Community Grants Program

Communities are safer when we are connected to one another and can respond to community needs through effective services and programs. Local Planning Teams determine grant priorities for their communities and set the geographic boundaries within which grantees must provide services. You can read more about the Local Planning Team selection and decision-making process, see a roster of Planning Team members, and read minutes from the Teams’ decision-making process here.

The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) selected The Latino Coalition for Community Leadership (LCCL) as the third-party administrator for the Grand Junction Transforming Safety project and The Denver Foundation, a community foundation, to facilitate the local planning process and manage the grant program in both North Aurora and Southeast Colorado Springs. The Denver Foundation is working closely with the Pikes Peak Community Foundation to implement Transforming Safety in Southeast Colorado Springs.

The Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) selected The Latino Coalition for Community Leadership (LCCL) as the third-party administrator for the Grand Junction Transforming Safety project.

Please visit the LCCL website for details on the grant priority areas, geographic boundaries, grant guidelines and proposal materials, along with information about webinars for applicants and proposal deadlines.

The Transforming Safety grant program made its initial grants to community partners in both North Aurora and Southeast Colorado Springs in May and October 2018. In order to give these grantees the opportunity to develop and document their outcomes, most of these grantees then received a second round of funding in May and October 2019. This second round of funding completed the expenditure of the grant funds allocated in the original 2017 legislation. The legislature extended the pilot program for an additional three years in the 2019 legislative session, with the new funding to become available at the start of the new State fiscal year in July 2020.

Unfortunately, as part of the more than $3 billion in COVID-19 related cuts that the legislature made to the State budget during the 2020 session, the Transforming Safety grant fund was slashed by $1 million. The grant team decided to consolidate the two annual rounds of funding into one round, which would be released as soon as possible after the start of the State fiscal year on July 1st. The community grant review teams in both communities met in late July 2020 to make some very difficult decisions about how to allocate the reduced funds. Ultimately the teams recommended to the State that the number of grantees be reduced from 44 to 21. The number of grantees in North Aurora went from 23 to 13, and in Southeast Colorado Springs the number went from 21 to 7. Initial indications are that the State budget will be cut again in 2021-22, but the Transforming Safety team will be working closely with the legislature and the Department of Local Affairs to limit further cuts to Transforming safety, and to advocate for restoration of the funds that were cut.

To receive the most up to date information about next steps, please SIGN UP FOR NEWS. For more information, please contact Julie Voyles at The Denver Foundation, jvoyles@denverfoundation.org or 303-996-6488.

• 2021-2022: Download the North Aurora and Southeast Colorado Springs Grantees List [PDF]
• Summer 2020: Download the Summer 2020 Grantees List [PDF]
• Fall 2019: Download the Fall 2019 Grantees List [PDF]
• Spring 2019: Download the Spring 2019 Grantees List [PDF]
• Fall 2018: Download the 2018 Fall Grantee List [PDF]
• Spring 2018: Download the Spring 2018 Grantees List [PDF]

The Local Planning Teams in both North Aurora and Southeast Colorado Springs have worked diligently to determine grant priorities for their communities, and to set the geographic boundaries within which eligible grant applicants must provide services. They concluded their work in late February, 2018. The foundations have turned these priorities into grant guidelines and developed an application process. A grant selection committee comprised of people from the foundation and the local community will review and make recommendations regarding which grants should be approved. The final decisions on grant awards will be made by the Department of Local Affairs and the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting. Successful applicants can only receive one grant in a 12-month period.

• 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations (must be registered and in good standing with the IRS and the Colorado Secretary of State or have a fiscal sponsor that is registered and in good standing with the IRS and the Colorado Secretary of State)
• Local government
• Schools (public, private, charter)
• Applicants must serve the North Aurora or Southeast Colorado Springs areas

Geographical Boundaries:

• For the purposes of the Transforming Safety Community Grants Program, the North Aurora Local Planning Team has defined North Aurora as bounded by:
  • The Aurora City line on the north
  • Interstate 225 on the east
  • 6th Ave. on the south
  • The Aurora City line on the west
    • Download a map of the North Aurora Transforming Safety boundaries [PDF].
• For the purposes of the Transforming Safety Community Grants Program, the Southeast Colorado Springs Local Planning Team has defined Southeast Colorado Springs as bounded by:
  • Platte Ave. on the north
  • South Powers Blvd. on the east
  • Milton Proby Pkwy. to South Academy Blvd. to Interstate 25 on the south
  • Nevada to East Fountain Blvd. to Wahsatch Ave. on the west
    • Download a map of the Southeast Colorado Springs Transforming Safety boundaries [PDF].

Grant Guidelines:

• North Aurora grant guidelines [PDF]
• Southeast Colorado Springs grant guidelines [PDF]