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    <title>County Administrator</title>
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    <description>Latest local news from The Durango Herald.</description>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/building-a-healthier-community-by-promoting-mental-health/</link>
        <title>Building a healthier community by promoting mental health</title>
        <description>In Southwest Colorado, we count ourselves fortunate to call this beautiful place our home. Our small communities are part of vital ecosystem that allows us to thrive in our daily lives and connect with each other and the land. San...</description>
        <pubDate>Wed, 11 Sep 2019 19:02:49 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[In Southwest Colorado, we count ourselves fortunate to call this beautiful place our home. Our small communities are part of vital ecosystem that allows us to thrive in our daily lives and connect with each other and the land. San Juan Basin Public Health recognizes that building resiliency through strong connections creates healthier residents and healthier communities. These connections act as part of local suicide prevention. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and SJBPH would like to highlight the power of creating connections to support good mental health. Mental health is a state of balance in our thoughts, emotions and behaviors. Positive mental health allows us to feel good about life, supporting our ability to participate in daily activities and accomplish our goals. Challenges to our mental health can include varying levels of stress, anxiety and trauma, with some people experiencing significant mental illness. Whether a person is experiencing stress from a tough day at work, or suffering from severe ongoing depression and despair, evidence suggests that connection with others can help. While most of us are not professional therapists trained to address mental health conditions, we are all able to reach out to someone who is struggling. This can even include strangers. As part of a larger collaborative suicide prevention effort with numerous other partners in the region, SJBPH is promoting a statewide mental health campaign called Let’s Talk, aimed at making mental health conversations easier. The way we think about mental health affects how comfortable we are talking about it and how we respond when someone else needs support. The Let’s Talk campaign provides simple guidance on how to start conversations about mental health and how to share important resources with those who need additional help. The campaign provides several tools, including videos, posters and other materials that can be used to build awareness of these simple steps. For more information, check out its website at LetsTalkCO.org. Even without guidance from something like the Let’s Talk campaign, all of us can make meaningful connections. This might include: checking in with an elderly neighbor who is often alone; reaching out to a single mom with who works two jobs and struggles to find time for her children; or having a conversation with a preteen who feels like an outsider at school. Evidence shows that connection between adolescents and their parents or families has been associated with decreased suicidal behaviors. Building resilience in youths through meaningful connections with family and other trusted adults promotes coping skills, problem-solving skills, general life satisfaction, good self-esteem and a sense of purpose. The Let’s Talk campaign is just one aspect of the collaborative work taking place in local communities by partners that represent a wide range of individuals and organizations, including school districts, communities of faith, youth-focused organizations, mental health organizations and practitioners, families and many others. This yearslong effort has resulted in a process to identify and build on strengths in our region that create more resilient communities and to address gaps that create challenges. This work co-led by the Thriving Communities Program at SJBPH has created a framework with a central steering committee and additional work groups to address needs such as building suicide prevention awareness, providing training, drafting a communitywide plan to respond when suicides occur and ensuring entities and organizations are working with each other when providing services to people experiencing mental health crises. The La Plata County Suicide Prevention Collaborative has recently completed strategic planning that has identified an increase in social connectedness for youths and adults as one of its primary focus areas. This work is not a program to be implemented, but an innovative way to approach public health problems, demonstrating that working together helps us all be more effective. A concept at the foundation of the suicide prevention and mental health promotion work occurring throughout our region is that connection with a caring person can change a life. Join with SJBPH and its partners this month in acknowledging that we all have a role to play in suicide prevention by creating meaningful connections with others. For more suicide prevention information, visit the agency’s website at https://sjbpublichealth.org/suicideprevention and LetsTalkCO.org to learn more about how to start a conversation about mental health. Jason Armstrong is Thriving Communities program manager and Claire Ninde is director of communications at San Juan Basin Public Health.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/tax-changes-may-affect-donations-to-nonprofits/</link>
        <title>Tax changes may affect donations to nonprofits</title>
