Bright Future Foundation receives critical funding from both the federal and state government to sustain our life -saving and -changing programs. Faced with severe cuts to their federal funding, programs across Colorado, like Bright Future Foundation, are in a position of uncertainty as we look to the future of our core funding sources.
A bill to allocate funding to Colorado programs that serve survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes was introduced and has passed the Senate. SB22-183 will provide $41 million dollars to help programs keep their doors open. We know, though, that keeping the doors open is not enough – domestic violence programs continue to see increased demand and will need more funding to respond to the escalating violence experienced by survivors during the pandemic. You can learn more about the bill here.
We need your help to make sure survivors have access to the vital programs they need! We are asking our supporters to email Democrats in the House and Senate and ask them to prioritize an increase to SB22-183’s one-time funding for victim programs. If you are registered to vote in Eagle County here is the contact information:
Senator Kerry Donovan
Senate District 5
E-mail: kerry.donovan.senate@state.co.us
CAPITOL PHONE: 303-866-4871
Webpage: https://leg.colorado.gov/node/207306
Representative Dylan Roberts
House District 26
E-mail: dylan.roberts.house@state.co.us
CAPITOL PHONE: 303-866-2923
Webpage: https://leg.colorado.gov/node/1189236
If you are registered elsewhere in the State, here is a link to find yours
https://leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator
When reaching out, please feel free to share your own story, use information from this email, or draw from the following script:
Hello Representative/Senator [INSERT NAME], my name is [INSERT NAME] and I am emailing to thank you for acknowledging the critical need for funding for victim services, including for survivors of domestic violence.
As a supporter of Bright Future Foundation, I know firsthand the critical importance of this funding for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking in Eagle County.
In Colorado, community-based domestic violence advocacy programs, like Bright Future Foundation, provide legal advocacy, make safety plans with survivors, provide counseling, facilitate support groups, help survivors pay their rent and find housing, operate 24/7 crisis lines, run emergency shelters, and more. The pandemic has exacerbated domestic violence and these programs have been working with more survivors and more complex cases.
In 2021, Bright Future Foundation served over 850 survivors and their families in our community. Since the onset of the pandemic we have seen an increase in request for each of our wraparound services by 20%. We know that our work is far from done as we strive to make futures bright in our community and that is why we need your support of SB22-183.
SB22-183 takes a needed step toward supporting these programs by filling the gap in lost VOCA funds, but we need to do more than get programs back to baseline – we need to provide additional funding to help them respond to the increased violence and demand for services during the pandemic. Please prioritize an increase to SB22-183’s one-time funding for victim programs!
Sincerely,
[INSERT NAME]
Thank you for your time, commitment, and support of Bright Future Foundation and survivors in our community and across the state. If you have any questions, have ideas about how we can share this more broadly, or need any additional information please do not hesitate to reach out. We will also be sharing this message on our social media channels, so if you use those, we would appreciate you sharing. We also want to track our advocacy efforts during this critical push so please update Jen Rogus at jen@mybrightfuture.org as you reach out.
Also, A special thanks to bill sponsors Sen. Winter, Sen. Gardner, Rep. Duran, and Rep. Weissman for their commitment to survivors.
