Making Connections-Denver Brochure
The Making Connections-Denver four panel brochure serves as an introductory piece that summarizes the work of this ten year community change initiative.
Click here to download the entire brochure.
Click here to download the entire brochure in Spanish (en espanol)
Here is a summary of the brochure:
Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods
Making Connections-Denver is a partnerhip of residents and organizations working to improve the lives of vulnerable families and children in four diverse neighborhoods:
- Baker
- Cole
- La Alma/Lincoln Park
- Sun Valley
Priority Outcomes
Three Priority outcomes and supporting strategies guide the MC-D work:
- Family Economic Success
- School Readiness and Beyond
- Engaged Residents Lead to Systems Change
Funding and Governance
Making Connections-Denver is guided by a partnership composed of residents from the four neighborhoods as well as organizational partners.
Achieving Core Results
Workforce, Income and Economic Development. Making Connections has developed an employment “pipeline” to better jobs in partnership with Denver’s Department of Workforce Development. It is expected to yield family-supporting jobs for more than 400 neighborhood residents. Working together, MC-D, resident leaders, the Front Range Economic Strategy Center, the city and others were able to secure an unprecedented Community Benefits Agreement for the redevelopment of the former Gates Rubber Plant in the Baker neighborhood.
Career Advancement, Asset Building and Social Networks. With Mile High United Way, MC-D is helping families employed by the city and Denver Health to get training and education needed to qualify for higher paying jobs and promotions. We have intensified efforts to link residents with opportunities to repair their credit and increase their savings. Since social networks help all families find jobs, MC-D works with the Piton Foundation and others to help residents build personal networks as they search for steady work.
Helping Children to Succeed in the Early Grades and Beyond. We believe that success comes from strong parent involvement, best practices in early childhood education and supportive partners and co-investors. Our focus is on children from birth to age eight with a goal of improving third grade reading scores. Recent successes include:
• Increasing access to preschool for 4-year-olds through passage of The Denver Preschool ballot initiative.
• Funding Parent Liaisons at three Denver Public Schools to increase parent involvement and help children make the transition from preschool to kindergarten.
• Increasing school nurse time at two schools in a pilot study to demonstrate the effect on attendance of providing health screening and follow-up services to children.
Resident Leadership and Community Organizing. MC-D supports several efforts to empower residents through leadership development and organizing so they can create lasting change in their communities. Neighborhood residents and our partners have demonstrated their ability to change policy and hold systems accountable for helping vulnerable people succeed:
• With MOP, residents are renegotiating use of “weighted student funding” in the Denver Public Schools budget to ensure that more resources are apportioned to students growing up in severe poverty.
• Residents are taking legal action against the State Board of Education for eliminating funding for “fifth year” high school options that allowed students to earn college credit before graduation.
These advocacy efforts have earned national attention. Denver was selected as a demonstration site for the Fund for Education Organizing -- a three year investment by the Ford Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Piton Foundation and Making Connections-Denver.
Research and Evaluation
Making Connections-Denver is a source for data, research and evaluation. These are three major evaluation activities currently being implmented by the resident led Community Learning Network.
- The multi-year 100 Family Survey is studying the impact of MC-D strategies on families deeply involved in the work.
- A performance tracking system that documents progress towards annual goals and the long-term effects of strategies to improve outcomes and opportunities.
- Cross site data collected in Denver and the other Making Connections sites provides useful comparisons from neighborhood to city and across the sites.
Other Publications
MC-D supports the production of a variety of publications which address specific advocacy related issues, community organizing results and success stories from individuals involved in programs of MC-D and partner organizations.
Follow the links below to read more about:
- Real Stories – A profile of MC-D resident Orfridio Ortiz
- Unraveling the Denver Public Schools Budget
- Democracy in Action – Metro Organizations for People
Real Stories
Orfridio Ortiz is a shining example of the positive impact education brings to young men and women who are caught in the cycle of poverty. Once unemployed and without many job skills, Orfridio is now earning a college degree and building a future for his family.
Click here to read Orfridio’s story.
Advocacy gets results
Making Connections-Denver and Metro Organizations for People (MOP) have produced two publications that document successes on education reform and other issues that addressed needs of the community.
Unraveling the DPS Budget
This 10-page booklet describes how the Denver Public Schools budget is developed from multiple sources. It outlines serious inequities created by property taxation, staff-based budgeting, and central management of certain federally funded programs.
One solution, says the report, is to move to weighted student funding, which virtually guarantees that every student will get a fair share of the district pie. Rather than using complicated formulas, it ties dollars to students. Each school receives an average amount of money for each student, and at-risk students result in extra dollars. Because the weights used for at-risk students are clearly defined, they are easy to adjust when a change in spending priorities is required.
Click here to read Unraveling the DPS Budget: Toward Transparency and Equity through Weighted Student Funding
Democracy in Action
Through powerful testimony from MC-D residents and highlights of 
reform efforts, Democracy in Action details how Metro Organizations for People (MOP) organized in Denver Public Schools and achieved remarkable results. Beginning in 2001, MOP worked with residents to define critical issues, build their leadership capacity and hone their ability to use data to advance their agenda.
Over time, MOP leaders and residents conducted two large community meetings, drawing hundreds of people, including state board of education members and leaders from Denver Public Schools. Four of their seven major reform proposals have been implemented, including uniform district-wide report cards, more equitable public library hours in low-income neighborhoods, and a principal training institute for DPS. A weighted student budget formula is under discussion.
Click here to read Democracy in Action: Metro Organizations for People - Stories, Results and Lessons from Community Organizing and School Reform