Beatriz Bonnet

Chair
Highlands Ranch

Present and past community affiliations: Water for People; American Translators Association; Colorado Coalition for the Homeless; American Red Cross Mile High Chapter; National Association of Women Business Owners (Denver Chapter)

D. Dontae Latson, MSSA, LCSW

Vice Chair
CEO, Family Tree
Denver

Present and past community affiliations: National CEO Advisory Committee, YWCA National Office;  Dontae has served on over 20 different boards/councils during his career. He represents organizations through keynote speeches, radio, television and social media. He was featured as a TEDX speaker on October 2018. 

Barbara Yondorf

Treasurer 
Yondorf & Associates
Denver

Present and past community affiliations: Boomers Leading Change in Health Care, Center for African American Health, Mental Health Center of Denver, Denver Health & Hospital ER Patient Ambassador, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, HHS, Colorado Blue Ribbon Comission for Health Care Reform, Denver Health & Hospital Authority Board, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Rose Community Foundation, Engaged Public, Colorado Division of Insurance, National Conference of State Legislatures, Colorado Department of Health

Beverly Buck, JD, MPA

Secretary & Immediate Past Chair
Public Policy Consultant, private practice
Denver

Present and past community affiliations: Board member at Grantmakers in Children, Youth & Families, Jewish Women Funders of Colorado, Rose Women’s Organization, and the Burnes Institute; Trustee of Aloha Foundation; evaluation committee member at Denver Preschool Project

Lynn R. Borup

Member
Tri-County Health Network 
Denver

Present and past community affiliations: Executive Director, TCHNetwork; former Vice President, Colorado Choice Health Plans; Board Member, former Treasurer and Board President, Southwestern Colorado AHEC; Board Member, former Access to Care Committee Member, Oral Health of Colorado (OHCO); Health Alliance Representative – Voting Member, Regional Accountable Entity (RAE) Performance Improvement Advisory Committee; Committee Member, Behavioral Health Collaborative Steering Committee; former Member, Colorado Trust Health Equity Advocacy Cohort; former Partner Member, SMILES Dental Home Pilot; former Member, Patient Navigator Training Collaborative (PNTC) Advisory Council; former Board Member, Center for Health Progress.

 

Carole Brite, CPA

Member
Chief Financial Officer, LENA Foundation
Denver

Present and past community affiliations: Chief Administrative Officer, YMCA of Metropolitan Denver; Chief Financial Officer, LENA Foundation; former Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Financial Health Network; former Member American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; former Member, Institute of Certified Construction Industry Financial Professionals; former Member, Construction Financial Management Association; former Board Member, McGaw YMCA; former Audit Chair, Affiliates Risk Management.

 

Ana Fernandez Frank

Member
Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA)
Boulder

Present and past community affiliations: Member, Community Informed Policy (CIP) cohort; Board Member, Power of Compassion; Houston Nonviolent Communication (Houston NVC).

 

Miriam Goetzke

Member
CoBank 
Denver

Present and past community affiliations: Senior Business Solutions Specialist, CoBank; former Business Intelligence Analyst, Lockton Companies; for Database Information Specialist, National Technology; former Marketing Database Analyst, National Technology Transfer; former Data Administrator/IT Custom Project Delivery Manager/Data Analyst, Equifax Direct Marketing Services.

 

Nicholas Heimann

Member
Fort Collins

Present and past community affiliations: Former Town of Wellington Parks & Recreation Board member; LGBTQ+ leader; League Cycling Instructor; League of American Bicyclists, Bicycle Colorado, and Bike Fort Collins member; Unified Sports Partner; Sustainability Leadership Program graduate; Colorado School of Public Health preceptor; and Urban Sustainability Directors Network and Gov’t Alliance on Race & Equity member.

 

T.A. Taylor-Hunt, Esq.

Member
Law Offices of T. A. Taylor-Hunt, LLC
Denver

Present and past community affiliations: State Chair for the National Association of Consumer Advocates, Colorado Collections Agency Board; Board of Directors, Colorado Common Cause; Contributing Law Firm, Colorado Lawyer’s Committee; Metro Volunteer Lawyers; Community Legal Wellness® Education seminars; Professional Development and Goal Setting seminars; former board chair and interim executive director, Colorado Center on Law and Policy; former strategic planner, comptroller, budget and accounting officer, in the U.S. Air Force.

Jose L. Vasquez, Esq.

