Evergreen Christian Outreach

In 2023 echo client advocate and program staff had over 19,000 interactions with over 2400 individuals. Echo's food pantry, case management services, educational program, and shelter program all are designed to address a specific need and support residents of our rural mountain communities. The advocates provided financial assistance to 440 households, averaging 697 per household. Assistance included vehicle repairs/tires, rent and deposit assistance, utility assistance, medical expenses, transportation expenses, etc. They also engage in approximately 2100 consultations with medical providers, mental health providers, jefferson county, social security, landlords, attorneys, vendors, etc, in order to ensure continuity of care. Often these consultations resulted in increased housing stability, increased access to medical and mental health care, and continued benefits form jefferson county.

Echo's resale store offers used clothing, furniture, and other household goods donated by individuals, at affordable prices to the mountain communities surrounding Evergreen. Resale is a key component of echo's mission to assist people in our community with basic and urgent needs and to help them move from survival to success. Basic needs are not just food, but also affordable clothes for children and household goods that help provide a healthy and safe place to live. For many on fixed incomes, resale enables them to maintain a level of self-sufficiency in a similar way to our food pantry. Echo will provide goods free of charge to individuals if the costs are an economic barrier. Echo's client advocates use the donated goods to provide furnishings for clients as they move out of homelessness. In 2023 echo resale moved 16 homeless clients into permanent housing and furnished them. .by providing the resale program, echo keeps valuable items out of landfills, recycles usable goods, supports the vision of nurturing hope, health, and security, and provides opportunities for individuals and groups to volunteer.

Echo operates the only emergency overnight shelter in the mountain areas of jefferson and surrounding counties. In 2023 the shelter was open 212 nights, covering the months of january through april and mid-october through.december. A total of 55 individuals utilized the shelter at various times throughout the shelter season for a total of 1664 guest nights with an average of 7.85 guests per night. Shelter guests have access to echo's pantry and work closely with client advocates who assisted numerous to obtain stable housing including a housing voucher, as well as furniture and household items to furnish apartment, and/or all of the above. Shelter operations were greatly assisted by 200 volunteers who provided over 6,500 hours of support. In 2023, 16 homeless individuals were placed in permanent housing