Community Issues Forum: Art of Belonging

Community 

Issues Forum 

The Art of Belonging 

Spring 2016 

Key Summary of Findings from the Center for Public Deliberation 

By Kalie McMonagle 

Sam Maldonado 

and Martin Carcasson 

Community Issues Forum 1

About the Colorado State University 

Center For Public Deliberation 

The CSU Center for Public Deliberation (CPD) serves as an impartial resource to the northern 

Colorado community. Working with students trained in small group facilitation, the CPD assists 

local government, schools boards, and community organizations by researching issues and 

developing useful background material, and then designs, facilitates, and reports on innovative 

public events. The interpretations and conclusions contained in this publication have been 

produced by CPD associates without the input of partner organizations to maintain impartiality. 


Table of Contents. 

Executive Summary 4 

Background 6 

Methods 8 

What were the goals of the event? 9 

Who was in the room? 10 

What did the event look like? 13 

What did people talk about? 14 

How was information collected? 16 

Key Findings 17 

Common Ground 18 

Gaps 19 

Resources 27 

Action Items 28 

Next Steps 38 

Evaluation 40 

Endnotes 44 

Appendix 45 

Demographic Information 46 

Gaps 51 

Resources 71 

Action Items 78 


Executive Summary. 

What you really need to know. 

This report explores findings from the Spring 2016 Community Issues Forum. Over 100 

community members gathered to discuss what it means to belong in Fort Collins. The CSU 

Center for Public Deliberation and the City of Fort Collins worked to gather a diverse group of 

community members. The event conveners then asked participants to discuss opportunities for 

growth, current resources, and action items for creating a city that makes each community 

member feel like they belong. 

Barriers to Belonging. Many participants felt that Fort Collins had made large strides in 

making sure that the community felt inclusive over the years. However, there were key areas 

that community members felt needed work to promote and maintain a welcoming, inclusive 

community. Areas of growth fell into two categories: public issues and underlying barriers. 

Public issues are different parts of how the community functions. These issues tend to be ones 

that can addressed through specific policies, programs, or initiatives. 

Public Issues 

• Affordability 

• City Accessibility 

• Neighborhood/Community 

Events 

• Integration 

• Fear of Violence 

• Education 

• Diverse Services 

• Economic Opportunity 

• Public Transit 

• Parks & Recreation 

• Media 

These differ from underlying barriers, which may be personal experiences with the problem or 

may be ways of thinking about why the problem exists. Underlying barriers tend to be harder 

to address with a single ballot initiative or budget amendment. Rather they require a culture 

shift. 

Underlying Barriers 

• Visibility 

• Safety 

• Representation 

• Discrimination 

• Outreach/Inclusion 

• Communication/Collaboration 

• History 

• Bias/Acceptance 


Community Players. Participants identified many community players that currently work to 

create a greater sense of belonging. They also identified ways in which these community 

players can help to address the current gaps. Schools, religious institutions, non-profits, 

businesses, recreation centers, libraries, senior centers, city programs, and service 

organizations were named as key community players. The specific action steps that participants 

recommended for each of these community players can be found in the Action Items section. 

There was a wide breadth of information that was collected on each of these community 

players. Collectively, participants requested increased communication and collaboration 

between key players. Part of this was to avoid the duplication of services, but also to help 

different community players take advantage of the diverse programs already being offered. 

Future conversations may need to take a bird’s eye view of the web of resources available. 

Alternatively, future conversations may need to prioritize key areas of growth and focus on a 

specific public issue, root issue, demographic group, or community player. The aim of this 

event was to spark conversation and collect ideas. The information collected will hopefully help 

key community players to prioritize next steps. 

Continuing the Conversation. Participants expressed a marked appreciation for the 

opportunity to speak openly with diverse members of their community. When asked to name 

the most important thing that they wanted people to learn from this meeting, many 

participants expressed that: 

• There’s a large community of people who care about this issue. 

• Communication about this issue is possible and needed. 

• Fort Collins has come a long way, but has a long ways to go. 

• Action needs to follow productive conversations. 

In an analysis of surveys following the event, it was found that there was no significant 

difference between minority and majority members in feeling heard, feeling respected, and 

having the opportunity to speak. This indicates that it is possible to discuss difficult and 

oftentimes personal community issues in productive ways. Conversations tend to be more 

successful when community members are provided with a trained facilitator, opportunities to 

speak in small groups, and a framework for discussion. 


