping at Whole Foods in Fort Collins recently there's a good chance you've been asked if you would like to add a donation to your grocery bill in order to help people in need in our community this holiday season. If you've said yes, we'd like to say "Thank You!"

This is part of Whole Foods Market’s annual Grab and Give campaign. As a recipient organization, the Matthews House received $4,000 in healthy groceries last Wednesday morning. To help you imagine how much food that it, it took us 3-pick-up truck loads! This food will go to our youth and their families over the holidays and into the new year, helping them to plan and prepare healthy meals.

We are so thankful to the Fort Collins community for their generosity, to Whole Foods for running this campaign and for allowing us to be a recipient of this generosity from our community!

With sadness we are saying goodbye to Kristin Higgins, Transition Facilitator as she moves on to the next phase of her life. Kristin has been an amazing asset to the Matthews House over the past 2 and a half years, both for her hard work and her incredible compassion and love for the “kids” in our program. Change is difficult but many times empowering as our youth so aptly teach us every day. We will certainly miss you Kristin. We wish you and Dave the very best!

Here’s what Kristin would like to tell you:

After 2 ½ amazing years at the Matthews House, the time has come for me to move on. At the end of July, I will be moving with my husband, David, to Denver, so that he can fulfill his dream of attending medical school. While we are excited for adventures that lay before us, we are sad to leave Fort Collins and the community we have become so connected with.

My time at the Matthews House has contributed so much to the person I am today. I will always be thankful for the opportunity I have had to walk alongside young people who missed out on the love, support and protection of a family and share life with them. I challenged youth to take risks and allow me to be a part of their lives and their hearts and in turn, I was challenged to love in a way that was indiscriminate and without condition. It was amazing to see the lasting and profound effects of simple words such as “I care about you” or “I believe in you.” I watched compassion bridge impossible canyons and lead to incredible relationships built on trust and hope. Thank you to every one of you who demonstrated in a very real and very beautiful way what community is supposed to look like when you wrapped your arms and hearts around the Matthews House youth and staff. You are changing lives.

I will always cherish my time here and will miss the Matthews House staff, board members, volunteers and youth dearly. Farewell for now,

Kristin

In April, the staff at the Matthews House began a new monthly habit in order to recognize some of our most amazing volunteers. Each month the staff will nominate and vote on a Volunteer of the Month.

So, for our very first honoree, we’ve chosen Stefanie Womack. (Incidentally, we also nominate our choice as a potential United Way of Larimer County Volunteer of the Month and both Stefanie and May’s honoree, the Ignite Leaders Challenge group from Fossil Ridge High School, were also chosen by United Way of Larimer County as their Volunteers of the Month.)

We asked Stefanie a few questions about herself and her volunteering experience. Here’s what we found out.

What are your name, age and occupation?

Stefanie Womack, 30, Engineer

Where did you grow up?

Albuquerque, NM

In what ways do you like to volunteer?

I feel I am doing exactly what I should be doing, loving on people.

What made you choose to volunteer at the Matthews House?

I liked how the Matthews House helped the kids in the community.  The approach taken to do this is refreshing.

What do you like best about volunteering?

Being involved in so many lives in so many different ways.  I hope that I can be the loving adult in these kids lives that I had in my life at their age.

What’s the best/most fun thing that’s ever happened while you were volunteering?

The friendships I have formed with the kiddo’s is the best part.

Stefanie, thank you for giving back in your community and truly impacting the lives of youth. Your ability to listen and be intentional with youth is wonderful and you have been a significant support to many of them.  We need more people like you!

For May, we chose a Volunteer Group of the month rather than an individual:

Ignite Leader’s Challenge (approximately 16 members) from Fossil Ridge High School

Here’s what they told us.

Why did Ignite choose to volunteer at Matthews House?

Due to a strong desire to positively impact fellow youth in their community. They especially wanted to help impoverished and disadvantaged youth.

Where else has Ignite helped out in the past year?

Nursing homes such as Chateau Desmons and Columbine Health, spreading awareness for the Invisible Children movement

What has Ignite done for the Matthews House?

In the past couple of months Ignite has contributed over 300 hours collectively to help gather in-kind donations and organize an awareness and fundraising barbecue. Ignite has helped us collect many household and office items that we would have had to pay for otherwise. In addition, they planned, marketed and implemented a barbecue that helped raise money and spread awareness. In all, Ignite helped raise over $300 cash for the Matthews House.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ignite Group for their hard work and dedication to impacting youth in our community. We appreciate your desire to help in areas where there are actual needs. You guys did a great job and I encourage you to keep pursuing opportunities in your community. Thanks!

