Boulder Valley Community Action Network (BVCAN)
We are members of a local community organizing group Boulder Valley Community Action Network (BVCAN) and BVCAN is a member of MOP —Metro Organizations for People:
· A federation of 44 congregations, schools, and youth and neighborhood associations throughout metro Denver
· representing over 65,000 people who are organizing their communities
· creating policy changes and effective programs in a variety of areas, including
education, housing, health care, public safety, and immigrant rights.
http://www.mopdenver.org/mission.htm
MOP is part of the PICO national network of community organizers
· represents over one million people in 150 cities in 17 states.
http://www.mopdenver.org/aboutPICO.htm
To do our work BVCAN completed over 125 one-to-one visits within the Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to find out members’ hopes and concerns for the communities in which they live.
As a result, BVCAN has been researching systemic solutions to help make health care more accessible and affordable for Boulder County kids.
To build relationship and understand the local political and governmental power structure surround this system we met with over 13 individuals. These research meeting help us learn and understand what is happening locally. Specifically we have become more familiar with the situation surrounding enrollment or non-enrollment of eligible kids in CHP+ & Medicaid in Boulder County.
· We have an excellent grasp of what is being done to enroll kids in Boulder County. And we are puzzled about why the gap in coverage remains for we know that Healthy Kids Initiative is working diligently and with results on the issue.
We are joined in this quest by members of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, the other Boulder County congregation which is a member of MOP.
· Also you should know that MOP is the lead organization in the Colorado coalition, All Kids Covered.
· MOP and PICO members worked hard for the passage of CHP+ — to expand health coverage to uninsured children in Colorado and nationally. They continue to be an excellent partner in helping us unravel the Boulder county low enrollment mystery.
Members of the Boulder Valley Community Action Network meet regularly at the Fellowship. We welcome new folks to our group and work. Feel free to contact any of these current BVCAN members to learn more and about our next meeting (check BVUUF calendar for our next meeting): Kathy Partridge, Ira Chernus, Dave and Mary Leonard, Marc Esenwein, Rosemary Arp, Diane Witt, Amanda Birmingham, or Ann Morrill. (February 23, 2010)