Background. 

Just so you know how this all got started. 

Community Issues Forum. Twice a year the city's public engagement office and the Center for 

Public Deliberation (CPD) host a Community Issues Forum (CIF). Each forum focuses on a 

number of topics like AirBnB Regulation, the Downtown Plan, and the Recycling Plan. 

Community members are asked to come and provide input on these topics, which relate to 

issues currently being explored by city council or the planning offices. However, in Spring of 

2016 the City of Fort Collins chose to dedicate the entire forum to the city’s inclusion and 

equity goals related to social sustainability. 

Triple Bottom Line. Social sustainability 

consists is one of the three core areas of 

Fort Collins’ Triple Bottom Line. The City 

of Fort Collins uses economic, 

environmental, and social sustainability as 

key criteria for evaluating project plans. 

In particular, social sustainability refers to 

supporting, “a diverse and equitable 

community that successfully meets the 

basic needs of all of its 

residents” (Strategic Plan). 

In recent years, the City of Fort Collins 

has implemented a number of changes to 

sustain this mission. In 2012 the City formed the Department of Social Sustainability to 

specifically address these needs by supporting human service agencies, increasing affordable 

housing, reducing poverty, and working internally with other city departments. In 2014, the City 

of Fort Collins contracted an external research firm to survey the current state of social 

sustainability. This analysis, along with personal interviews, was used to inform the Social 

Sustainability Strategic Plan. The Community Issues Forum was designed to gather feedback 

on two goals from the Social Sustainability Strategic Plan: 

B.1 Promote and maintain a welcoming, inclusive community where people feel 

connected. 

B.3 Expand the city’s diversity, inclusion, and equity goals, with an emphasis on internal 

and external communications, education, and outreach. 


However, forum participants were not asked to respond to these two goals or the Social 

Sustainability Strategic Plan directly. This was because conveners felt that more information 

gathering was necessary before moving towards specific action plans. 

Planning the Forum. The City of Fort Collins, particularly the Department of Social 

Sustainability, planned the CIF in partnership with the Center for Public Deliberation. Annie 

Bierbower, Civic Engagement Liaison; Ginny Sawer, Project and Policy Manager; and Janet 

Freeman, Administrative Assistant II met with Martin Carcasson, CPD Director; Kalie 

McMonagle, Graduate Student; and Sam Maldonado, Graduate Student to plan the event. 

Alma Vigo-Morales was brought in as a diversity consultant for feedback on the drafted 

process. 


Methods. 


Methods. 

What were the goals of the event? 

Members of the public engagement team at the City of Fort Collins 

worked with the Center for Public Deliberation to plan this event. The 

following were the goals and desired outcomes of the event. 

Purpose Information Gathering 

Goal of Event Bring people together to continue a larger conversation about what it means to 

belong in the Fort Collins community. Conveners wanted to hear from residents what 

belonging looks and feels like now and how they picture it in the future. Conveners wanted to 

hear about work that is already being done and find out what the city is missing. Finally, 

participants brainstormed ways we can make the community of Fort Collins a place where all 

can feel like they belong. 

Outcomes 

• Expand the current conversation around belonging in Fort Collins. 

• Take stories and learnings from the event to shape future actions and dialogues in 

partnership with the Human Relations Commission, Social Sustainability Department, the 

CSU Center for Public Deliberation, and other community organizations. 

• Compile a report to disseminate to community organizations. 

 


Who was in the room? 

Those convening the forum attempted to 

gather a diverse group of residents to 

participate in the forum. They created a list 

of key stakeholders based on demographic 

categories (i.e. race, gender, sexual 

orientation). The event was open to anyone 

interested. However, capacity was limited 

due to the number of available facilitators. 

Around 100 individuals attended the event. 

At the beginning of the event, participants 

reported key demographic information using 

keypads. Each participant was provided a 

keypad. Keypads are a remote clicker that 

allows participants to enter an anonymous 

response to a survey question. This event 

asked a series of demographic questions 

(age, gender, ethnicity, geographic location, 

religion, etc.). Not everyone answered every 

single keypad question, but the data offers a 

general idea of who was in the room. See 

the Appendix for data and a comparison of 

demographic data reported in the Post- 

Survey. 


