History of A Little Help

2012: The biggest news so far this year is in recognizing, and acting on, the need to change our name to be more encompassing of the varied neighborhoods we serve while being reflective of our mission.

2011: A year filled with "new": a new Executive Director, new members, new volunteers and more volunteer hours provided, new board members, two matching grants, our most successful fund-raising event ever, a new part-time office support person, participation in Colorado Gives/Giving First.

2009-2010: Membership continued to grow.

2008: Washington Park Cares held a kickoff event at the Boathouse in Washington Park. Every person who had expressed interest over the past years was invited to come, socialize, and purchase their membership in Washington Park Cares. Capacity building funding for office equipment and supplies was received from JVA Consulting.

2007: Having received a positive response from Bill and Pera Beth's neighbors, they raised some funds, formed a Board of Directors, registered with the State of Colorado, and applied for and were granted non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service.

2005: Bill and Pera Beth Eichelberger, founders of Washington Park Cares, learned about the model of aging in community. Believing that this was the kind of approach they wanted, they shared information about his model with their neighbors, held community meetings, and assessed the interest in their neighborhood of starting a similar organization.

This is a terrific story of a grass-roots organization; a story that continues to unfold.