        <description>Kienedu1-i-syn We’re counting down the hours till the IRS tax deadline, and news feeds are abuzz with stories about how Americans are experiencing the new tax laws. Perceptions vary regarding whether individual taxpayers are paying more, less or about the...</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2019 20:09:19 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Kienedu1-i-syn We’re counting down the hours till the IRS tax deadline, and news feeds are abuzz with stories about how Americans are experiencing the new tax laws. Perceptions vary regarding whether individual taxpayers are paying more, less or about the same as previous years. But while most taxpayers will see the impacts on their pocketbook by Monday, the jury is still out for the impact to nonprofits. “Wait,” my astute readers might say. “Nonprofits don’t even pay taxes!” In most cases, you are absolutely correct. Yet, predictions have been that the changes in your taxes may affect the donations nonprofits receive. With the new simplified tax code, the standard deduction (the base amount taxpayers can claim as a deduction without itemizing) essentially doubled. This is great news for millions of Americans who don’t have to go through the hassle of itemizing. It may not be great news for nonprofits. Charitable contributions are among the many deductions itemizers can take to reduce their taxable income. This has benefited charitable organizations because it acts as incentive for taxpayers to donate. As more people claim the standard deduction, they no longer have that financial incentive to donate. Perhaps the standard deduction includes all the potential deductions that would have been itemized. The truth is whether I give $20,000 to charity or zilch, my husband and I still get to claim that $24,000 standard. Although this has been anxiety-producing for nonprofits, we still don’t know what the real impacts will be. We know that previously, about 30% of taxpayers itemized. Early predictions were that the number of itemizers would be reduced to 5%. The more interesting question is how much of a motivator that tax incentive has really been. Some have taken a doomsday approach, estimating $13 billion in lost revenue for nonprofits. I have a more optimistic view of our American givers. I think the tax incentives were a nice perk, but they have not been the reason most Americans give to nonprofits. According to Nonprofits Source, individual donors have been the vast majority of giving (72% of gifts received in 2017), so a major decrease in individual giving would indeed be a blow to nonprofits. The next highest level of giving was foundations at just 15% of giving. However, charitable giving has been on the upswing, growing 4% in 2016 and 5% in 2017 without any increase in expected “incentives.” In 2017, 84% of millennials (anyone born between 1981 and 1996) gave to charity, even though they are at an age least likely to itemize. The value of giving in America appears to go beyond tax breaks. While it will be interesting to see how giving changes, I predict that Americans will continue to give at high levels. I suspect we give because we are passionate about nonprofit causes, we want to help others and we want to impact our communities and our worlds. No tax law can take that away. Join me in giving to our community nonprofits at www.unitedway-swco.org. Tara Kiene is president/CEO of Community Connections Inc.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/united-way-here-to-help-when-a-disaster-strikes/</link>
        <title>United Way here to help when a disaster strikes</title>
        <description>Lady Luck has been shining on Southwest Colorado recently as it relates to natural disasters. The fire threats that we have had in these past several years have been quickly addressed and remained far enough from our towns to prevent...</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2015 18:01:11 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Lady Luck has been shining on Southwest Colorado recently as it relates to natural disasters. The fire threats that we have had in these past several years have been quickly addressed and remained far enough from our towns to prevent extensive damage or loss of life. Knock on wood – the much-welcomed rain this year should work in our favor as well. During the past few years, I have been learning from my United Way friends in other Colorado communities who responded to community needs after fires and floods. Disaster response is always a complicated task that requires many agencies and organizations to help people respond, cope and rebuild. In a disaster, emergency management professionals take charge of the scene and coordinate firefighters, emergency medical services, public relations and much more. A well-known United Way partner agency, the American Red Cross, is typically nearby providing shelter and other basic needs to those displaced by an emergency. Staffed by well-trained volunteers, this organization specializes in helping people feel human during very abnormal and stressful circumstances. The American Red Cross also helps people prepare before emergencies strike so they are able to remain self-sufficient as long as possible should one occur. There are wonderful resources on the website, www.redcross.org, to help you prepare now, during a time of relative calm. In addition to providing funding to the American Red Cross, United Way organizations can help in other ways during a disaster. First, most United Ways (including ours) fund a 2-1-1 call center to help people obtain urgent information, locate shelters, identify sources of assistance, volunteer to help, make donations to assist the efforts and so much more. These centers take the burden off the 9-1-1 system for nonemergency calls. They operate year-round, but typically increase staffing and hours during a disaster. Second, most United Ways help manage relief funds. When donations increase because of disaster, it is essential to have a system for reviewing requests and verifying that money is used appropriately. United Way and our partners have experience in this area and often take the lead. Interestingly, the management of money may go on for a few years beyond the initial disaster as recovery efforts take shape. How can you help? First, improve your own preparedness ahead of a disaster, so that you can ride out many situations. Second, if you donate, give to an organization’s general fund or specify that your gift can go to any part of the recovery. The greatest need could be to pay for something other than providing direct cash assistance to victims. By giving flexibility in the use of funds, you help them to be spent where they can make the greatest difference. For example, they could be spent to hire a counselor to benefit many people. I encourage you to plan now for a disaster and know there is a network of services to help when and if needed. For now, I am keeping my fingers crossed for more good luck. Thank you for Living United. Lynn Urban is president and CEO of United Way of Southwest Colorado.]]></content:encoded>
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