What are Personal 

Pronouns? 

Oftentimes we use 

pronouns to refer to 

someone when we don't 

know their name. We might 

say, "I saw HER at the 

store," or, "HE just 

mentioned something really 

important." 

But there are gender 

neutral pronouns too. Some 

folks use ZE instead of He/ 

She and HIR instead of Him/ 

Her. Others use They/Them/ 

Their to refer to themselves. 

Instead of guessing, just 

ask: What pronouns would 

you like me to use? 

 



What did the event look like? 

Background. On Wednesday, April 27th, The Art of Belonging CIF was held at the Lincoln 

Center. 16 tables were set up to host a facilitator, notetaker, and 6-8 participants. Due to 

overflow, some tables eventually held up to 10 participants. During the two-hour event, 

introductory speakers set up the conversation. Then participants spoke in small groups, guided 

by a facilitator, for an hour and a half. 

Introductory Speakers. 

Welcome en Español 

Annie Bierbower, Civic Engagement Liaison, City of Fort Collins 

Office of Sustainability Introduction 

Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, Officer of Social Sustainability, City of Fort Collins 

Beth Sowder, Director of Social Sustainability, City of Fort Collins 

Center for Public Deliberation Background 

Martin Carcasson, Director of the Center for Public Deliberation, Colorado State University 

Getting to Know the Room: Keypad Questions 

Kalie McMonagle, Graduate Student, Center for Public Deliberation 

Translation. One table was designated as a Spanish-Only table and a translator was provided 

for that table. Translation equipment was available for the sections of the event that were not 

round-table discussions (i.e. announcements from the front of the room). 

Childcare. A supervised table of arts and crafts was available at the back of the room. Many 

families were able to take advantage of the childcare and participants interacted with the 

children throughout the event. 


What did people talk about? 

DISCUSSION PURPOSE ACTIVITY 

Introductions 

Common 

Ground 

Gaps 

Get to know other 

participants. 

Give participants an 

opportunity to 

share personal 

stories, define 

“belonging,” and 

build trust. 

Find out some of 

the ways our 

community needs 

to grow. 

During introductions, participants shared their 

name, their personal pronouns (see pg. 9), and 

one place where they feel they belong in Fort 

Collins. 

Participants were asked to share a story of time 

when they felt that they belonged and identify: 

• Similar experiences 

• What creates a sense of belonging 

Facilitators selected questions from the 

following list to generate conversation: 

• “What challenges do we have as a 

community in making everyone feel they 

belong? 

• “Who in Fort Collins might feel like they do 

not belong? Why?” 

• “What are ways that people have felt like 

they don’t belong in Fort Collins?” 

• “Are there certain places that this 

happens more than others?” 

• “Is anyone willing to share a story of a time 

and place where they really felt they didn’t 

belong.” 

Resources 

Recognize actors in 

the community who 

currently help to 

make people feel 

like they belong in 

Fort Collins. 

Participants drew maps of organizations that 

currently work on inclusion efforts within Fort 

Collins. 


DISCUSSION 

Action Items 

PURPOSE 

Puzzle out how we 

can make the 

community of Fort 

Collins a more 

welcoming place. 

ACTIVITY 

Each table was given a group of Community 

Player cards: 

• Local Government 

• Non-Profit 

• Businesses 

• People in the Community 

• Coalition/Collaborative groups 

• Neighborhoods 

• Education/Schools 

• Universities 

• Faith Communities 

• Me 

• Blank card for additional categories 

On each Community Player card, participants 

wrote down a responsibility or action that 

belonged to that community player. For 

example: Martin mentioned earlier that we 

have a need for a night bus that runs from the 

North side of town to Old Town. This might be 

something that City of Fort Collins would be 

able to tackle. Grab the Local Government 

Card and write down that responsibility or task 

on the back of the card. 

Closing 

Reflect on the event 

and evaluate the 

conversation using 

a post-survey. Share 

small-table 

discussions with the 

larger group. 

At the end of the event, these Community 

Cards were organized by the community player 

(rather than by table) and posted around the 

room so that participants could see the ideas 

from other tables. 


What information was collected? 

