The Lyons Elevating All Fund — a nonprofit group that has a food pantry, Meals on Wheels deliveries and offers help with other basic needs — is launching a new chapter in an old building community bank.

LEAF employees have operated out of the basement of Lyon Community Church on Main Street since the nonprofit was founded in 2013. LEAF rents the church’s basement and converts it into pantry one afternoon a week. From now on, the group has a new home: the former site of Valley Bank and Trust at 304 Second Ave. Workers purchased the property in summer 2023.

Lory Barton, executive director of LEAF, said the nonprofit serves about 30 percent of the population in the greater Lyon area. Some Lyon residents, Barton said, receive help from LEAF workers weekly, if not daily.

“It’s not like an agency where you see someone once, you help them, and then they go away,” Barton said. “We have a real relationship with people and we need a place to serve them better. »

Whether it’s housing firefighters for the night or offering Lyon’s middle and high school students a place to spend their lunch breaks, the new LEAF headquarters is intended to be an associative hub.

“It normalizes arrival at LEAF,” Barton said of the new building. “You could come for therapy, you could come for food, you could come to volunteer. Maybe you come because we have a dog and a cappuccino machine. You can come for all kinds of reasons, and whatever the reason, it’s okay.

Renovations include the addition of a kitchen, pantry and fire-resistant landscaping. The building’s former safe will also have a second life as a storage area for shelf-stable foods.

The first floor of the building will serve as LEAF’s behavioral health center, which will also have a small clinic for a visiting healthcare professional.

“There is no doctor in Lyon,” Barton explained. “We have a doctor who is willing to come see our clients, free of charge, if we can give him a place to work. »

Barton said LEAF workers should be able to move in during the first week of January.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “It is time that the Lyon community can have equitable access to services. »

Workers organized a fundraising campaign for the $1.9 million project to purchase and renovate the space. The contributions were made through a $575,000 federal grant from U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse and $400,000 from the Boulder County Worthy Cause Fund. Approximately $130,000 was raised through local donations.

The group is approximately $225,000 short of its fundraising goal. Barton said there is a pending grant application that could help close the gap, and members also hope to raise about $150,000 more from the community.

The move to a new building also follows a recent rebranding of the LEAF name. The acronym previously stood for “Lyons Emergency and Assistance Fund,” but the nonprofit organization became the “Lyons Elevating All Fund” over the summer to reflect its broader range of services.

Cherie Maureaux, clinical program director for LEAF’s Mental Wellness and Addiction Recovery Program, looks forward to hosting services in the new space.

“I think once we get it up and running, it will be something that will grow and flourish,” Maureaux said. “Because it’s something we’ve never had before.”

The group had revenue of $1.7 million in 2023, based on its latest filing with the Internal Revenue Service. To donate to LEAF’s fundraising campaign, visit leaflyons.org/capital-campaign.

Originally published: November 9, 2024 at 10:16 a.m. MST