Barton Institute Becomes Fiscal Sponsor for Commún

The Barton Institute is honored to serve as the new fiscal sponsor for Commún*, an organization developed by and for the Southwest Denver community. Commún builds community resilience through relationships and programs that center community voice, cultivate a sense of belonging, and realize equity.

*Commún has the tag line “the verb of community” and is an invented word that lives between the English word “commune” and the Spanish word “común.”

 Here are just a few of the ways this young organization has taken action in 2020:

• In response to need for access to food with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Commún opened a community led and run food share on April 2. With the help of 20-30 volunteers, the food share gives away 22,000 pounds of food each week to 400 families. With input from its volunteers, Commún seeks to source culturally-responsive food as much as possible.

• To build more food resiliency in the community, Commún partnered with a local youth group to start a community garden and farm, growing over 2,000 pounds of fresh organic produce to provide for free. 

• At the request of local youth and community members, Commún offered six mental no-cost health workshops, including self care, self-esteem, dealing with anxiety and trauma symptoms, mental health in times of COVID, emotions expression, and healthy communication.   

Commún promotes economic sustainability and equity by recognizing that the time and expertise of community members is valuable. Through paid workshops and trainings, including paid meetings, Commún staff, volunteers, and community members are working together to improve the communal food share work experience, develop new programs, and increase access to knowledge, including a three-hour workshop on COVID resilience.

To learn more about Commún, visit their website here.