Keypad Questions. Each participant was 

provided a keypad. Keypads are a remote 

clicker that allows participants to enter an 

anonymous response to a survey question. 

Responses can then be displayed in real time 

in a Power Point. This event asked a series of 

demographic questions (age, gender, 

ethnicity, geographic location, religion, etc.). 

By displaying the responses to these 

questions, attendees were able to get a 

sense of who was in the room that evening. 

Table Notes. The CPD assigned a trained 

student facilitator and notetaker to each 

table. Notetakers were asked to record 

summaries of each section of the 

conversation. These notes are not a 

transcript and do not reflect the conversation 

exactly as spoken. However, notetakers 

attempt to capture the main ideas within the 

discussion and record stories expressed by 

the participants. Notetakers did not capture 

any personal identifiers and let participants 

know that their names would not be 

included. A full record of table notes can be 

found in the appendix. 

Resource Maps. During one section, 

participants were asked to reflect on the 

organizations who already contribute to 

creating a sense of belonging in Fort Collins. 

Each table was provided a large sheet of 

butcher paper and markers. Participants then 

created a organizational map of actors in the 

community who were contributing to 

inclusion. Solid lines were drawn between 

organizations that were already working 

together and dotted lines were drawn 

between organizations that should work with 

one another. 

Community Player Cards. During the last 

section, participants were asked to identify 

Action Items for different Community Players 

(i.e. Business, Faith Communities, Local 

Government). All of the tables was provided 

a card for each Community Player. 

Participants recorded Action Items for each 

Community Player on the corresponding 

card. At the end of the event, these 

Community Cards were organized by the 

community player (rather than by table) and 

posted around the room so that participants 

could see the ideas from other tables. 

Surveys. Before the event, a pre-survey was 

completed by individuals who RSVP’d to the 

event and those who could not attend, but 

wanted to contribute their input. The presurvey 

was used to identify some of the key 

issues prior to the event and find out the 

primary identities of those who would be 

attending. At the conclusion of the event, 

post-surveys were given to each participant 

to fill out. The post-survey collected 

information on how to convene future 

forums, evaluate the event, and gather 

demographic information. 

Notetaker and Facilitator Reflection. 

Following the event, notetakers and 

facilitators were asked to provide reflection 

notes on the topics of conversation at their 

table and how the conversation went. These 

notes can be used to connect table notes, 

key themes, and pull out ideas from the 

tables. They can also be used to improve the 

process going forward, by reflecting on how 

the conversation went. 


Key Findings. 


Common Ground. 

“Fellow community members care about building a better, more 

inclusive community…Everyone has a role in building such a 

community.” -Participant 

This was an event centered around diversity, so we heard a lot of different perspectives and 

opinions throughout the event. You can check out all the different ideas in the next sections of 

the report. To start though, here are some of the common feelings that participants expressed. 

Belonging. When it came to how participants defined the word belonging, a great number of 

similarities emerged. When community members RSVP’d for the event, they were asked to 

complete a pre-survey that asked them to define belonging. 

Here’s what a sample of what they said belonging meant to them: 

• “Means being able to strike up a conversation with any one at any time.” 

• "A sense of "home" where I feel welcomed, valued and safe.” 

• "I feel comfortable being myself in public.” 

• "Being with people of similar interests and goals.” 

• "Knowing my neighbors by name.” 

• "Significa envolverme y participar en algo." 

• "Belonging is being in the right place to thrive.” 

• "Belonging is having access to community and actively participating in community as 

a citizen of Fort Collins.” 

• "A feeling of affirmation and acceptance within all identities.” 

• "To believe others care to know about you and respect you.” 

Takeaway. One of the biggest areas of common ground actually came at the end of the event. 

In the post-survey, participants were asked, “What is the most important thing you want people 

to know from this meeting?” This question was designed to help the event planners decide 

what would be the most important next steps. The CPD expected that people would write 

down the issue that stuck out to them the most, something they learned about, or a specific 

action they thought should be taken. However, the responses were strikingly similar. 

Participants expressed that: 

• There’s a large community of people who care about this issue. 

• Communication about this issue is possible and needed. 

• Fort Collins has come a long way, but has a long ways to go. 

• Action needs to follow productive conversations. 


Gaps. 

