The Conscious Group Donates to the ACLU of Colorado

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A champion for the people, the American Civil Liberties Union was born in the years following World War I. During those tumultuous times, many people feared the “spread of Communism” thereby rounding up “radicals” for deportation. To make matters worse, those arrested were treated inhumanely. The situation called for an advocate and the ACLU stepped up to the plate to defend their civil rights.

The ACLU also partnered with Clarence Darrow during the “evolution education” Scopes Trial of 1925, promoting the importance of academic freedom. The ACLU also backed Japanese Americans interred in “war relocation camps.” Later, the organization would challenge segregation in its many forms.

“The ACLU of Colorado is the state’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. We’re a private institution funded exclusively by the generous donations of our supporters. Our mission is to protect, defend and extend the civil rights and civil liberties of all people in Colorado through litigation, education and advocacy.” – ACLU of Colorado

Fast forward to today and people are still being deported on shaky grounds, racism still exists, women and men are still on unequal grounds and civil rights are still being violated. Yet, the ACLU is working harder than ever to promote freedom and educate the public on their rights. While they are only able to take a few select cases a year and rely on volunteers to continue their cause, they have a lot of crucial guides on their website such as:

  • Protest/Demonstrations Rights
  • Encountering a Police Officer (with video tutorial)
  • Photographer’s Rights
  • LGBT Discrimination at Businesses
  • Students’ Rights at Public Schools
  • Rights of Nursing Mothers at Work
  • Disability Rights

The ACLU wants you to be informed, which is the best way to avoid your civil liberties being infringed upon. (They even have printable wallet cards on their site.) And, if something has happened to violate your rights, contact the ACLU to state your case and find out the next steps.

In our state of Colorado, immigration and criminal justice reform are top concerns. On immigration, many Colorado residents worry about the new administration and how the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will handle their cases now. In fact, ICE reports that immigration-related arrests are up by 40% in 2017.

And, in April of this year, 26 people in Colorado and Wyoming were arrested on immigration charges. Some of the recent arrests are clouded in suspicion over how the arrested were treated. In one claim, a Gunnison man says he was detained for multiple days without being told why.

“You don’t look like you were born in Montrose,” one of the agents told him, according to one of the suits. The man is a U.S. citizen and was born in the States.

He also says he was searched without a warrant. It took several days, several facilities, and the showing of his birth certificate from an immigration rights advocate to get him released – without letting him call his family, and with a dead cell phone and only $5 dollars in his pocket. These are the types of issues that the ACLU picks up on and hopes to eliminate when it comes to erroneous immigration enforcement.

On criminal justice, there are a lot of ways that Colorado can improve through the assistance of the ACLU. In one recent example, the Department of Youth Corrections was charged with using straitjackets, solitary confinement and physical force to subdue the inmates.  

“Youths locked up in Colorado’s juvenile corrections system are isolated for hours in tiny, barren rooms, wrapped in full-body straight jackets, and subdued with “knee strikes” and other pain-compliance techniques that have ended with rug burns, according to a detailed investigation released Thursday.” – Daily Record Colorado

And, in another case, an adult male prisoner was forced into solitary confinement for over 15 years. Sam Mendez, shown below in this video courtesy of the ACLU, now suffers from mental illness. You can watch his story below.

The ACLU is an important nonprofit that we value dearly. Their commitment to some of the most important facets of our society is admirable. They are here for humankind by supporting:

  • Criminal Justice Rights
  • Freedom of Expression and Religion
  • Government Transparency
  • Immigrants’ Rights
  • LGBT Equality
  • Privacy & Technology
  • Racial Justice
  • Reproductive Freedom
  • Student & Youth Rights
  • Voting Rights
  • Women’s Rights

At Conscious Real Estate, we donate 10% of every home sale to a nonprofit of our clients’ choice. This pic is of agent Kimberly McAleenan and founder Allison Parks presenting their check for donation to the ACLU of Colorado to Jill Higham, Philanthropy Director and Nathan Woodliff-Stanley, Executive Director.

socially conscious real estate, the conscious group, allison parks, real estate denver

Kimberly McAleenan (center, left) and founder Allison Parks (center, right) presenting their check for donation to the ACLU of Colorado to Jill Higham (left), Philanthropy Director and Nathan Woodliff-Stanley, Executive Director (far right).

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For more information on the ACLU of Colorado, click here.

And, to connect with one of our socially conscious realtors, click here.

 

Conscious Real Estate Donates to PawsCo

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PawsCo is an organization native to Colorado that seeks to reduce the unwanted pet population by placing them in foster homes, facilitating adoptions, partnering to provide neuters and spays and collaborating with the Food Bank of the Rockies to provide pet food to local food banks.

