In this issue of the digest:

• ERPO Hotline Goes Live

• St. Thomas Completes a Successful Gun Lock Distribution

• Boulder Area CFCU Congregations are Back at the County Fair

• Northern Colorado Congregations Work Together to Provide Safe Storage and Dismantle Firearms

• As HIP begins it’s 7th cohort, meet Joan Bradt, one of its longest volunteers

• Information hand-outs from the Public Health Roundtable on Firearm-Related Violence Prevention

• August Calendar

• Our Featured Congregation: Temple Micah

ERPO Hotline Goes Live at 855-999-3776 (ERPO)

CFCU is working as hard on ERPO implementation as we did helping to get it passed.  So we are pleased to announce that the ERPO Hotline included in SB23:170 last session, the ERPO Expansion bill, is already up and running in the Colorado Department of Public Safety.  Special thanks to Rep. Jennifer Bacon for adding this important provision after we spoke to her about the need.

CFCU Steering Committee members Rory Clawson and Alana Smart, along with Eileen McCarron, President of Colorado Ceasefire Legislative Action and Laney Sheffel their ERPO Campaign Manager recently met with the Director of Colorado’s Homeland Security Office (Kevin Klein) and the Information Analysis Center (CIAC, Kevin McElyea) where the hotline is housed for a briefing and update.

The Hotline will be accessible 24/7 and provide information and relevant resources on how to file an ERPO, but staff cannot provide any legal advice.   They will provide a warm transfer to the Colorado Crisis Line if someone is in crisis.  Go to https://dhsem.colorado.gov/ERPO to learn more about this important resource.  They are developing a more detailed information sheet that we will post when it becomes available.

Colorado Ceasefire has identified another important ERPO resource.  Bridge to Justice is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides legal services to ERPO petitioners.  Send a consultation request by scanning the QR code below. They will refer to other supportive services if they cannot directly assist in a given situation.  

Get Involved

CFCU’s Public Health Strategies Action Team includes an ERPO Public Education Work group which is working to promote effective and appropriate ERPO implementation through a coordinated approach by meeting with key players with designated ERPO responsibilities to learn more about their plans, timelines, and partners.  Along with the Hotline staff, group members have recently met with staff at the CU Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative and the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.  If you’re interested in becoming involved, contact susiepappas@hotmail.com

Article contributed by Alana Smart, B’nai Havurah

St. Thomas Completes a Successful Gun Lock Distribution

St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Park Hill applied for and received a grant from the Gun Violence Prevention Office this spring.  They were awarded $10,000 to distribute gun locks.  

Mike Earnest, the lead for gun violence prevention at St. Thomas, and Mary Svoboda, who led this program, were stunned when they actually received the award.  “We were surprised and a little shocked.”  The locks were distributed at festival style events including Denver Pridefest, Five Points Jazz Festival, Juneteenth Music Festival, Windsor Gardens, several Denver Public Libraries and DSST Schools.  Flyers with information about obtaining a lock were also distributed at Guns to Gardens events, Denver Public Libraries and churches.

Altogether they distributed 834 gun locks to 662 individuals.   In a survey distributed to participants, 85% of those who received a trigger lock said it made their house safer, and 87% of those who took a lock said they were using it.  “And the good news,” said Mary, “is that many of those who were NOT using it, explained that they had given it to someone else who WAS using it.  People explained that they had an unsecured weapon in the house, with children in the home or visiting.  They were relieved to get a lock with no questions asked.”  “Statistics for veteran and for senior suicides are very high.  I am a member of both of those communities.  This is what motivates me to do this work.”

Boulder Area CFCU Congregations Are Back at the County Fair!

This August, Boulder area CFCU congregations will once again have our booth at the Boulder County Fair. We'll be distributing brochures on the new, expanded ERPO (red flag law), safe storage, and suicide prevention, and we'll be giving out free gun locks provided by the Boulder Police Department. We'll be at the fair from Thursday August 10th to Sunday August 13th, 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM each day. The fairgrounds are located at 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont. If you live in the area or happen to be nearby, please drop by our booth!

Article Contributed by Stephanie Greenberg, Congregation Bonai Shalom

Northern Colorado Congregations Work Together to Provide Safe Storage and Dismantle Firearms

There is a strong partnership between faith communities in Northern Colorado who are working to end gun violence. United Church of Christ Longmont and Heart of Longmont have been working with the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office to provide both gun buy back events and gun safe distributions, with the hope that lives can be saved through safe storage and safe surrender.

“On Saturday, June 24, we held a gun safe giveaway in Longmont. We gave away 140 car safes and about 160 home safes. Our public safety department gave away about 100 cable locks as well,” said Ann Noonan. Ann is a member of the Public Health Strategies Team of CFCU.

“We had about 20 volunteers, from UCC Longmont, Heart of Longmont (formerly First UMC) and the District Attorney’s office. We had about 25 people waiting in line at 9 a.m. and ended up turning people away at the end. So, all in all, it was an extremely successful event. Many people brought their children whether on purpose or just by happenstance. It mean a lot to all of us to see parents and grandparents, with their toddlers, ‘tweens, and teens.”

