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Raise the Woof!

Please join us on

Saturday, July 23, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. for the second annual Raise the Woof Gala. 

There will be live music; "taste-of" style dining and beverages; silent auction, featuring pet products, jewelry, sporting tickets and more; live auction, including luxury vacations and priceless experiences.

The gala will be at the Mathews Collection, 5889 Lamar Street in Arvada.  A venue that houses a private car collection including the largest number of McLaren racing cars in the world 

Online registration available at www.RaiseTheWoof.org.

What's better than food, entertainment, give-away prizes, children's activities and senior resources all in one place?  Having it all completely FREE.  This is exactly what you can expect at this year's Jeffco CARES Festival, Saturday, August 6, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Lakewood Heritage Center, 801 South Yarrow Street.

With more than 50 vendors from throughout Jefferson County, the Jeffco CARES Festival will feel like a community resource fair combined with a neighborhood block party.  Formerly known as the Community Resource Fair and in its eighth year serving the community, the Jeffco CARES Festival is now bigger and better.  Resources will be available in areas such as education, health and safety, mental health, family-centered, disability, children, cultural, basic needs, seniors and more.

Grab some free food including ice cream, popcorn, Jimmy John's sandwiches, and hamburgers and hotdogs cooked by West Metro Fire Department, while enjoying music and entertainment like the band Synergy or a Jeffco Sheriff's K9 dog demonstration.  You can even checkout a fire truck, ambulance or a Jeffco Sheriff's Armored Personnel Carrier. 

For our seniors, there will be a wellness corner with various resources, free massages, haircuts and health screenings.  The kids won't be left out either and will have fun activities such as storytelling, face painting, balloon animals, Kookie the Clown and bike safety. 

Prizes such as a DIRECTV System, a $50 pass to any Lakewood recreation center, backpacks full of school supplies, bowling passes, movie tickets, $50 at Goodyear Tires, and Starbucks coffee will all be given away! 

So bring your neighbors, family and friends for this day of food, fun, education, connection and prizes!  Special thanks to our major sponsors: St. Anthony Hospital, Colorado Access, Jeffco Human Services, Shine, and Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches. 

Visit caresfestival.jeffco.us or contact Mallory Hyatt, 303-271-4389 for more information on the festival as well as volunteer, vendor and sponsorship opportunities.

Celebrating 150 Years  

by Faye Griffin, Chair of the Jeffco Board of County Commissioner

Happy sesquicentennial!  This year marks the county's 150th birthday, and what a great year to be in Jefferson County.

Commissioners Faye Griffin and Don Rosier with Thomas Jefferson at the January 150th celebration

We kicked off the year with a birthday party in the atrium that included a Thomas Jefferson look alike and your commissioners and county staff in historical costumes.
 

As the year continues, there is much more to do and see, like parades this summer and our Historical Commission is hosting a Grand Sesquicentennial Celebration Gala and Hall of Fame Dinner at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in November.

Jefferson County was one of the 17 original counties formed in 1861, fifteen years before Colorado even became a state. So much has changed in the last 150 years.  When Jeffco was first formed, it was home to homesteaders and those seeking fortunes in gold.  In fact sometime in the 1850s, the first Colorado gold found was in Ralston Creek near the present day location of 56th Avenue and Benton in Arvada.  Then in 1858, William Green Russell discovered gold near the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River, which started the Colorado "Pikes Peak" gold rush.

Now Jeffco is home to more than 535,000 residents and many successful local businesses and Fortune 500 companies.  We also have the most beautiful parks thanks to our award winning Open Space program.  It truly is a wonderful place to live, work and just simply enjoy life. 

I am so proud to call myself a Jefferson County Commissioner. Being born and raised in the city of Golden, I'm also proud to call myself a Jefferson County native.  So please join me this year in celebrating 150 wonderful Jeffco years and don't forget to check out www.jeffco.us/150.htm for fun facts and sesquicentennial events going on throughout the county this year. 

Jeffco/Denver CSU Extension Hires First Urban AG Coordinator

by Jo Schantz, CSU Extension

Colorado State University (CSU) Extension is pleased to announce that a new position and a new staff member have been added to its field of trained agents. Blake Angelo, a Colorado native and urban farm enthusiast, recently accepted the role as Extension's Urban Agriculture Education Coordinator where he will jointly serve both Jefferson and Denver counties.

