Make it stand out.

EJDP worked with the Huerfano Community Corporation to write and win a $675,000 grant for a community services Cooperative. We won the grant and worked with the board to do strategic planning and schematic design for the building. The Community of Gardner identified several phases to achieve a long-term Economic Development Mixed Use Master Plan. Our initial priority project includes developing a multi-use CoOp facility & fuel station on the land purchased along mainstreet in Gardner, off Hwy 69. We have preliminary engineering & site plans & working through permitting to initiate construction. The vision for this multi-use facility will support a local healthy food venue, fuel/propane station and promote economic growth through circular approaches & business incubators, attracting new businesses to the area & supporting development of local industries. The CoOp building will also provide information access through broadband internet, a satellite library, maker spaces, including a commercial kitchen for local producers & shared garden to produce local food. Additionally, a new trail around the CoOp building will be constructed to provide access to nature and walking for health benefits. Subsequent phases will design & build affordable attainable housing for teachers, firefighters, nurses, elderly & families, through grant subsidies to ensure equitable housing access for all. Additionally, HCC will support a short term rental house for guests that would serve to generate revenue for upkeep and maintenance, pharmacy & telehealth care, social & economic services, and economic equity in local jobs for all ages. All design concepts involve local use & conservation to preserve cultural/historical heritage and our native ecological assets which are a pride of our community. This project was initiated by the community because there was nowhere for teachers to live, no place to get gas, no public restroom in town, no access to food of any kind, no medical resources, no places for kids to play, & no places for elderly people to walk. All proposed ideas came out of our community meetings, then community members visited and explored precedents for CoOp ownership in our region. We are fundraising through grants & individual donors, and will leverage strategic funding. With this grant, we will pay for final engineering, architectural design, & hire a GC to oversee construction. We have partnered with experts such as NeighborWorks, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union & Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center to guide us through the CoOp start-up process. We have developed a capital stack plan and continue to network with DOLA, GOCO, USDA, CHAFA & foundations for fundraising. HCC is outreaching current & former Gardner community members to bring their skills & resources home, including our first investors who are Gardner School alumni. We have a network of local builders for building materials & skilled construction labor. Community members who did not have equity to invest wanted to be part of the solution & are willing to give labor & time because ultimately everyone will benefit.  The CoOp will explore the use of other forms of collective ownership including: local food production, processing, growing & manufacturing; food store & cafe; propane & fuel; revive La Clinica Health Services, & engaging rotating providers for telehealth services. The CoOp will provide a market for local artists & producers. We have a large community of artists & musicians & the CoOp will serve a creative economy including our history of music/dance festivals. Through this plan, we will provide hospitality services & a secure location for those events that directly benefit the community. Through long days of community outreach meetings, the community gathered to talk and stayed long after the workshop was over to figure out how we can make it a reality. To ensure the community remained involved, we texted & called every local number, hung fliers at the school & post office, and word of mouth worked best in our rural community. We had long meetings with the school board & principal (Gardner School alum) to determine the need for teacher housing & we reached out to the greater community through the current year long IHOP program & housing needs assessment. The CoOp is the preferred model identified by the community to serve the needs of Gardner so revenue from the community owned CoOp will be directly reinvested in the community & provide multiple funding streams to support additional phases of development.