“This was our fifth safe giveaway. Our next will take place on Veteran’s Day after the parade in Longmont.”

There have also been three gun buybacks ( following the safe surrender model of Guns to Gardens) Fort Collins UCC is sponsoring a blacksmith demonstration and a safe surrender the weekend of September 8 and 9. The Longmont folks will be helping them as they can.

Article submitted by Ann Noonan, United Church of Christ Longmont

Know of Any Congregational or Denominational Grant Programs for CFCU?

Since 2014 when CFCU officially formed, First Universalist (Denver) has enabled CFCU to operate as a C-3 non-profit organization by generously serving as CFCU’s fiscal agent and doing our monthly bookkeeping.  At a strategic planning session last spring, the CFCU Steering Committee agreed to explore the possibility of CFCU becoming an official C-3 non-profit with the help of the Colorado Non-Profit Development Center (CNDC) https://cndc.org/—a non-profit incubator.

We are in the early stages of their application process and will have to be accepted as one of their projects, but fundraising will become a larger priority to accomplish many of the goals envisioned.  Towards that end, we’ve begun to identify the large and small grant programs that exist in our own congregations and denominations.  If your congregation or denomination has a grant program that might be appropriate for CFCU, would you please send the information to cherylrfleetwood@gmail.com   Special thanks to those of you who have already provided this helpful information that we were able to list in our CNDC application as possible, future funding sources.

As HIP Begins Its 8th Cohort, Meet Volunteer Joan Bradt

Joan, a retired youth leader from her church, found a new way to help when she signed up to be a CAB member for HIP, and she has participated in all the sessions since its inception in 2021.  CAB (Community Accountability Board) members are mentors to young people who are involved in non-violent gun offenses, for which they could be charged with a felony.  Young people attend a series of sessions with a parent, to learn about the effects of gun violence, and to grow in their understanding of their goals for the future.  In exchange for participation in this program they could have their felony erased from their record, giving them more possibilities for their future.  CAB members, like Joan, accompany these young people throughout the sessions.

“What I didn’t see coming, when I began to volunteer, is how much knowledge and growth I would experience myself.  Amazing!  These kids…their lives, their culture, their neighborhood.  I have learned so much about communicating with kids from different backgrounds than me.”

“I have learned not to be the expert…I have an overwhelming impulse to display my education…but relationship has to come first.  If I start to get preachy or teachy, the hour is gone and I have lost my chance to build a bridge with my young partner and his/her family.”

Joan may need to break her record. She has an upcoming surgery, which might keep her from attending the 8th HIP session.  But you can volunteer in her place!  If you are interested please see the application process below. 

Information hand-outs from the Public Health Roundtable on Firearm-Related Violence Prevention

The following Rapid Learning Fact Sheets were developed by Wellstone Collaborative Strategies  

·         Firearm-related death overview

·         Community violence

·         Domestic violence

·         Mass and targeted violence

·         Suicide 

CFCU August Calendar

August 10 - 13: CFCU Congregations at the Boulder County Fair

August 15: CFCU Steering Committee Meeting 3:30 - 5

August 17: Communications Team Meeting 1 p.m. via zoom. For agenda and zoom link please contact dfoelske@gmail.com

August 22: Deadline for submission of articles for the September Digest

August 23: CFCU Advocacy Team Meeting. 1:30 - 2:30. For agenda and ZOOM link contact research@swgreenberg.com

September 8: Blacksmithing demonstration with Mike Martin (evening) Fort Collins, Plymouth Congregational UCC Church 

September 9: Guns to Gardens Fort Collins, Plymouth Congregational UCC Church

September 19: 3:30 - 5:00 CFCU Steering Committee

September 20: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CFCU Public Health Strategies via ZOOM. For agenda and zoom link contact alanaks@aol.com

October 14: Guns to Gardens 12:00-2:00 pm, Lafayette, Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 

Our Featured Congregation: Temple Micah

We are a small Reform Jewish congregation of 155 families, in Park Hill.  We share facilities with Park Hill United Methodist Church.  Rabbi Adam Morris is our congregational leader and he has been with us for close to 20 years.

Temple Micah has a rapid response network, which allows me to keep congregants up to date on important legislative issues.  We, along with other Park Hill CFCU congregations have hosted a movie night showing the documentary "Making A Killing: Guns, Greed, and the NRA".  And we also hosted a QPR training session with fellow CFCU Park Hill Congregations.  We've participated annually in the  December candlelight vigil commemorating the Sandy Hook mass shooting.  I participate in the HIP program.  

Temple Micah has been a member of CFCU since 2015.  Judaism teaches tikkun olam, or repairing the world.  We are obligated to try and make the world a better place.  CFCU gives me, and our congregants, an opportunity to do just that.  

One longtime member describes us as a small town congregation in the midst of the city.  I think that says a lot about us.  We are a very open and welcoming place, we value social action, education and communal prayer.

Article contributed by Nancy Litwack-Strong, Temple Micah