"We created the position due to the large volume of public inquiries into the growing trend of farming in the city," explains Rusty Collins, Director of CSU Extension for Denver and Jefferson counties. "Callers were asking us how to start for-profit businesses and nonprofits and wanted to learn how to raise their own fresh produce." Collins also pointed out that CSU Extension has always been a leading local resource in educating the public about agriculture, nutrition and up-to-date gardening techniques.

Before taking on the position, Angelo was the director of a Denver-area nonprofit focused on community development, and he worked as a consultant for local grassroots projects, including some focused on agriculture. Previously, he founded a media company specializing in video production and website development.

After earning his Bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Angelo began his career by conducting biological research. Later, he transitioned into community health research and program expansion. His agricultural experience ranges from planting vegetable gardens at the Colorado State Capital to serving as an international volunteer in Belgium, Switzerland and Peru where he studied organic vegetable and dairy farming. 

In recent years, Angelo has been a board member for the Bioregional Council, a national organization of environmental activists. He is also a volunteer mentor for Minds Matter Colorado, helping to ensure that first-generation, low-income high school students are prepared for college.  He has also served as a volunteer coordinator for Grow Local Colorado's gardens in Civic Center Park. During this last endeavor, where Angelo and a team of 30 volunteers transformed the park's flower gardens into abundant vegetable patches to provide fresh produce for local nonprofits. The food was then distributed to organizations such as The Gathering Place, an agency that assists homeless women, and area food banks.

"Urban farmers and the food they create have the incredible potential to transform the health, beauty, and vibrancy of our neighborhoods," Angelo says. "As inner-city residents begin to grow their own food, they bring agriculture into the public view where it can sprout into public dialogue."

CSU Extension is conducting needs-assessments of current urban farmers and will develop programs, including webinars and helpful program materials for community gardens and urban farmers.  

Angelo currently resides in Edgewater where he has turned his own backyard into a demonstration urban farm complete with chickens, worm composting, fruit trees and a 1,000-square-foot vegetable garden.

To reach Blake Angelo, call 303-271-6620, or contact him via email at blake.angelo@colostate.edu.

Head Start News

by Mallory Hyatt, Jeffco Human Services 

No-Cost Preschool Program Open for Enrollment

Every child deserves an education.  In today's economy more families are struggling to make ends meet and are worried about how they will send their children to school.  Jefferson County Head Start is here to help. 

With educational programming available for children ages three to five, this no-cost program is open for enrollment for the 2011-2012 school year.  Come to an open house on Wednesday, July 20, 8 a.m. to noon, or Wednesday, August 10, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. at 5150 Allison Street in Arvada to learn more and to enroll in the program.

Services available at the open houses will include Cavity Free at 3 and Kid Focus Dentistry.  Please call for a dental appointment before July 20 with Ronald McDonald Dental Mobile at 303-343-8001 and Carin' Clinic, a clinic serving those without health insurance, at 303-423-8836.

Jefferson County Head Start is a child-focused and family-centered preschool program which provides a range of individualized services in areas of education, early childhood development, medical, dental, mental health, nutrition, family support, and parent involvement.  Families living in Jefferson County, specifically Arvada, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Westminster, Edgewater and Littleton, as well as Park, Clear Creek and Gilpin counties, are eligible.  Head Start is available to families who are at 100 percent of poverty level; however, other families may qualify. 
  

Locations:

Arvada Head Start, 5150 Allison Street, Arvada

Wheat Ridge Head Start, 12725 West 42nd Avenue
  

For more information, please contact Michelle Kalkwarf, 720-497-7908.

Jefferson County Head Start - More Than Just a Preschool Program

On May 9, Head Start professionals from throughout Colorado came together for a summit focused on collaboration, communication and problem solving aimed at benefiting parents of children enrolled in the program. 

Known as the Family Partnership Professional Association, the group holds two trainings, or summits, a year in order to move toward more effective solutions for family services. 

"The summits offer a great opportunity for Head Start professionals to collaborate and discuss what's working, what we can do better, and how we can focus not only on education, but also on family services," states Jefferson County Head Start Family Support Worker, Peter Clausen.

Future goals of the group include incorporating community partners, measuring and defining outcomes for families, and directly involving parents by asking, "How can we better serve you?"  The work that is done with parents that live at or below the poverty level is primarily for guidance and support toward self sufficiency.  Whether it is parenting classes, dental treatment, finding employment or housing, Head Start family support workers are actively involved in the lives of the children and parents served. 