Tiana Nelson is the President of PawsCo. Check us out in this pic! We are proud to have donated over $2,500 to PawsCo in the past year. Our company, Conscious Real Estate, donates 10% from our personal commission to a nonprofit of our clients’ choice. PawsCo has been a popular choice in recent years and we definitely know why. With over 300 volunteers, the organization is on deck to help place pups and kitties in forever homes, and that’s something we’re all about. Just ask Conscious Real Estate founder Allison Parks about her pack!

Allison Parks (Conscious Real Estate Founder, left) with Tiana Nelson (President and Chief Operating Officer, PawsCo)

 

PawsCo Includes Three Divisions:

  • PawsCo Spay + Neuter
  • PawsCo Pet Food Drive
  • PawsCo Adoptions.

 

Spay + Neuter Services

PawsCo works with area vets and associations to help city efforts (spay/neuter and release programs) as well as provide the important services to individual pet owners. Check out the list of veterinary partners here.

By now, most everyone knows the importance of getting your pet spayed or neutered. Not only will it help them lead more peaceful lives by eliminating pesky hormones, but there is just no need for your pet to remain unfixed, especially if it interacts with other animals or is an outside kitty. Why contribute more to the problem? Be the solution! PawsCo can point you in the right direction for free and low-cost spays and neuters.

 

Pet Food Drive

One of the most innovative programs of PawsCo is their partnership with the Food Bank of the Rockies to provide pet food in their area food banks. Dogs and cats are people too! Wait… no they’re not, but pretty close in our opinion! We’re glad that PawsCo is providing pet food to local food banks (awesome!!).

When life gets tough and using a food bank becomes necessary, it’s hard enough just feeding your human family. What about your fur family? What then? Instead of families being pushed to place their dogs in shelters (the problem that PawsCo seeks to circumvent), the nonprofit helps keep families together (human and fur) by supplying food banks with pet food. We thank you.

 

Adoptions

As we mentioned before, PawsCo is a network of over 300 volunteers. And, as opposed to a traditional method of using a shelter to hold pets waiting to be adopted, PawsCo uses a foster care system. Imagine the logistics!! PawsCo has it down, making sure that they facilitate supportive relationships with underserved area shelters and local advocates. Every day, they are placing pets with their fur-ever families.  Who rescued who?

Overpopulation of dogs and cats is a problem. When domesticated animals live a life on the streets, they live a dangerous, hungry, inconsistent existence. And, they are often sick and potentially even carrying diseases. PawsCo helps this public health issue by placing as many pets as they can in the best possible homes. Want to learn more about the adoption process? Meow! Click here.

 

Do what you can, when you can. Spay/neuter, adopt, foster, volunteer, donate and save lives. – PawsCo

About Conscious Real Estate

Our company started as a way to do our part to give to the community, while helping others find their perfect home in it. We donate 10% of every home purchase to a charity of our clients’ choice. So far, we have donated tens of thousands of dollars to local nonprofits and have had our hearts touched by each and every one.

Are we singing your song here? If so, we look forward to working with you. Click to start browsing or call us at 303.908.9873 to set up an interview.

 

Conscious Real Estate Donates to Steve’s Club

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Steve’s Club is a nonprofit that started off completely grassroots in one of the most dangerous public housing units in urban Camden, New Jersey. The city is in better shape than it was when this news report: 36 Hours in Camden was filmed, but it is still considered one of the most challenging places to live and especially to grow up.

Crime is high, single parent households are common, buildings are crumbling and abandoned, there are hardly any restaurants or supermarkets and many of the residents have lost a family member or friend to violence.

 

Steve’s Club Founder Steve Liberati started the organization in May 2017, donating CrossFit inspired fitness programming to low-income youths in the Centennial Village Apartments public housing complex. Since, then Steve’s Club has grown nationwide, making an impact for at-risk kids everywhere there’s a club in America.

“Our mission at Steve’s Club and its participating members, is to provide a national network of programs through which at-risk or underserved youth of any socioeconomic background can join in the CrossFit Community at a reduced, low or no cost structure.”

 

“We Everywhere”

Imagining Steve’s Club founders saying that to themselves now that the nonprofit has spread from the East to West coasts and everywhere in between. Local communities can start their own Steve’s Club and the CrossFit connection has been extremely supportive.

When kids experience quality leadership, it impacts their lives. Seeing a strong, consistent and health adult regularly in their lives, which, living in Camden, couldn’t have been all too common, must have been an incredible blessing to the community. In our local community, Steve-Club Denver works with at-risk youths here in our community. Using CrossFit and team building, the program gives kids strength both inside and outside.

 

Steve’s Club Denver

Once Steve’s Club took off (pretty much instantly), the need for something nationwide became very clear. Here in Denver, even Five Points and Colfax Street are gritty neighborhoods that can never compare to Camden, NJ, however, the need is here for at-risk kids to have an outlet to get through to adulthood. Steve’s Club is one option for them, and one that we’re extremely proud to have recently donated to.  

