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Community Partner Spotlight: A Woman’s Work
As a community-based nonprofit, Mental Health Partners works closely with other local organizations and businesses across our region and state to care for our clients. If we cannot directly provide a service or resource that an individual or family needs, then we will help them find it elsewhere. Our network of community partnerships is vital to the work we do every day, and we are so grateful for these connections that allow us to better serve our clients.
One such partnership is A Woman’s Work.
Bridging the gap from need to stability
Based in Longmont, Colorado, A Woman’s Work (AWW) is a women-led nonprofit organization dedicated to "bridging the gap” from need to stability by providing financial assistance to women in the communities served by the St. Vrain Valley School District and the neighboring Town of Berthoud. This region includes the communities of eastern Boulder, Broomfield, Dacono, Erie, Firestone, Frederick, Hygiene, Longmont, Lyons, Mead, Niwot, Peaceful Valley, and Raymond.
Assistance includes timely financial support for a wide variety of needs, such as:
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Housing
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Transportation
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Utilities
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Medical/healthcare costs
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Childcare
The organization asks recipients of this financial assistance for one simple thing: to pay the kindness forward. As a nonprofit, AWW is fully supported by grants and donations from individuals and businesses.
AWW selects recipients through referrals only and a screening process to determine need. Each referrer must take a class every 2 years to remain certified in order to refer clients to the organization for assistance.
Understanding the Social Determinants of Health
Why does Mental Health Partners collaborate with organizations like A Woman’s Work to provide clients with access to financial and housing assistance?
Because we know that financial and housing stressors can negatively affect a person’s long-term mental health and wellness, as well as make it more difficult for them to get the care they need. We believe we must treat each client as a “whole-person” to achieve sustainable and lasting well-being. We aim to do this by supporting each client’s medical, social, financial, and environmental needs - on top of providing high quality mental health, wellness, and recovery services.
This philosophy of care is known as the Social Determinants of Health, which are defined as “the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.”
How A Woman’s Work is making a difference in our clients’ lives
A Care Coordinator on our Longmont Adult Behavioral Health Home (BHH) team recently shared how they have partnered with AWW on multiple occasions:
“I have been able to work with four different clients in the last year that have been approved for life-changing assistance through A Woman’s Work.”
All four individuals experienced a significant event that has caused them to need support. One client had ongoing transportation issues and could not afford to fix their vehicle. AWW was able to secure a new (used) vehicle for the client.
Another client was behind on rent and going to be evicted. They had been in and out of the hospital and could not work. AWW approved a grant to cover the client’s rent, which kept this individual from being evicted and unhoused.
AWW was also able to secure a new (used) car for a client who was relying on Ubers to get to and from appointments and work. As the sole breadwinner for their family, having reliable transportation allowed them to find steady employment and receive more services from Mental Health Partners.
Lastly, A Woman’s Work supported a client struggling to stay afloat after spending time in a psychiatric hospital due to negative reactions to their medications. The individual could not work for a month and fell behind on rent. AWW provided rental assistance before they were evicted.
After these experiences, the provider shared:
“I believe more people should know about AWW and all the great things they are doing. Our clients deserve to have someone help them in their time of need, and I am grateful for A Woman’s Work.”
We agree! And we deeply value our continued partnership with this organization that is doing life-changing work every day.
Learn more about our partners and the work we are doing in the community to improve health outcomes.