June 2025 Newsletter
Keep up to date with the latest news from Healthy Jeffco Alliance partners and community!
Dear Healthy Jeffco Alliance,
Welcome to summer! As the days get longer and the world around us shifts, we want to take a moment to celebrate our purpose. The Alliance is a vibrant community of individuals, organizations, businesses and people united in our mission to foster health and opportunity in Jefferson County. Together, we are working towards a brighter future where everyone can thrive. You are an essential part of this network, and our collective strength is what makes this Alliance so special. Over the past few months, our dedicated partners have been busy preparing to launch an educational campaign to help everyone in Jefferson County navigate and access physical and mental/behavioral health care. Be sure to check out this month’s newsletter to learn more about the efforts and discover how you can get involved. Let’s continue to uplift one another and make a positive impact in our community.
Community Efforts Improving the Health of Jefferson County Communities
Build Connection Across the Denver Metro with the Mile Long Table!

This powerful 5,280-person shared meal hosted by Longer Tables will stretch across the Auraria Campus. Celebrate community, connection and belonging on July 26th. Learn more or get involved at milelongtable.org.
Check out the June edition of the Connecting Dots Newsletter where you’ll find important updates about health, wellbeing and community resources.
Jeffco Regional Health Connector Newsletter – June 2025

Annual School Supply Distribution with the Action Center
The Action Center strives to send kids back to school with the confidence and resources they need to excel in the classroom and beyond. Get involved by donating school supplies through August 14th and spread the word about school supply distribution happening on July 31st, August 1st and August 2nd. Learn more on the Action Center website.

Improving Health Care Navigation Through Knowledge and Self-Advocacy
Imagine what we could accomplish in Jefferson County if mental health centers, community health clinics, hospitals, local service organizations and government agencies all worked together toward a common goal. Did you know: the Healthy Jeffco Alliance was designed to support exactly this type of collaboration! This summer, the Alliance’s Access to Care team, made up of representatives from Benefits in Action, Doctors Care, Lutheran Hospital, Jefferson Center, Jefferson County Public Health, Latinas Community Connection Services, STRIDE Community Health Center, Signal Behavioral Health and St. Anthony Hospital, are working together to improve access to health care in our communities.
The team’s current project was born out of the work of the Center in Community Action Team which identified barriers and solutions to improving culturally inclusive health care in Jefferson County. You can learn more about their findings in the project report on the Alliance website. In taking the next step of implementing strategies for improving access to health care, our community requested simple, easy to understand information about how to access and pay for health care. This summer, Alliance partners are delivering.
The initiative includes the creation and widespread distribution of educational materials such as flyers, infographics and videos. The materials cover three core topics: 1) types of health care, 2) discounted care available in Jeffco, and 3) how to get health insurance in Colorado. The content has a special focus on the differences between the health care systems in the United States versus Latin American countries. The materials have been tested with volunteers at the Action Center and navigators at Jefferson Center and will be available in English and Spanish.

The team is excited to launch the initiative in mid-July. Throughout July and August, the Alliance and its partners will share insights, information and videos about access to medical care in Jefferson County. In the meantime, the team offers the following insights and pictures from their work so far.
1. Passion builds momentum
The topic of increasing people’s knowledge of how to access and pay for physical, mental and behavioral health care, especially among Spanish-speaking community members, is a topic the people of Jefferson County care deeply about. While access to health care is not a new or surprising health priority in Jeffco, it continues to be an ongoing challenge in our communities. As partners developed this effort, time and time again, navigators, clinic providers, community members and even members of this team affirmed through their own experiences the need for basic information on levels of care, discounted care and steps for getting insurance. This priority resonates deeply with those involved. The connection to this topic, plus the desire to help make others’ experiences better, is propelling the team forward and building momentum.
2. Simplicity leads to curiosity
The U.S. health care system is complicated enough. In creating materials covering complex topics, the group strived to keep things simple. This simplicity offers a starting point aimed at drawing people in to ask more questions specific to their needs. It is not necessary to provide every definition, criteria and nuance. In reality, a high level of detail can intimidate people instead of inviting them in and welcoming their curiosity. The team continued to ask themselves, “how can we simplify this information in a way that creates enough clarity, but also builds our audience’s confidence in feeling like they can ask more questions?” This is a tricky balance to strike, but the group has worked hard to find middle ground.
3. Language matters
In developing their educational materials, the team learned the importance of transcreation, rather than just translation, when communicating in multiple languages. In some instances, words simply do not translate, and instead the group needed a more descriptive way of explaining complex topics. For example, in English, we use the word ‘premium’ to describe a basic concept in health insurance. If you aren’t careful, though, a Spanish translation may lead you to use the word, ‘prima,’ which refers to your cousin, instead of the payment you make to an insurance company for coverage.
4. Relationships Run Deep
After working together for several months, and for some Alliance partners many years, team members know how to collaborate to get things done! In June, representatives from Jefferson Center and Doctors Care starred in videos shot at STRIDE in Wheatridge using scripts that were co-designed by representatives from Jefferson Center, Latinas Community Connection Services, STRIDE, Doctors Care and Jefferson County Public Health based on educational material content developed by the team. Jeffco rocks! Check pictures below of the video shoots.
A lack of necessary health care can affect our work, our ability to cope with life’s challenges, and can result in significant medical debt and negative health outcomes. Through the Alliance, people in Jefferson County are coming together to help people have the right information to make informed decisions related to their health care. More organizations are joining the effort to not only distribute information, but to also learn from each other and provide feedback in a Community of Practice. If you have stories and insights to share or would like to actively join the effort, connect with Kelly. Follow the work of the team on its website.

Share your community spotlights and events!
Is there a community spotlight or event you would like us to share on our website and in our upcoming newsletter? We're always looking to share information about events, programs, initiatives and other exciting work supporting connection and collaboration in Jeffco communities.