METRO CARING
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Mission Statement
Metro Caring works with our community to meet people’s immediate need for nutritious food while building a movement to address the root causes of hunger.
About This Cause
As Colorado's leading frontline anti-hunger organization, Metro Caring works with our community to meet people’s immediate need for nutritious food while building a movement to address the root causes of hunger. One in three Coloradans faces hunger. Metro Caring offers innovative programming in Healthy Foods Access, Nutrition Education and Cooking Classes, ID Procurement, Urban Gardening and Agriculture, and Community Organizing and Activation, so that Colorado families can break the cycle of poverty. Metro Caring is a welcoming, dignified, health-focused organization, open to everyone. Volunteers play a vital role in the mission of Metro Caring. We have rewarding opportunities for volunteers across a range of activities, with something for everyone. Volunteer schedules are flexible within our shift hours; Monday through Friday 8:30am–12:00pm or 12:00 pm–3:30pm; Tuesday evenings 5:30pm–8:00pm; and Sunday afternoons 1:00pm–4:00pm. When we began our work 46 years ago, Metro Caring was a vital but short-term safety net for people who had fallen on hard times. Today, knowing hunger is a symptom of larger issues, we’ve grown to add programming — nutrition education, gardens and urban farming, economic development, and community organizing and activation — so together we can confront hunger at its root. We believe Coloradans should know where their next meal will come from. As a community of more than 75,000 Coloradans, Metro Caring sees the foundations for a growing and vital anti-hunger movement. At Metro Caring, we engage thousands of Coloradans each week who need nutritious food. We supply fresh produce, refrigerated staples, frozen meat, grains, canned goods, and more. The bottom line is if you’re poor, a charity expects you to stand and wait in lines for handouts of cheap, unhealthy, processed food. Colorado is a rich agricultural state that year after year produces food surpluses. But extreme economic inequality creates vast disparities in food access within our state. We believe food choice is critical to creating an equitable experience for people in need. We continue to expand our tailored grocery bag options for families with special needs or preferences such as gluten free, vegetarian, and sugar-free, to name a few. To promote sustainable, long-term health, Metro Caring complements our offerings of healthy food with a menu of nutrition activities, cooking classes and clubs, and wellness programming. Our inclusive community fosters well-being with diverse programs that range from cooking classes and clubs (in English and Spanish); cooking classes for families; and classes in diabetes prevention and self-management. We see community building as key to ending hunger. Our Caring Voices in Action program activates community by preparing leaders to occupy all areas of influence related to food equity. By shifting power to those who are most affected by inequity in the food system, we are building a movement. As a community-based organization, Metro Caring brings experts with lived experience to the table. With training and organization, they are able to highlight the most urgent issues, inform policy development, testify at hearings, advocate to address root causes, and communicate with elected officials. Our team builds sustainable power structures within the community with high-quality training and leadership development, community organizing, civic engagement, advocacy, media training, storytelling, and intensive speaker trainings. Community Activation taps into the rich gifts and talents of our community. We are shifting narratives and policies on hunger through grassroots organizing—amplifying the voices of those most affected by systems of oppression. Our focus and strategies evolve with the changing needs of our community. People have been growing food in urban areas for years, so connecting Metro Caring–led community gardens with our food access model makes sense. Gardeners and visitors to Metro Caring get access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, while connecting with other gardeners and community members. When our community members share in the work of the gardens, working with their own hands, they connect with the food they grow and eat and strengthen the foundations of our anti-hunger movement. Metro Caring owns a hydroponic container farm. We call it the Hydro Farm. It’s an upcycled shipping container outfitted with a drip irrigation system that grows green leafy vegetables year-round! Metro Caring’s Hydro Farm is an urban farming educational space that provides fresh, local greens to consumers of all income levels. With technology that allows the farm to operate year-round, this type of farming is integral to a robust urban food system, helping us educate the next generation of urban farmers. We work with local high school students to teach the technical skills of hydroponic farming, while sharing our greens with the community through a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, a pay-what-you-can farmers market, and more! In our work devoted to dismantling systemic privilege in our local food system, we prioritize applications from participants in the Metro Caring network of community gardens. Some of our plots are reserved for gardeners committed to equity and anti-hate values. Everyone, in all spaces, must pursue equity.