Our CWS Fort Collins team has been awarded a 2025 City of Fort Collins Human Relations Commission’s Award in the Rising Star category! 🌟💫🤩
We are grateful being selected and especially that nominations this award came from community members. Thank you for your continued support, this truly a community effort and organization!
You can learn more about this award on the City’s website, here and read David’s nomination below the gallery.
David’s nomination:
It is my honor to nominate Church World Service for your Rising Star award. In the short time since establishing their office in Fort Collins in the spring of 2024, CWS director Kristy Beachy-Quick and her colleagues have made substantial contributions to our city’s commitment to be a place where all are welcome. They have done this by providing badly needed services to immigrant and refugee populations, seeking out effective partnerships with related local organizations serving these communities, organizing community events celebrating diverse cultures, and educating the public.
In this calendar year alone, this tireless work has led to significant outcomes:
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- Helping more than three dozen Fort Collins and Larimer County residents with refugee cash assistance, finding a job, ESL class enrollment, SNAP and Medicaid benefits, housing, learning to drive, school enrollment, and mental health provision;
- Providing 22 Fort Collins residents with free legal assistance, including applications for green cards or expedited Temporary Protected Status;
- Mobilizing volunteers who have contributed more than 290 hours to supporting immigrant and refugee residents, assisting CWS staff, and contributing to community events.
CWS has quickly established a reputation as an eager and creative collaborative partner that brings unique resources to community-based projects. CWS director Kristy Beachy-Quick has made it a priority to integrate the organization’s programmatic work with other local organizations serving immigrant and refugee populations, including ISAAC, La Familia, Alianza NORCO, and Arboretum Coffee.
A good example is CWS’s co-partnership of a three-part series titled “Refugee, Rights, and Community: A Learning Series on Immigration,” being held this fall. This series has provided a deep dive into the refugee journey, featuring the voices of recently resettled migrants along with a primer on immigration policies and human rights protections.
In addition, CWS organized a cultural festival this past June at the Opera Galleria featuring musical performances and Ukrainian dance; food tastings showcasing local Ukrainian and Afghan specialties; a display of immigrant and refugee photography from Picture Me Here projects; and craft Projects for the whole family. It was an important way to honor diverse cultures while celebrating how these make Fort Collins a more vital place to live and work.
It is worth noting that many of the above-listed achievements and outcomes have been generated despite stop-work orders, furloughs, layoffs, and continuing uncertainty for staff and clients in the months since January 2025. Despite significant political headwinds, CWS has patiently persisted in its work in support of making Fort Collins a community where the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are more than just slogans.