The mentors and coaches “foster resilience to stress and aim to improve the lives of all involved.” We love how they explain their mission:

 

“We care just as much about outcomes related to mood stability, decision-making, and social functioning, as we do about more easily measurable variables such as benchmark times, lifted pounds, or total rounds. Our group is passionate about fitness and every factor that is needed to sustain a life with regular exercise. In case there were any concern, we are also fully capable of having a boatload of fun along the way.” – Steve’s Club Denver

 

At-Risk Youth & Health

It’s obvious that without access to healthy food or a place to do healthy recreational activities…any human, teen, or child would feel antsy, perhaps choosing activities that are an outlet of a type, but without the results of a program like Steve’s Club/CrossFit. Simply wearing yourself out helps you sleep, regulates your blood flow, gets oxygen to your brain and allows for incredible stress relief.  Steve’s Club also started as a way to bring healthier food to urban teens in poverty. Whether you’re into Paleo or not, Steve is and we can definitely agree it’s a lot healthier than Hot Cheetos and Takis. He also started Paleo Kits that have also helped improve inner city nutrition. 

 

About Conscious Real Estate

There are lots of real estate brokers in Colorado, we know. But how many donate 10% to charity with every single sale? Not many we’ve found! Our agent, Kimberly McAleenan had the pleasure of delivering the Steve’s Club Denver donation and we are stoked she introduced us to this awesome organization that’s all about strength and empowerment. Giving to good causes is what we’re ’bout.

So, do you have a favorite nonprofit?

Thinking about upgrading, downgrading, moving closer to the mountains, getting more land, or moving into the city? Consider working with Conscious Real Estate and think about that gold star you’ll get when they get their check and another cause gets to continue – because of you!!! (And you’re celebrating in your new home.) Sound blissful? It is! Contact us to set up an interview today.

Conscious Real Estate Donates to MaxFund

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Why Is It Called MaxFund?

In 1988, Dr. Suro owned a large veterinary practice in the Denver area and worked alongside his wife, program manager. Nanci Suro. The practice was thriving and the couple had just expanded to be a 24-hour practice. Immediately, the Suros discovered they had a “problem” on their hands. What should they do with the animals that good samaritans were bringing in? Most clinics and shelters were euthanizing the animals without owners immediately, unable and unwilling to foot the animals’ medical costs.

When “Max” came in one day after being hit by a car, the Suros began a fund from a fishbowl, called on service donations from local vets, held a yard sale and eventually came up with the money. To their delight and surprise, they had collected even more fund than they needed for Max’s successful treatment and so they continued the process for the next animal and so on and so on.

Max!

What Happened to Max?

Max healed and the Suro’s lived with him for 13 more years! Max inspired the Suros to continue and so they did. After some time, they were able to gain press coverage and even had an offer from a large corporation to buy their teeny nonprofit. Well, once the corporation realized how expensive some of the medical procedures were, they backed out. The organization was fully run by volunteers until 1995. Now, the organization relies on the generous support of the public which has come from the legacy of estates, generous living contributions, service donations by local vets, and donations from socially conscious business (yup like us here at Conscious Real Estate!!).

 

Why Do We Love MaxFund?

Well one reason is this sweet little bitty of a pup. Her only problem? Well, she has two in these pictures. Two broken legs. Poor thing. Thanks to MaxFund she was able to get the medical attention that she needed and…well…a donation wasn’t enough for us in this case. Conscious Real Estate owner and founder Allison Parks ended up adopting her to add to her pack. She’s had a lot of happy days since then!

Who rescued who? She’s perfect!

Another amazing fact about MaxFund? Founder Dr. Suro got his own new lease on life when he was donated a kidney from Hillary Rettig who said she chose to donate to Dr. Suro because of all the lives of animals he’s saved!!! – MaxFund

What Does MaxFund Do?

MaxFund offers low-cost medical services for injured and ill animals as well as preventative services like spay, neuter and vaccinations. They also offer adoption services for dogs and cats, including those with special needs. Every animal deserves a home, they say.

 

“We believe in second chances. And, we’ll continue to follow our mission in saving injured animals without owners. No matter how large we become we get, in a real sense we will always be “the small shelter that makes a big difference.” We are growing and have been fortunate to receive many wonderful donations and estates, which we have turned into capital improvements.” – MaxFund

 

MaxFund Needs You + Ways to Give

As usual, there are many ways to give to this nonprofit. You can connect them with sympathetic vets, donate individually, shop through Amazon Smile, volunteer, adopt a pet, or, our favorite – work with us at Conscious Real Estate. We donate 10 percent to a nonprofit of your choice after every sale. Yep, you choose who we donate to! It’s a wonderful way to celebrate your new home and give back to a cause you care about. So far we’ve donated tens of thousands to local and national nonprofits. All you have to do is work with us when you buy your next home. We have a track record of happy clients and are available when you need us. Ready to start?