Throughout the month of January, Rodizio Grill in Fort Collins will be spreading the word about and raising funds for the Matthews House.

Every guest at Rodizio this month will have the opportunity to make a donation to the Matthews House and receive an equivalent amount in "Rodizio bucks".

So here's what that looks like,

1. You enjoy a delicious dinner at Rodizio Grill.

2. When you pay your bill, you donate $20 to the Matthews House.

3. You receive $20 toward your next delicious dinner at Rodizio.

That's like making a donation, without giving away any money.

I already know they've got some pretty tasty food, so this sounds like an amazingly good deal to me.

If you haven't been to Rodizio yet, now is the time.

If you have, it's a great time to come back to the table and bring some friends.

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.

On December 2nd our Girl’s Group had a chance to celebrate the Christmas season in style.

Even though it was a frigid evening, we had 15 young women come out to start off the evening with a horsedrawn carriage ride around Old Town. The ride ended up at Canino’s Italian Restaurant, where the group was treated to a 3-course spaghetti dinner, complete with gelato for a perfect finish.

This was a special way to end the year for our Girl's Group. This monthly group is an important time for our girls to be able to get together, build relationships, and broaden their horizons with new experiences.

Thanks so much to Colorado Carriage and Wagon and Canino’s Italian Restaurant for making this special evening possible!

Last Wednesday, we got together for our November Family Dinner, also known as our Thanksgiving Feast.

Once a month, we host a dinner for youth in our program and their guests. This is a time to just come to the house and have a tasty family style meal prepared by wonderful volunteers in a comfortable space. Each of our youth can bring along family, friends, a mentor – whoever they would like to spend the evening with. Sometimes after dinner there's a card game, charades, or an outdoor activity, sometimes just hanging out and talking.

This month, in honor of Thanksgiving, Ken Smith, one of our Board members and a professor in CSU's Restaurant and Resort Management program, organized a group of his students to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies and topped off with delicious pie.

About 50 youth, staff, volunteers, family and mentors descended on the house for a festive evening of giving thanks!

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!

This month we want to tell you that we are thankful for our September Volunteer of the Month, Bob Addleman, who serves the Matthews House as our volunteer bookkeeper. His dedication and service above self is a tremendous asset to our organization. Bob has an incredibly caring heart for the youth and staff of the Matthews House and he humbly spends countless hours making sure our books are in order and our bills are paid.

Most people involved at the Matthews House will never see Bob, but he plays a critical role in the daily operations at the Matthews House. Because of the time and bookkeeping skills Bob generously shares with us, we not only have detailed and accurate books, but our administrative costs are kept much lower, which results in a higher percentage of each dollar raised going directly to program costs. That means that more of the hard-earned money you donate to the Matthews House goes straight to critical things like training mentors, helping youth apply to college and teaching job skills – just to give a few examples.

Thanks Bob for all you do and for your servants heart!

And thank you to all our volunteers and donors who make it possible each day for lives to be changed forever at the Matthews House!

Recently United Way of Larimer County awarded $35,000 to the Matthews House in the name of decreasing poverty in Larimer County. An abbreviated version of this announcement has been published in the Coloradoan, but for a little more info you can read the entire press release from United Way of Larimer County below.

United Way of Larimer County to Support Self-Sufficiency for At-Risk Youth
Often Overlooked Population Living in Poverty

[Larimer County, Colorado] – United Way of Larimer County announced today the organization will provide $35,000 to The Matthews House, a nonprofit organization in Fort Collins, as part of the effort to accomplish the goal of it’s Pathways Past Poverty initiative.

The funding for The Matthews House will come from United Way’s “Bridging the Gap Fund.” This fund is specifically for projects or work being done to address poverty from a multifaceted approach that works. The organization serves 16-21-year-old youth who have virtually no family, including those who are aging out of the foster care system and youth on parole.

“The Matthews House brings together the strategies to really address poverty for this population and gives them the skills to become self-sufficient,” said Gordan Thibedeau, president and CEO of United Way of Larimer County. He points out that The Matthews House serves an often overlooked population when it comes to poverty.

“We do everything that a parent would have done for them; life skills, job readiness, education,” said Jerri Howe, executive director and founder of The Matthews House. “We work with them so they can become independent.” Howe says the group currently serves more than 70 youth and the need is increasing.

The Pathways Past Poverty initiative is a comprehensive, multifaceted approach to poverty with the goal of turning the trend of increasing poverty around in Larimer County. During the last three years, dozens of community volunteers worked together to determine 12 goals for Pathways Past Poverty. Now, dozens more are researching and developing strategies to accomplish these goals.

Howe said, “I want to see that these youth have a different pathway and that their life is better and not dependent on numerous services so they can learn to be self-sufficient.”

United Way of Larimer County’s focus as an organization is to help people who are in need now while also working with community partners on ways to reduce that need in the future resulting in true community impact.

To learn more about Pathways Past Poverty and the 12 goals, visit www.pathwayspastpoverty.org.

You’re invited…

Enjoy complimentary breakfast and learn about how the Matthews House is changing the lives of at-risk youth in our community.

Hear from Jerri Howe, Matthews House Founder and Executive Director, Magistrate Berenato, Juvenile Magistrate for the 8th Judicial District, and from youth who have been personally impacted by the Matthews House.

When
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
7:00 to 8:30am
7:00am Coffee and conversation
7:30 – 8:30am Program and light breakfast

Where
Hilton Fort Collins
425 W Prospect, Fort Collins

RSVP
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Joyce Dickens at 970-472-4293 or joyce@thematthewshouse.org