{"id":807618,"date":"2020-05-19T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=383544"},"modified":"2020-05-19T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T22:00:00","slug":"family-intercultural-resource-center-sees-a-years-worth-of-demand-in-2-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/family-intercultural-resource-center-sees-a-years-worth-of-demand-in-2-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Family &amp; Intercultural Resource Center sees a year\u2019s worth of demand in 2 months"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/FIRC_Copan_0029-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/FIRC_Copan_0029-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/FIRC_Copan_0029-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/FIRC_Copan_0029-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/FIRC_Copan_0029-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/FIRC_Copan_0029-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>The Family &amp; Intercultural Resource Center is pictured in Breckenridge.<\/strong><br \/><em>Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>FRISCO \u2014 Months into the coronavirus pandemic, the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Family &amp; Intercultural Resource Center (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.summitfirc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Family &amp; Intercultural Resource Center<\/a> estimates two-thirds of Summit County residents struggle to afford basic needs, and the nonprofit is not slowing down in providing resources to disadvantaged people.<\/p>\n<p>The organization\u2019s food pantry used to see an average of 80 people per week. Now, it aids an average of 1,100 people.<\/p>\n<p>The average amount of people using the food bank has stayed <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"roughly the same since March (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/family-intercultural-resource-center-reports-food-pantry-demand-is-up-125\/\">roughly the same since March<\/a>, but when combined with other offerings such as rent relief along with mental health assistance and health insurance enrollment, the resource center has provided 14,000 services in two months \u2014 a number the nonprofit usually sees over the course of a year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot everyone is back to working yet,\u201d Family &amp; Intercultural Resource Center Executive Director Brianne Snow said. \u201cSome people have gotten their stimulus check, some people have gotten their unemployment kick-in, but a lot of people are still struggling. This is just a way to stretch that money further.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row sd-donation sd-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/SDN-logo-white-1.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/SDN-logo-white-1.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>So far, the organization\u2019s rent relief program has helped 837 applicants out of more than 1,000. Each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis, and some of the program involves communicating with landlords to negotiate discounts, yet it also includes providing renters with extra cash so they can make payments. According to Snow, the average check they write is for $970 coming from nearly $1 million in rental relief funds.<\/p>\n<p>With more of the population unemployed, the traditional access to health insurance via work benefits has been upended.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve helped them apply for emergency Medicaid, so they\u2019re not leaving a hospital with a ginormous bill, so they don\u2019t have to recover from COVID and then figure out how to pay for their hospital stay,\u201d Snow said.<\/p>\n<p>This, and other pressing pandemic-related issues, has caused an increase in calls to the resource center\u2019s mental health line for help. Callers have reported anxiety, depression and substance abuse.<\/p>\n<p>One demographic Snow is seeing request additional aid is Latina women. She said more are signing up for the center\u2019s peer support program due to increased stress. To help the Spanish-speaking community, the nonprofit is hosting weekly live videos on its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/SummitFIRC\/videos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook page<\/a> specifically targeted to make information as accessible as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Snow noticed that Latino men were disproportionately being affected by COVID-19. The videos are used to spread the messages of social distancing and health care reasons for wearing facial coverings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found a local doctor that was willing to speak up on that and really speak on terms of safety,\u201d Snow said. \u201cAfter that talk, we saw an increase in Latino men being willing to wear masks because they understood why, not just having a sign that had been roughly translated in Spanish with no background information. \u2026 Having somebody that understands you, your culture and your language explain it in a way that is helpful and meaningful for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To help offset operating costs, the Family &amp; Intercultural Resource Center is planning to reopen its thrift stores by June 1. Social distancing details are still in the works, but the stores likely will operate by appointment only and eventually roll out a way to accept donations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of vulnerable populations use our thrift store for clothes,\u201d Snow said. \u201cWe are going above and beyond to make sure we are being as safe as possible when dealing with used garments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Snow hopes reopening the thrift stores will help chip away at the roughly $1 million deficit the resource center is experiencing due to modified or canceled fundraiser events and shrinking government grants in addition to the loss of store revenue.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FIRC Fashion Show<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The annual FIRC Fashion Show is one of those adjusted events. It usually raises about $200,000, and the center is hoping to raise $100,000 from the virtual version happening Friday, June 26. The funds typically come&nbsp;from a ticket price of $75 per person along with sponsors and donations throughout the show. With it being online, it\u2019s now just $25 per household Zoom link to the event.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s theme honors community rock stars with participants re-creating their favorite album covers and music videos. Snow said more covers have been submitted than videos, so she encourages people to send in a 60-90 second clip of themselves mirroring their favorite choreography. A committee will select 30 videos to play for the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been just a really hard time for our community, and we just want to be able to provide something fun for people to look forward to and participate in,\u201d Snow said. \u201cThis is an opportunity for people to feel connected to their community and remember that we are resilient, and we will get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The deadline to enter the show has been extended to Tuesday, May 26. To apply or purchase a link to the virtual fundraiser, visit <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"FIRCFashion.org. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/FIRCFashion.org\" target=\"_blank\">FIRCFashion.org.<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/family-intercultural-resource-center-sees-a-years-worth-of-demand-in-2-months\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Family &amp; Intercultural Resource Center is pictured in Breckenridge.Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com FRISCO \u2014 Months into the coronavirus pandemic, the Family &amp; Intercultural Resource Center estimates two-thirds of Summit County residents struggle to afford basic needs, and the nonprofit is not slowing down in providing resources to disadvantaged people. The organization\u2019s food pantry used [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-807618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-10 16:16:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807618\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}