{"id":2457610,"date":"2020-04-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=324814"},"modified":"2020-04-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T06:00:00","slug":"basalt-nonprofit-expands-its-mission-to-provide-relief-to-families-in-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/basalt-nonprofit-expands-its-mission-to-provide-relief-to-families-in-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Basalt nonprofit expands its mission to provide relief to families in need"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"653\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/familyrelief-atd-042420-653x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/familyrelief-atd-042420-653x1024.jpg 653w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/familyrelief-atd-042420-191x300.jpg 191w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/familyrelief-atd-042420.jpg 725w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 653px) 100vw, 653px\"><figcaption><strong>Kathy Hegberg<\/strong><br \/><em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A group created seven years ago to help children in the Roaring Fork Valley focus and learn has expanded its mission to provide financial aid to families struggling to survive during the pandemic crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Basalt-based <a id=\"N0x10f22d0N0x10a3ec0:N0x10f22d0N0x111c4f0\" href=\"https:\/\/focusedkids.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nonprofit FocusedKids<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> has provided $500 to 468 families from Aspen to Rifle as of Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cMost of these families don\u2019t have other safety nets,\u201d said Kathy Hegberg, founder and executive director.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The funds are provided with no strings attached, but the intent is to help with rent, mortgage, food, utility payments and other debt.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">FocusedKids gets referrals from other nonprofit organizations such as Valley Settlement, Family Resource Center, Early Childhood Network and English in Action. Frontline workers with those organizations check in with people they have worked with, supply information on available resources and vet them for the aid from FocusedKids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The targeted families must have a heads of household who work in the Roaring Fork Valley, though they can live elsewhere. They also must have kids who live in the valley. In addition, the families must have breadwinners who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus epidemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Legal status is not one of the criteria. In many cases, recipients aren\u2019t eligible for unemployment payments and other government aid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hegberg said she is getting 20 to 30 referrals per day. She has spent $234,000 on the relief effort so far and has $40,000 remaining. Another $10,000 in contributions is pledged, but she will burn through the funds shortly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Meanwhile, it\u2019s unknown how long the need will remain. While some construction workers have been able to stay at work or will be returning to work, unemployment will remain high for the foreseeable future as retail shops, restaurants, hotels and other businesses remain closed or only partially open.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI don\u2019t know when those people will go back to work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitkin County reported Thursday that 1,700 workers have filed for unemployment and the rate is expected to climb. The rate jumped to 15% from 3% pre-pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">FocusedKids is debating if it should offer another round of funds to the families it has already helped, Hegberg said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The nonprofit organization is an example of numerous groups in the valley that have rushed to fill the relief void during the health crisis and the economic hardships it wrought.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAll of us are spending (the funding) as quickly as we get it,\u201d Hegberg said. \u201cMillions (of dollars) is what\u2019s going to be required.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Basalt Area Gives program, which was created last year, mounted an awareness campaign this month to help steer contributions to FocusedKids. It is suggesting to its list of past donors that they can also make contributions to the Aspen Community Foundation earmarked for the \u201cBasalt area.\u201d The funds will then be distributed to the local nonprofits in the Basalt and midvalley area that are most in need of a financial boost, according to Jim Light, a midvalley resident who helped organize Basalt Area Gives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Light said he and others with Basalt Area Gives were impressed by the work of FocusedKids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt is serving the people that I would describe as between the cracks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Basalt Area Gives <a id=\"N0x10f22d0N0x10a3f20:N0x10f22d0N0x111ce80\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/civic-leaders-have-proposal-to-make-the-best-of-basalts-property-tax-snafu\/\">was formed last year<\/a> when people were receiving refunds from the town of Basalt for property tax overcharges. The group urged people to plow the refunds back into midvalley nonprofit efforts. It raised $320,000 and has a donor base that it contacted on April 15 to urge contributing to the Aspen Community Funds and FocusedKids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re not fundraising per se. We\u2019re trying to create awareness,\u201d Light said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hegberg said many of the families who FocusedKids is already working with on educational improvement are also families who need aid. When the economy ground to a halt in mid-March, many of those families had members who lost their jobs and they were left with little more than the food in their refrigerators, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThese have often been crucial grants, sometimes meaning three meals a day versus one, and covering rent costs to avoid eviction,\u201d Hegberg said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">To find more about FocusedKids, which is a 501(c)3, or make a donation, go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.focusedkids.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.focusedkids.org<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> or send a check to FocusedKids, 140 River Oaks Ln, Basalt, CO 81621.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:scondon@aspentimes.com\">scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/basalt-nonprofit-expands-its-mission-to-provide-relief-to-families-in-need\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kathy Hegberg A group created seven years ago to help children in the Roaring Fork Valley focus and learn has expanded its mission to provide financial aid to families struggling to survive during the pandemic crisis. Basalt-based nonprofit FocusedKids has provided $500 to 468 families from Aspen to Rifle as of Thursday. \u201cMost of these [&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":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2457610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 00:14:13","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":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}