Our Vision is to foster healthy, interdependent communities by recognizing and engaging people's capacities.
We provide comprehensive education, health, and wellness resources and services, such as:
- Academic tutoring, college and career prep, and youth service learning
- Family Literacy programs
- Early Childhood Education & parent education classes
- Health insurance and public benefits navigation & enrollment
- Exercise & dance classes
- Health fairs including preventative care and vaccinations
- Individual & Group Therapy, including youth resiliency
- Artistic expression & creative learning groups
- Mental health services for the whole family
Testimonials
Aurora Community Connection (ACC) has been committed to serving families in the North Aurora community since 2008. We provide high-quality programs in English and Spanish that every member of the family can benefit from.
ACC is dedicated to supporting individuals and families and building our local community by increasing access to health and access to education. All our programs are made possible by committed, bilingual staff as well as many volunteers from the community. We appreciate their generous support and dedication to our mission.
- Reid Hettich, Former Board Chair
Jenny is one of ACC’s Parent Educators and Program Facilitators for the Parents As Teachers (“PAT”) program. She has been with the organization for more than two years, working closely with parents and their children ages 0-5. She is also currently working on her BS in Psychology. We are so grateful for her years of expertise and service. Below, she shares her experience with ACC:
The past two years have been really eye-opening: seeing all the new employees coming in, watching our organization grow, supporting new programs that show we are helping to fill gaps in services - it really shows how much we care, how we take action! Working with ACC has been life-changing for me, particularly as I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of professionals, including licensed social workers, which has helped me plan for my own professional goals. It has also helped me to be more aware - both of who I am - and the population we serve. Being a parent is one of the hardest roles, and I bring this philosophy to my work with families - sometimes a mother just needs to hear how well they’re doing and that it’s okay to feel anxious!
- Jenny Luevanos, ACC Staff Member
Our Mission is to develop the capacities of underserved families and promote social equity.
Aurora Community Connection (ACC) family resource center was founded in 2007 with funding from the JFM Foundation and support from the Family Resource Center Association (FRCA). At this time, founder Dr. Robin Waterman was hired to re-establish a family resource center in north Aurora after a previous family resource center closed its doors, the Lowry Family Resource Center moved to Montebello and a community needs assessment determined a gap in services, especially for Spanish-speaking families. In addition, Leadership Aurora, a leadership development program operated by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, chose ACC as their class project. From that effort, 36 professionals from Aurora helped ACC identify in-kind facility space, develop marketing materials, raise start-up funds through a community event, create a Board and develop organizational infrastructure.
ACC simultaneously promotes family self-sufficiency and mobilizes residents to volunteer their time and skills to help other families. With support from The Denver Foundation's Strengthening Neighborhoods Program, one of ACCs first major steps was to create a Community Advisory Board (CAB) involving low-income residents on multiple levels of leadership. CAB members promote program participation, recruit other volunteers, help guide the development of programs and provide evaluation feedback. In 2011, five CAB members became part of ACCs Board of Directors. As of 2021, the CAB has grown to 9 active community members!
In its time as a community-driven organization, ACC has built trust with local residents and created a strong approach for community outreach. As a result, groups such as Aurora Public Schools, Aurora Mental Health, STRIDE Mental Health, Cooking Matters, Families First, the City of Aurora, and many more turn to ACC to connect program resources to families in Aurora. For this reason, many of ACC's programs are collaborative efforts using existing community resources, with ACC responsible for program outreach, participant recruitment, and working with community agencies to fund program staff, evaluation, and capacity-building efforts.
Organization name
Aurora Community Connection
other names
Aurora Community Connection family resource center; ACC
2008
Tax id (EIN)
26-2222571
Category
Human Services, Mental Health & Crisis Intervention, Education, Youth Development, Health Care
Organization Size
Large Organization
Address
9801 E. ColfaxHeadquarters
9801 E. Colfax Suite 200Arapahoe County, CO, US
Denver, CO, US
Adams County, CO, US
Aurora, CO, US