We Are Chaffee's Future Collage
As an introduction to We Are Chaffee’s Future, we have compiled photos of youth who may be our future community leaders, business owners, parents, police officers, teachers, health professionals, and more. Let’s work together to identify the key indicators that we can change to ensure that our investment in all of our youth will lead to them having opportunity, and the desire, to stay in Chaffee County.
We Are Chaffee’s Future Belonging Project Overview:
Chaffee County Public Health’s storytelling initiative, We Are Chaffee (WAC), has received funding for a 2-year project by Belonging Colorado through The Denver Foundation.
Belonging is a feeling that one truly belongs. It is associated with strong social connections, psychological safety, and co-creation or the perception that one can influence decision-making and is treated equally. Having a sense of belonging helps manage stress and other behavioral issues. When we feel we have support and are not alone, we are more resilient, often coping more effectively with difficult times in our lives.
One way to move toward a culture of belonging is to help people from different political or cultural states to bridge the differences between them. We Are Chaffee’s Future (WACF) Belonging Project’s focus will be on bridging divides within a small group of intergenerational participants through the fostering of constructive dialogue and exposure to active engagement opportunities to create trust and understanding across group lines. The work will culminate in the creation of public art and shared stories throughout the county that represent the participant’s personal experiences and reflect the group’s shared sense of community belonging. Through exposure to public art and a public education outreach effort, the ideas of belonging will resonate with community members and visitors.
WACF will engage a total of 14 participants who love art and represent the diversity of the county, with an equal number of older people and younger people to create intergenerational pairs to work together. The bridge building workshops will be intensive, and facilitators will utilize the UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center’s Bridging Difference Program skills to provide guidance.
​Do you have questions?
Contact: Lisa Martin LMartin@chaffeecounty.org
Chaffee County Public Health Community Advocacy Coordinator
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Read more about the project here:
About The Denver Foundation
For 100 years, The Denver Foundation has been building a stronger, thriving Metro
Denver, Colorado, and beyond. We’ve received $2.1 billion from generous
donors and given $1.6 billion in grants to support community initiatives. We’re the
foundation of Denver, connecting and collaborating to address the current and
future challenges of our community. To learn more about The Denver Foundation, visit
www.denverofundation.org
About Belonging Colorado
Belonging Colorado is a bold, new effort to bring people together in new ways, grow
resilience in our state, and expand Coloradans’ sense of who belongs. We seek to
invest in good ideas for building connections across lines of difference—racial, ethnic,
socioeconomic, political affiliation, age, and more. Our state is not immune to the trends
of social division and disconnection affecting our nation. It is more essential than ever
that Coloradans work effectively across differences to bridge divides and support our
state's long-term health, resilience, and well-being.
About the Greater Good Science Center
Based at UC Berkeley, the Greater Good Science Center provides a bridge between the
research community and the general public.
Find out more: https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/who_we_are