“Fort Collins may have a lot of awesome stuff, but not everyone feels 

safe, welcome, or heard. So we still have a lot to do to truly become 

the ‘Choice City’ for everyone.” -Participant 

When talking about areas of growth for Fort Collins, people used personal stories, arguments, 

and referenced other sources of information to make their point. To make sense of all these 

goodies, the following summary is divided into three sections: affected communities, public 

issues, and root issues. 

Public Issues 

Public issues are different issues or themes that arose from the conversations that represent 

tangible subject areas that call for responses both from the City and the broader community. 

This could be through the support of a public policy, new program, community forum, or 

financial support of an initiative. These public issues may affect everyone or just one sector of 

the community. We present them here to help organize the information in more manageable 

chunks that will hopefully invite discussion and action. There were three primary topics that 

came up again and again in discussions. This report will go into more depth on these three 

before turning to other public issues that arose throughout the discussions. 

Primary Topics 

• Affordability 

• City Accessibility 

• Neighborhood/Community Events 

Secondary Topics 

• Integration 

• Fear of Violence 

• Education 

• Diverse Services 

• Economic Opportunity 

• Public Transit 

• Parks & Recreation 

• Media Representation 


Primary Topics 

Affordability. The affordability of living in Fort Collins poses a threat to a number of 

communities. The Latino/a community expressed a feeling of invisibility, because of where 

affordable housing is located in Fort Collins. They spoke about options for housing often lying 

at the boundaries of Fort Collins or in nearby communities. Participants expressed the concern 

that students can not find employment opportunities upon graduation and are forced to exit 

the community. People with families have difficulties finding affordable child care. Homeless 

advocates worry about the number of resources for homeless individuals in Fort collins. 

While many of these groups share a common plight, participants differed on how they 

attribute the cause of the issue. Oftentimes groups expressed a concern that one part of the 

community was not receiving resources to address affordability, because another part of the 

community was receiving those resources. For example, some participants felt that students are 

priority area when it comes to City budgeting, while long term residents or homeless 

individuals don’t pose as much of a priority. 

City Accessibility. Community members expressed the desire to see themselves and diverse 

members of the community represented in local government. Some expressed the opinion that 

the City does not or has not had representative individuals in positions of leadership. 

Accessibility also refers to the ability of citizens to participate in public life. Participants 

called for a greater available of public meeting times to accommodate for various work and 

family schedules. They also called for bilingual accessibility to increase throughout City of Fort 

Collins materials and events. 

Lastly, participants expressed a feeling of 

disconnect between governmental actors (particularly 

City Planners) and the changes they see happening in 

their communities. They expressed a desire to be 

able to influence more parts of the political process, 

transparency in the process, and the ability to 

influence decisions before they get made. 

Neighborhood/Community Events. Many people 

expressed how much neighborly behaviors contribute 

to a sense of belonging within Fort Collins. 

Neighborly behaviors are things like shoveling 

someone’s sidewalk, being known by name at local 

institutions, and hosting block parties. These 

behaviors were often cited as something that used to 

happen in a previous community they lived in, but 

didn’t happen or didn’t happen often enough in Fort 

Collins. Some people worried that technology 

prevented the ability to connect with our immediate 

communities. 

DID YOU KNOW? 

Every year, the City of 

Fort Collins offers funds 

to neighborhoods to host 

events like block parties 

and neighborhood clean 

ups. Funds are available in 

amounts from $25-$250. 

For more information 

about Community Grants, 

contact Melanie Clark. 

mclark@fcgov.com or 

970-416-2351 


Additionally, participants asked for a greater diversity in community events. This 

referred to the types of events offered and the location of community events. Oftentimes, 

people talked about Old Town as an overused or inaccessible location to people with 

disabilities, people of color, seniors, and those who didn’t live in Old Town. Music events were 

talked about as a positive of the community, but said that these events weren’t always reflective 

of all the identities that Fort Collins is home to. 

Secondary Topics 

Integration Geographically, community members felt that city was segregated between 

different disparate identities. Among the Latino/a community, there were experiences shared 

about feeling “pushed out” geographically. These community members talked about forces 

that have changed the demographic of Tres Colonias, three of the primary Latino/a 

neighborhoods in Fort Collins. These forces included the socio-economic burden of living in 

Fort Collins, unfriendly new neighbor behavior, cultural poverty, and gentrification as Fort 

Collins continues to grow. 

