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Thanks To This Amazing Little Cafe

September 27, 2018 by Liz Tufte

Three years ago, I became a homeless homeowner and an unemployed graphic designer. I had no idea how hard it would be to live in my car. I thought it would be like camping for a while until I found a place to stay. Yeah, right.

I was astounded at the impossible housing situation. I had fled an abusive relationship and needed to heal from the trauma in a safe, nourishing space. Instead, I found myself scrabbling on the street, wondering each day if I would ever live like a normal person again. This lasted a year. I tried to find work, but I couldn’t think. Brain injuries prevented me from functioning.

I needed nutrition. Good, healthy, fresh food. I went to the food bank twice a week, but I had no way of cooking the vegetables or the frozen meals. Sometimes I would find a packaged salad and some fruit. I had no way of refrigerating anything, so there was no point in carrying around more food than I could eat in a day.

The meals provided by the social service agencies often made me sick because I had reactions to dairy and other ingredients they were using.

FoCo Cafe has provided my body with cell-regenerating nutrition. And it’s been more: It’s been a place where I’ve received respect. Where I’ve been welcomed, not shooed away like a stray cat.

Thanks to this amazing little cafe, I’ve been able to rebuild my life. I love that they trade in all kinds of currency: money, local farm-grown veggies, kitchen and garden help, live music … and that they’re committed to the community that helped them begin this pay-what-you-can adventure.

The community includes the next generation. Over the past three years, I’ve witnessed a dramatic change in some of the kids who eat at the cafe regularly with their parents. Children who were hesitant and shy at first have blossomed into friendly, self-confident individuals.

This whole experience has inspired me to launch a design and social media company based on the Pay What You Can model. It’s been organic as I’ve picked up little jobs here and there: marketing for a local rock band, social media management for a local farm, and a couple of print projects. My brain is working well enough that I can now build a new business.

Three years ago, I was broken. Just a bum on the street. Today, I’m creating a new venture that will provide a service to those who would not otherwise have access to it, based on a sustainable fair exchange.

I wouldn’t have even thought of this new business without the lifesaving help of FoCo Cafe. Social services helped me survive; FoCo Cafe helped me thrive.

The cafe is asking for our help right now. They have given more value to the community than can be measured. Let’s step up and make sure OUR cafe will continue to thrive.

Filed Under: Blog

Dance to Live Music and Support Doing it For Ourselves!

August 1, 2018 by Liz Tufte

Our own little outdoor #MusicFestival has sold out the last four years. Foco Cafe’s 6th annual Bike-In Festival on July 23 promises to keep your feet dancing to new local music while children* get their faces painted and your #bike** gets repaired on-site. Good food, good beer, good music. #FamilyFun. Plus a #LiveAuction of desserts so you can take home something sweet!

Here’s the line-up:

Opening with Conrad Pierce, a producer from Fort Collins. The music he produces is very vibey and perfect for laying back and chilling out. His sound incorporates tribal and experimental beats along with layers of upbeat production. Find his music here.

You’ll be the first to see Grass Blue Rhythm (GBR) Grass Blue Rhythm pickin’ it with Sean Fazzini of House With A Yard. 

“Having the opportunity to play our first gig as a band at this festival is a huge honor. We’re really looking forward to seeing the community come together, enjoy the outdoors, and enjoy some fine music. It should be a great time,” said Sean, GBR’s mandolin player.

“This is GBR’s first gig as a band, and I’m real excited to be pickin’ some bluegrass with these cats,” said Sean Fazzini of House With A Yard.  “I’m very grateful to be doing what I love alongside so many great people and musicians. Thanks to everyone that plans to come, and everyone that can’t. I’ll see ya out there folks!”

theKITYproject is a new Front Range Folkadelic-Blues band based out of Fort Collins. This 5-piece ensemble features soulful harmonies, infectious melodies, and rhythms that beg to be danced. Influenced by Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Bill Withers, Say Anything, Mike Love, Bright Eyes, and many more.

“Fantastic event! We love any opportunity to play outdoors, just the feeling of big open spaces seems to agree with music. Bonus points for more dancing space. Better yet we get to play in support of a fantastic community resource like FoCo Cafe, so far as I can see, it’s everything I could ever want in a show!” said theKITYproject.

Good Gravy is a modern approach to American roots music or Americana, inspired by String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Leftover Salmon. Bluegrass, rock, folk, electronic, jazz, and even calypso. 

Conrad Pierce 2:00pm – 2:50pm
Grass Blue Rhythm 3:10pm – 4:00pm
The KITY Project 4:20pm – 5:10pm
Good Gravy! 5:30pm – 7:00pm

Guaranteed to throw down everything from psychedelic dance beats to slamming bluegrass, this improvisational contemporary band takes acoustic songwriting to new and exciting realms. Good Gravy is said to “melt the heart, as well as the face.” 

*Get a children’s ticket free with the purchase of an adult ticket. 

**No onsite parking, so plan accordingly! Gates open at 2pm with music to follow shortly after. Bike in and jam with us! 

Filed Under: Blog, Events

Our Community Partners: April 2018 Events

April 18, 2018 by Liz Tufte

Crazy Horse Youth Center Benefit Concert

https://www.facebook.com/events/1998744450170464/

Enjoy some powerful music and art to support a thriving space for youth on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

April 19, 2018
5 – 9 PM

Downtown Artery
254 Linden St.
Fort Collins, CO 80524


EARTH DAY WEEKEND
April 20 – 22, 2018

You Are Warmly Invited to Earthlings Unite!
https://www.facebook.com/events/401759490295815/

Celebrate Earth Day with art and community. Play with others in a “Paint the Music” workshop. Build a fairy house. Create a vision board. Join a healing circle. Connect with like-minded people and explore ways to build a vision of the healthier world that we want to live in.