For more information about Jefferson County Head Start or the training program, please contact Peter Clausen, 720-497-7930 or Elizabeth Wenger, 720-497-7905. 

Joyful July Public Health Updates

by Nancy Braden, Jeffco Public Health Communications

Sun Safety

At 93 million miles away, you could miss the warning Label.  Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States.  Click here to learn more on how to protect yourself from skin cancer, or download handouts and facts.

Water Safety

Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) encourages healthy swimming behaviors to reduce the risk of recreational water illnesses.  Recreational Water Illnesses (RWIs) are illnesses that are spread by swallowing, breathing or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, lakes, rivers or oceans. RWIs can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including gastrointestinal, skin, respiratory, neurological and wound infections.  The most commonly reported RWI is diarrhea.  Diarrheal illnesses can be caused by germs such as Crptosporidium, Giradia, Shigella, norovirus and E. coli.

Practice healthy swimming behaviors:

• Refrain from swimming when ill, especially if you have diarrhea.
• Avoid swallowing pool water or even getting it in your mouth.
• Shower before swimming and wash hands after using a bathroom or changing diapers. Change diapers in a bathroom, not poolside or near water.

EHS performs routine inspections of year round public and semi-public pools/spas.  Follow-up inspections are performed as needed. JCPH also offers a Pool/Spa Certification Course designed to prepare individuals in the basic knowledge, techniques, and skills of pool-spa operations.  

For more information about Recreational Water Illness Prevention and Healthy Swimming, contact Leslie Frank, Environmental Health Specialist at 303-271-5776 or  at lefrank@jeffco.us.

Information can also be found on the Centers for Disease Control's website at: www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming.

Safe Sex

Access to sexual and reproductive health services is essential for healthy populations. JCPH supports all women's and men's rights to such access.  The Family Planning Program provides comprehensive contraceptive services to Jefferson County residents.  Services include education, counseling, medical examination, treatment and birth control methods for men and women.

In addition to providing birth control pills and condoms to prevent unintended pregnancies, the department offers alternatives through long acting birth control methods.  In addition, some activities are definitely high risk for HIV, STD and Hepatitis infection.  Protect yourself and your partner.  Wear a condom and get tested!

For appointments in Lakewood: 303-239-7078 or in Arvada: 303-275-7500.

Back to School Immunizations

Ready for the upcoming school year?  Books, backpacks, pencils and IMMUNIZATIONS! Parents are encouraged to take their children to their healthcare provider before summer's end for check-ups and immunizations.  JCPH also has immunization clinics for families needing vaccinations

Click here for a complete schedule of recommendations.  All JCPH Immunization clinics are by appointment only! Call 303-232-6301 to schedule an appointment in Arvada or Lakewood

Free Meals for kids and teens all summer long

The Summer Food Service Program is a federal nutrition program designed to replace school meals during the summer.  Hunger Free Colorado and its partners, including Livewell Wheat Ridge, are helping to promote this important service.  To find a site nearest you, visit: www.summerfoodcolorado.org or call 877-93-hunger (877-934-8643).

Upcoming Produce and Health Fairs

The next Produce and Health Fairs will be held on July 15 and 16 from 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at the Healing Waters Family Center, 6475 West 29th Avenue in Wheat Ridge.

Jefferson County Public Health Nutrition Services has organized produce and health fairs again this year for low-income residents and seniors who may not otherwise have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  While there are no income or residential requirements to participate, organizers trust that their goal of providing nourishment and education to low-income residents will be respected and supported.  A slideshow of previous produce fairs is available on our flickr account.

National Prevention Strategy

On June 16, U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and members of the National Prevention Council released the first ever National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy at a news conference in Washington.  The strategy provides an opportunity to shift the United States from a focus on sickness and disease to one based on wellness and prevention. Currently, chronic diseases and conditions account for at least seven of every 10 deaths in the United States and for more than 75 percent of medical care expenditures.  

Many of these conditions are preventable.  Bringing a focus on the prevention of disease and promotion of wellness to the forefront of our efforts will help lead to longer, healthier and more productive lives for all Americans.  To learn how you can become part of America's Plan for Better Health and Wellness, read the National Prevention Strategy. 

Ask the Shelter Veterinarian About Spay and Neuter

by Mollie Thompson, Foothills Animal Shelter