Additionally, some community members felt that students should be more fully 

integrated into the larger community. It was thought that this would help instill accountability 

among college students. 

Fear of Violence. This included violence 

or the threat of violence because of a 

individual’s identity. Disempowered groups 

shared stories and experiences of being 

afraid to be in certain areas of Fort Collins 

at certain times, because of the threat of 

violence. Violence included death threats, 

drunken behaviors, police harassment, and 

physical violence. 

Education. Participants identified 

education and educational systems (i.e. 

Colorado State University and Poudre 

School District) as potential bridges that weren’t being utilized enough. Part of this is that the 

university and school district house some of the most important connections to diversity that 

Fort Collins has. Participants would like to see more connections between the work educational 

systems are doing and the larger community. 

Also, educational situations can be important sites for people to learn about people 

who are different from them. People talked about the importance of hearing from someone of 

a different religion or having Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) issues 

be a part of sexual education. However, people said that oftentimes educational sites can also 

be isolating experience for diverse individuals if their environment doesn’t feel accepting. 


Diverse Services. When it comes to everyone feeling welcome in Fort Collins, community 

members referred to some key services that were missing from the city. People of color 

mentioned the way that there are few, if any, salons that work with “ethnic” hair. Others looked 

at larger support systems, like community centers, missing for communities like the LGBTQ and 

Latino/a populations. There were calls for consistent WiFi access throughout the city. 

Additionally, participants expressed a desire for veteran services to provide mental health and 

material resources. 

Economic Opportunity. This issue refers to the availability of employment opportunities and 

the feasibility of financially supporting oneself and one’s family. People would like to make 

attracting and retaining a diverse workforce a priority in Fort Collins. Concern was expressed 

that a failure to do so would result in an unqualified workforce down the line. This led to the 

desire for pipeline and mentorship programs to aid in this effort. In order to address this, 

participants also expressed a desire for businesses to diversify their hiring practices. For 

example, a company might 

be more willing to accept 

years of experience as an 

alternative to possessing a 

formal degree. 

Public Transit. Participants 

agreed that public transit 

options have grown within 

recent years, but argue that 

growth in this area still needs 

to happen and with more 

accessibility. Attendees asked 

that bus stops become more 

accessible to people with 

disabilities, the City offer 

more night and weekend 

buses, and that the MAX 

extend farther north to reach low-income, underserved populations within Fort Collins. In 

addition to material resources, participants found that the Fort Collins attitude towards 

pedestrians (especially disabled and senior pedestrians) was less friendly than that of nearby 

communities, like Loveland. 

Parks & Recreation. The availability of outdoor recreation opportunities was included as a 

source of strength for Fort Collins. However, participants also recognized that by putting a 

particular focus on these kinds of recreational activities, Fort Collins may send the message that 

the disabled community (who may not be able to participate) does not belong within the city 

identity. 


When it comes to outdoor recreation activities, participants also talked about the cost 

of participation and how it limits who can use these amenities. Clubs and athletic teams require 

fees that may exclude parts of the community. People also talked about the lack of open 

spaces for “queer” youth to hang out for fear of discrimination. 

Media Representation. When participants talked about the media, they mostly talked about 

national media and the way that including different identities can help to give people agency. 

However, participants also talked about a lack of diversity issues being featured in local media 

(like the Coloradan). A number of participants also cited local documentary, Choice City…for 

whom?, as a key piece of media that should be more largely disseminated. 

Ok these are some themes, 

but what was actually said? 

Well, here’s an example of some notes from the event. These aren’t transcripts. 

They’re general notes from the notetaker at each table. Take a look at the 

Appendix for all the notes taken at the event. 

Facilitator: Do people feel unwelcome for institutional or cultural reasons in Fort 

Collins? 

Participant A: It’s neither, it is individual. I am Latina and speak Spanish but have felt 

very welcomed in the community. 

Participant B: There was a Spanish woman who did all of the steps necessary to get 

her drivers license and the clerk at the DMV would not give the license to her, 

because they claimed she had cheated via the translator present while she was 

taking the test. This is not reflective of the DMV as an institution, but is a reflection 

of the person. 