Member
Colorado Legal Services
Denver

Present and past community affiliations: The Foreclosure Project, Colorado Supreme Court Rules Committee; former chair of the Council of Advisers on Consumer Credit for the State of Colorado; former delegate with the Highlands Ranch Community Association

HEALTH:
HEALTH FIRST COLORADO (MEDICAID)

To maintain health and well-being, people of all ages need access to quality health care that improves outcomes and reduces costs for the community. Health First Colorado, the state's Medicaid program, is public health insurance for low-income Coloradans who qualify. The program is funded jointly by a federal-state partnership and is administered by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing.

Benefits of the program include behavioral health, dental services, emergency care, family planning services, hospitalization, laboratory services, maternity care, newborn care, outpatient care, prescription drugs, preventive and wellness services, primary care and rehabilitative services.

In tandem with the Affordable Care Act, Colorado expanded Medicaid eligibility in 2013 - providing hundreds of thousands of adults with incomes less than 133% FPL with health insurance for the first time increasing the health and economic well-being of these Coloradans. Most of the money for newly eligible Medicaid clients has been covered by the federal government, which will gradually decrease its contribution to 90% by 2020.

Other populations eligible for Medicaid include children, who qualify with income up to 142% FPL, pregnant women with household income under 195% FPL, and adults with dependent children with household income under 68% FPL.

Some analyses indicate that Colorado's investment in Medicaid will pay off in the long run by reducing spending on programs for the uninsured.

FOOD SECURITY:
SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)

Hunger, though often invisible, affects everyone. It impacts people's physical, mental and emotional health and can be a culprit of obesity, depression, acute and chronic illnesses and other preventable medical conditions. Hunger also hinders education and productivity, not only stunting a child's overall well-being and academic achievement, but consuming an adult's ability to be a focused, industrious member of society. Even those who have never worried about having enough food experience the ripple effects of hunger, which seeps into our communities and erodes our state's economy.

Community resources like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps, exist to ensure that families and individuals can purchase groceries, with the average benefit being about $1.40 per meal, per person.

Funding for SNAP comes from the USDA, but the administrative costs are split between local, state, and federal governments. Yet, the lack of investment in a strong, effective SNAP program impedes Colorado's progress in becoming the healthiest state in the nation and providing a better, brighter future for all. Indeed, Colorado ranks 44th in the nation for access to SNAP and lost out on more than $261 million in grocery sales due to a large access gap in SNAP enrollment.

See the Food Assistance (SNAP) Benefit Calculator to get an estimate of your eligibility for food benefits.

FOOD SECURITY:
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN (WIC)

Every child deserves the nutritional resources needed to get a healthy start on life both inside and outside the mother's womb. In particular, good nutrition and health care is critical for establishing a strong foundation that could affect a child's future physical and mental health, academic achievement and economic productivity. Likewise, the inability to access good nutrition and health care endangers the very integrity of that foundation.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition information for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding postpartum women and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

Research has shown that WIC has played an important role in improving birth outcomes and containing health care costs, resulting in longer pregnancies, fewer infant deaths, a greater likelihood of receiving prenatal care, improved infant-feeding practices, and immunization rates

Financial Security:
Colorado Works

In building a foundation for self-sufficiency, some Colorado families need some extra tools to ensure they can weather challenging financial circumstances and obtain basic resources to help them and their communities reach their potential.

Colorado Works is Colorado's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and provides public assistance to families in need. The Colorado Works program is designed to assist participants in becoming self-sufficient by strengthening the economic and social stability of families. The program provides monthly cash assistance and support services to eligible Colorado families.

The program is primarily funded by a federal block grant to the state. Counties also contribute about 20% of the cost.

EARLY LEARNING:
COLORADO CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (CCCAP)

Child care is a must for working families. Along with ensuring that parents can work or obtain job skills training to improve their families' economic security, studies show that quality child care improves children's academic performance, career development and health outcomes.

Yet despite these proven benefits, low-income families often struggle with the cost of child care. Colorado ranks among the top 10 most expensive states in the country for center-based child care. For families with an infant, full-time enrollment at a child care center cost an average of $15,140 a year-or about three-quarters of the total income of a family of three living at the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) provides child care assistance to parents who are working, searching for employment or participating in training, and parents who are enrolled in the Colorado Works Program and need child care services to support their efforts toward self-sufficiency. Most of the money for CCCAP comes from the federal Child Care and Development Fund. Each county can set their own income eligibility limit as long as it is at or above 165% of the federal poverty level and does not exceed 85% of area median income.

Unfortunately, while the need is growing, only an estimated one-quarter of all eligible children in the state are served by CCCAP. Low reimbursement rates have also resulted in fewer providers willing to accept CCCAP subsidies.