All are welcome! Feel free to invite other earthlings! 🙂

The Art Lab
239 Linden St.
Fort Collins 80524


“Shaping Our World Together”

Join us to launch CO Rising’s campaign on the Northern Front Range!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1982765065375268/

Hear speakers, listen to great live music, sign the petition, and get involved. Optional training session for volunteers who would like to help collect signatures on our CO Rising petitions.

Food and drink will be available for purchase. Other co-host speakers will give updates on the DAPL legal situation and FoCo City Plan Ambassador programs.

RSVP: on Facebook or by email: unite@corising.org.

Sunday, April 22, 2018
2 – 5 PM

Avogadro’s Number
605 S. Mason St.
Fort Collins, CO


The Growing Project’s Educational Garden

Volunteer Hours Starting April 23
http://www.thegrowingproject.org/volunteer.html

Learn sustainable growing techniques while helping in our garden and hoop house. Volunteer hours every Monday and Thursday 5-7 pm and Monday morning 8:30 am-10:30 am. Volunteers can take home produce in exchange for their work based on the time of season! All volunteers must attend a volunteer orientation.


Help Launch FoCo’s New Tool Lending Library

People sharing tools to build a more connected future

Wear your play clothes! Be ready to grab a power tool or a broom and help spiff the place up.
This is the home of a new tool-lending resource. Why buy a tool for that one-time repair when you can borrow it? After the initial setup, the library will be open Thur – Sat. during Eco-Thrift store hours. Thank you so much for all your hard work in actualizing this community vision!

Wed. April 25, 2018
10 AM – 4 PM
Facebook Event link and signup page to come!

Eco-Thrift
314 N. Howes St.
Fort Collins, CO 80521


Cloverlick Banjo’s 2nd Annual Earth Day Celebration

Live music: Cary Morin — Tallgrass — Whippoorwill — The Honey Gitters — Elli Perry — Derek Blake — Shark Dreams — Pappy Longlegs — BJ Kinney — V-Squad — and some very special guests

Kids Creative Corner with River Song Waldorf School

Family friendly. Please no pets. Walk or Bike-in Only (No parking). Food and drinks provided.

Sunday, April 22, 2018
1 – 8 PM

Cloverlick Banjo Shop
1208 W. Myrtle St. via Butterfly Alley
Fort Collins, CO 80521


Earth Day Mindful Walk

Join Mindful Fort Collins, a 501c3, for our Earth Day Walking Event! We will meet at the Spring Canyon Veteran’s Plaza near the dog park. Join us from 9:30 – 10:00 for a meet & greet and get some mindful walking tips. This is a family-friendly event. Mindful Fort Collins supports the Fort Collins and surrounding communities with mindful information, learning opportunities, and mindfulness networking.

Sunday, April 22, 2018
9 – 11 AM

2626 W. Horsetooth Rd.
Fort Collins, CO 80526

Filed Under: Blog

My Biggest Fear: Becoming a “Bag Lady”

April 12, 2018 by Liz Tufte

My biggest fear? Becoming a “bag lady.” (That’s what we called homeless women in the 1960s where I grew up.)

As a kid, I was terrified of becoming one of those destitute people pushing a grocery cart full of bundles and bags down the street.

Sometimes we attract that which we fear the most.
A couple of years ago, it happened. I was fortunate: Instead of pushing a grocery cart, I rode a bicycle. Instead of plastic bags, I carried backpacks.

Once upon a time …
I was a productive member of the community — a homeowner in a long-term relationship, nurturing a butterfly garden in the front yard and a community sandbox in the back. I worked as a freelance graphic designer and rescued animals.

All of a sudden:
I found myself halfway across the country, sleeping outside on a cold metal picnic table with fifty cents to my name. The table I chose as a bed happened to be outside FoCo Cafe. I shivered as I slept. The early-morning sunrise started to glow.

Steven arrived to open the cafe. I had planned to disappear before anyone could see me, but I was too cold to wake up in time.

So I awoke to Steven’s gentle voice welcoming me in for a fresh cup of coffee. He didn’t shoo me away as if I was a feral cat. He didn’t call the cops. He didn’t ignore me, and he didn’t charge a dime for the most nourishing cuppa ever brewed. He treated me with compassion and respect as if I was a likable human being.

And it was warm inside. Jeff was humming away in the kitchen, music was playing, and it was warm. It was warm. It was warm.

They gave me food. I ate. Steven insisted on giving me his own breakfast that day: enough for extra to provide sustenance later.

Now it’s time to give back.

Mallory has invited me to contribute to the blog, which will be kind of a hyperlocal online gathering place. We’ll post a newsfeed sharing updates on all the amazing work people are doing in this community, along with more in-depth reports of specific issues.

We hope this will blog will be another good place for us to connect and provide mutual support.

OneLove.

~ Liz

Filed Under: Blog

Location and Hours

Mailing Address: PO Box 242, Fort Collins, CO 80522-0242

Street Address: 225 Maple Street, Fort Collins, CO 80521

Monday-Saturday 11am-2pm

Closed Sundays and Federal Holidays except for the following:

  • Open Veterans Day, November 11
  • Open on Thanksgiving Day, November 28
  • Open on MLK Day, January 20
  • Closed July 3 and 4 for Independence Day

FoCo Cafe is handicapped accessible

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FoCo Cafe (Feeding Our Community Ourselves, Inc.) is a Federal 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
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