Prosperous Together: 7 Highlights from 2019

As we close out this year and this decade, we want to take the opportunity to thank our members and our community for their support of our work to give back to the Front Range communities we call home. We believe that together, we are genuinely prosperous. We want to look back on some of the highlights from 2019 and ways we felt prosperous by connecting with our community through our employees, volunteer work, our partners in the community and our support of Elevations Foundation.

Elevations Prosperity Month:

In June, we invited our members to give back with us in a big way. In its first year, Elevations Prosperity Month resulted in 1,490 volunteer hours provided to local nonprofits along the Front Range by a total of 225 participants, including 149 Elevations employees and 76 Elevations members. This total exceeded the goal set for June to give back 1,000 volunteer hours.

Elevations employees and members volunteered at these organizations:

• A Precious Child (Broomfield)
• Community Food Share (Louisville)
• Cultivate (Boulder)
• The Farm at Lee Martinez Park (Fort Collins)
• Food Bank for Larimer County (Fort Collins and Loveland)
• Poudre Education Association (Fort Collins and Loveland)

“We are proud to have exceeded our goal of 1,000 volunteer hours during Prosperity Month,” said Dennis Paul, Vice President of Community Affairs for Elevations. “Elevations members and employees are the best, and we thank everyone who participated in this initiative to showcase our dedication to the communities we serve. When we all work together, we are truly prosperous together.”

Volunteer Time Off (VTO):

This year, Elevations employees used their 16 hours of volunteer time off to help nonprofits across the Front Range with a variety of projects. We reached 4,580 total hours for the year. “Ending 2019 with a record number of volunteer hours is truly gratifying and speaks to our staff’s commitment to the communities we serve,” said Dennis Paul, Vice President of Community Affairs.

Old Town Fort Collins Groundbreaking:

In July, we broke ground on the much-anticipated Old Town Fort Collins site located at 221 E. Mountain Ave. We contracted with Fort Collins-based design-build firm The Neenan Company. There is an approximate completion date planned for Q1 2021.

The development will provide space for Elevations Credit Union to serve more members in the Fort Collins community. Elevations will occupy approximately 3,000 square feet on the first floor with a full-service branch offering consumer and business banking, mortgage loans, business loans and wealth management. We will also host community events and financial seminars in the second-floor space.

Community Events:

We spent each month in 2019 attending and sponsoring important events across the Front Range including the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the Buff Bike Classic, July 4^th at Waneka Lake, Boulder Pride, Boulder Latinx Festival and many more. “Supporting our communities is a priority for our organization. Elevations supported over 50 community partners in 2019,” said Dennis Paul, Vice President of Community Affairs. “We are blessed to have leadership that encourages these types of initiatives,” Paul went on to say.

Seminars and Financial Education:

We held 99 complimentary seminars, attended by over 2,000 community members in 2019. Our seminars help us provide the community with financial know-how and insights from a source they can trust, with topics from first-time homebuying to retirement planning, and small business to classic films. And we continue to conduct financial education presentations to K-12 students. We are proud to be the No. 1 credit union in Colorado for reaching the most students in classrooms with financial literacy presentations.

Support of Elevations Foundation’s Scholarship Program:

Elevations Foundation set another record by awarding $84,250 in scholarships to 33 local students in May. The scholarship recipients are 2019 graduates of Adams 12, Boulder Valley, Poudre, St. Vrain Valley and Thompson School Districts. The Elevations Foundation scholarship initiative has provided over $480,000 in scholarships for higher education during its first nine years. The 2020 scholarship cycle opens on January 1, 2020.

Support of Elevations Foundation’s Community Grant Program

In November, Elevations Foundation awarded a total of $66,400 in grants to 19 local nonprofits serving Front Range communities through the Foundation’s annual community grants program. This included a $2,000 grant for the first Elevations Members’ Choice Award recipient, Healing Warriors Program in Fort Collins.

The grants were awarded at the 2019 Annual Grantee Reception, held at Elevations Credit Union’s Diagonal Branch in Boulder on Nov. 14. Elevations Foundation’s Executive Director Phil Ferrante-Roseberry stated, “Elevations Foundation was able to give to 19 amazing and inspiring organizations doing such important work in our communities. We’re thrilled to provide support through this community grants program every year.”

None of this is possible without you—our members and community. Thank you for your support in 2019. 

Want to see what we’re up to throughout the year? Like us on Facebook to find upcoming events, photos when we’re out and about in the community, seminar dates, fun contests and much more. We look forward to seeing you there in 2020!