Mountain Resource Center engages its community with essential services – such as food and financial assistance, family education classes, mental and physical healthcare, job training, and community events – that empower all people to thrive.
A Navy Vietnam Veteran talked with one of the staff from Mountain Resource Center. He expressed that MRC had helped him when he was deeply in debt and was in need of mental health services. He mentioned he was the healthiest he has ever been and he was debt free for the first time because of the services offered by MRC. He also mentioned that he was connected with EMDR, which was one of the services recommended by the Veteran’s Advocate and it was the first time that services in this area had worked for him.
One goal of our intergenerational cooking classes is to increase participants’ confidence in relating to other generations. Positive outcomes we have seen include an older adult participant who drove her teenage neighbor to the class. Since the class, they have continued cooking together, improving each other’s access to healthy food.
We engage our community with essential services that empower all people to thrive.
Founded in 1990, Mountain Resource Center (MRC) is the only agency along the Highway 285 corridor that provides multiple, related services for low-income residents of Western Jefferson and Eastern Park counties. Mountain Resource Center's 1,000 square mile rural service area encompasses a census tract that comprises 16 people per square mile compared to the state average of 52 people per square mile. A large part of our service area is designated as low access, which means that over 33% of the census tract’s population lives over ten miles away from the nearest grocery store (USDA Food Access Research Atlas.) As one might imagine, living in a geographically isolated community means that residents must travel farther distances for all necessary services, not just food. 97% of the 1288 households MRC serves are living below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, which for a family of four is $60,000/year. Our clients face low access to services and the oftentimes unaffordable cost of those same services.
The agency’s integrated services approach aligns with that of a typical multi-service nonprofit; this type of organization is deeply connected to the surrounding community and offers a wide variety of services that residents and public officials can trust (The Bridgespan Group, “Clients at the Center: Realizing the Potential of Multi-Service Organizations, 2011.) MRC's family education and parent support programs, veterans support, basic needs assistance, and food pantry work in unison to offer residents a cohesive approach that simultaneously address a myriad of needs. Clients receive immediate help through the food pantry and rent/mortgage and utility financial assistance. Once a client’s short-term need is addressed, the Center's family education, parent support, mental health, and workforce programs work to solve other underlying problems
Organization name
Mountain Resource Center, Inc.
other names
MRC, Mountain Family Project, Inc.
1990
Tax id (EIN)
84-1178699
Category
Human Services
Address
11030 Kitty DriveMailing
P.O. Box 425Jefferson County, CO, US