VCF new home is on ASC campus (11-10-05)
VCF Ribbon Cutting
Dr. Svaldi presents present
The grand opening of the Valley Community Fund (VCF) celebrated two events - the VCF's new location on the Adams State College campus, and the new addition of the 2-1-1 community link.
The ribbon was cut at the new location at 5 p.m. November 9 in the adobe building on the corner of Richardson Avenue and First Street in Alamosa. VCF has taken over the space that housed Adams State College Public Safety until a few years ago.
"The Valley Community Fund is a nice addition to our campus community," said Adams State College Acting President, Dr. David Svaldi. "We are happy to welcome them and look forward to collaborating on many projects."
"This is a wonderful place to be," said Billie Washburn, member of the Board of Directors for VCF. "We are fortunate to have the college renting this space out to our organization."
Holly Felmlee, executive director of the Valley Community Fund, said the space is more appropriate for the staff.
"There are individual offices now, which means a quieter work space for everyone," said Felmlee.
Formerly VCF was located on Main Street in Alamosa.
"I believe this is a step in the right direction," said Robin Dixon, VCF accountant. "Having the volunteer center on campus is a good way to connect with students."
Mary Hoffman, Adams State College Executive Director of Community Partnerships, helped to coordinate the VCF move to campus.
"Holly and I have been working on it for about a year," Hoffman said. "Their presence on campus will make it convenient for students to volunteer and for Adams State to collaborate with grant writing and other projects related to supporting the community."
"It is a mutually beneficial move," said Felmlee. "The rental agreement is a fair deal for us. We hope we can do a lot for the college."
"The building has been vacant for awhile and there were a few minor repairs needed," said Dixon. "The Adams State Facilities Services took care of them immediately."
The VCF has 25 member charities, recruits volunteers and its newest feature is the community link. 2-1-1 is an information and referral community resource system intended to provide easy access to many types of non-emergent services including: accessible/affordable health care, homeless shelters, child care services, youth programs, mental health services, etc. to anyone searching for specific resources.
"The phone line is operated from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week," said Ruby Favela-Garcia, VCF 2-1-1 operator. "We get calls from people needing shelter, food, and prescription assistance. We refer them to agencies that best meets their needs."
The entire office space was given a fresh coat of paint compliments of Master's Touch Painting, owned by Michael Stefano.
"I was born in the San Luis Valley," said Stefano. "I am happy to be back in my hometown and be of service to my community."
"We are here to be of service to our community," said Felmlee. "We encourage anyone needing our services to give us a call or any volunteers for our many charities to come on by and sign up."
By Linda Relyea