The week from April 19 to 25th is dedicated to “Celebrating People in Action” – honoring the individuals who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in their communities.

Here at the Matthews House we rely heavily on the dedication, commitment and passion of volunteers. Our volunteers offer significant support to disadvantaged youth both by working behind the scenes (i.e. admin work, cleaning, fundraising) and directly with youth (i.e. one-on-one mentoring, providing rides, leading groups). They are the heart and soul of the Matthews House and we absolutely could not give the quality care and support that we give without our volunteers.

Since it is National Volunteer Week, this seems like a particularly fitting time to take the opportunity to recognize and thank some of our most committed volunteers.

In 2008, we had over 110 active volunteers, who gave over 4200 hours of their time and energy to insure that youth who were once without hope were given the tools, skills and support they needed to learn to dream and to create new paths for their lives! We’d like to especially recognize seven volunteers who each gave over 100 hours in 2008:

Over 100 Volunteer hours:

Dave Brown
Elly Wiebe
Matt Martin
Bob Addleman

Over 200 Volunteer hours:

Cliff Bergren
Cathy Rotman

Way over 200 Volunteer hours:

Jerri Howe

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS – YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!

Want to learn more about making a difference through mentoring?

Join the Larimer County Mentoring Coalition this Thursday, April 23rd from 4 – 6pm at Reader’s Cove to explore the opportunities for mentoring in Larimer County

For more information contact
Kathleen Vasa
E-mail:  voarsvp@frii.com
970.472.9630

On May 7th at our 2nd annual Cultivate Hope benefit there will be music provided by fabulous local bluegrass band, Finders and Youngberg.

We love them and think you will too!

If you’d like a little preview of their music, they are going to be on Live at Lunch at noon this Friday (2/27) on KRFC 88.9FM.
And later that night, they’ll be playing at Avogadro’s Number at 8 pm for the small fee of $10.
If you’d like a preview of their tunes from the comfort of your own computer, you can just drop by their website for a visit.

We hope you will come out to join us on May 7th for food, wine and lots of amazing garden art. And to hear these fun, friendly and talented musicians who will be graciously sharing their music with us.

One of our amazing volunteers, Cathy Rotman, was recently featured in a Volunteer Spotlight in the Coloradoan. Since we couldn’t find a copy of the interview online, we thought we’d just share what Cathy had to say about volunteering at the Matthews House with you here on our blog. We hope you enjoy meeting Cathy.

Where do you primarily volunteer? The Matthews House

In what ways do you like to volunteer? I love volunteering with kids, in or out of schools. They’re real. They’re honest. They make me laugh.

What made you choose the Matthews House? I liked the idea of mentoring a youth and growing that type of relationship over a period of time. I don’t have that opportunity substituting in different classes, different schools every week.

What do you like best about volunteering? Along with mentoring a youth at Matthews House, I have the honor of being the House Mom once a week. I get to just hang out with the kids and watch them grow and figure things (life) out with the amazingly dedicated staff there.

What’s the best/most fun thing that’s ever happened while you were volunteering? They (Matthews House) do a lot of field trips with the kids. Who doesn’t love field trips? My favorite would have to be snowshoeing up at Rocky Mountain National Park last winter.

Thanks Cathy!!!

Yesterday in the Coloradoan, there was an editorial from one of our youth, talking about his mentor and what that relationship has meant in his life. So if you want to hear a firsthand, heartfelt account of the power of mentoring, check out Glen’s mentoring testimonial.

On 9/27, the Fort Collins Diakonos Brotherhood hosted a BBQ for Matthews House youth. The afternoon began when 10-15 members of the brotherhood roared up to the Matthews House on their Harleys! The youth loved it! The BBQ took place on one of the few remaining sunny Saturdays in 2008 in the Matthews House backyard. Several youth came along with some family members and friends to enjoy the delicious feast prepared by the Diakonos Brotherhood. The brothers were able to meet and interact with some of the youth, while sharing personal stories and similar life experiences with them.

We are thankful for the generosity of the Diakonos Brotherhood and are looking forward to partnering with them to have monthly events!