Archway’s Supportive Services programming encompasses our entire portfolio of ten communities and is offered to every resident at no cost. From supporting adults exiting homelessness, providing resources to older adult veterans, and engaging youth with activities, our Supportive Services team bases all community programming on the goals, needs and interests of our residents.
For our younger residents, our Supportive Services team has focused the past few months of programming around longer, outdoor-based activities. At Fountain Ridge Apartments, some of these activities included trips to the local splash pad, fishing and hiking excursions, a day at the roller rink and a resident-run lemonade stand.
All of these activities were suggested by residents to Dovey French, Archway’s Supportive Services Philanthropy Lead. Through frequent, on-site community meetings, our Supportive Services team is able to identify the immediate needs and desires of our residents. Resident feedback provided during these meetings, as well as our annual Community Needs Assessment, allows our Supportive Services team to create community-informed and community-specific on-site programming.
“Whether I’m scheduling youth or adult programming, I consider the times that our residents are awake and the activities that have had good participation in the past, or have been mentioned as an interest,” French said. “Adult activities can generally be of longer duration; I have about 30 minutes with youth before they get antsy and ready to move on to the next thing.”
Now that school is back in session, our communities’ youth programming looks slightly different than it did in the previous months. Whereas summer activities included all-day field trips, activities during the school year are often shorter and held on-site. At Fountain Ridge, after-school programming includes a snack, a homework check-in and a small craft that focuses on community building.
Much of our on-site programming is made possible by the support of our partners. At Fountain Ridge, King Soopers has supplied food for many of the on-site events, and a recent grant from Fountain Valley Communities That Care provided funding for a new fence around the community’s basketball court.
“Craft supplies, snacks and youth activities are expensive. We utilize grant funding whenever possible to make these things happen,” French said. “Without partnerships, our opportunities for programming for youth and adults would be more limited.”
In addition to community partnerships and grants, our Supportive Services team relies on the support of monthly donors to ensure that our residents have year-round access to resources. As a monthly donor, your donation supports ongoing costs, such as the provision of monthly RTD bus passes and culturally relevant supplemental food options for our residents.
If you are interested in supporting our Supporting Services programming with a monthly donation, visit our Donate page today. If you have any questions, or are interested in learning more about other ways that you can support Archway, please contact our Director of Communications and Philanthropy, Georgeanne Barrett at georgeanneb@https://archwaycommunities.org.