Participant C: There was a group in a high school parking lot with swastikas once. 

The administration should have responded and used it as a learning tool, however, 

they handled it differently. 

Participant D: Institutions set the pace for how things are dealt with. For example, 

we have had compassionate councils and other councils who have showed more of 

a lack of respect for each other. These type of working groups impact our individual 

response. 



Underlying Barriers describe parts of the larger Fort Collins culture that contribute to problems 

of belonging. These may be personal experiences with the problem or may be ways of thinking 

about why the problem exists. Underlying Barriers tend to be harder to address with a single 

policy change or budget amendment. 


• Issues of Visibility 

• Threats to Safety 

• Representation 

• Discrimination 

• Outreach/Inclusion 

• Communication/Collaboration 

• History 

• Bias/Acceptance 

Issues of Visibility. Participants consistently talked about how feeling visible affected their 

experience of living in Fort Collins. Being able to see people who reflect their own identities 

was a large part of feeling a sense of belonging. This could be seeing two men holding hands 

while walking down the street in Old Town or seeing someone of the same race or religion at 

one of their favorite restaurants. Experiences in which individuals were able to see other people 

like them gave them a sense of pride, strength, and belonging. However, situations wherein 

people were the only member of a given identity caused increased isolation and increased the 

emotional burden of living in Fort Collins. 

Threats to Safety. Disempowered groups shared experiences of feeling afraid to go certain 

places, at certain times for fear of personal safety. This fear occurred because of previous 


“One homeless man stopped 

me in the parking lot of a 

grocery store to ask me for 

money. I didn't feel safe. I felt 

like I was being asked 

because I'm not white.There 

are lots of homeless people 

that just pass through. It's 

important to think about how 

safe we feel as a community.” 

represent the needs of that community. 

experiences with or threats of violence, aggressive 

communication, and distrust of police. 

Representation. In addition to feeling visible, people 

expressed the desire to see members of their own 

communities in positions of power or influence 

throughout the city. They talked about the 

importance of having disempowered identities 

working throughout businesses, government, and 

educational institutions. Seeing members of their 

community in these roles increased the feeling that 

this organization was accessible and accountable. 

Furthermore, community members expressed the 

desire for intra-group public spaces, like an LGBTQ 

or a Latino/a resource center that could better 

Discrimination. Community members shared stories of times they had experienced 

discrimination based on their identity. This could include retail behavior that indicates a lack of 

trust, like following people of color around a store or customer service staff failing to introduce 

themselves to people of color. It could be overt discrimination in the form of racial slurs and 

discriminatory language. It could also manifest as bullying for students within school settings. 

People who could pass as members of 

“I remember when businesses used to 

place signs in their widows saying "NO 

DOGS AND MEXICANS ALLOWED.” 

Some of these businesses are still in 

business.” 

dominant groups (i.e. transgender 

individuals who have transitioned or 

multiracial individuals) shared stories of 

how they get treated differently 

depending on if someone is aware of 

their disempowered identity. 

Outreach/Inclusion. Participants 

recognized that Fort Collins can be a wonderful place to live for many of its residents. Many 

participants also questioned the impact of Fort Collins’ core identity on its alternative residents. 

Fort Collins was seen as a sustainable, brewery-friendly, 

bike accessible city, but participants worried about 

whether enough outreach was being done to include 

folks who have other interests. 

“I am Jewish and was once 

talking with a Christian when 

I first moved here (I am from 

Communication/Collaboration. Many participants 

talked about the failed opportunities to leverage California). She could not 

different institutions and link efforts. This could be the 

interfaith community promoting areas of diversity or 

the university connecting with City efforts. Discussions 

believe that I did not believe 

in Jesus and told me that I 

would go to to hell because 

Community Issues Forum 

of it.” 

25

around communication and collaboration brought up a key tension between intra- and intergroup 

efforts. Some people argued that diverse groups should be better integrated with other 

groups in the city, thereby exposing people to a greater variety of interests, beliefs, and 

identities. Others called for greater collaboration to increase resources for certain identity 

groups, like a clearinghouse website for the LGBTQ community. A clearinghouse website 

would be a place to collect and distribute information for that group. 

History. Some participants talked about how much Fort Collins has changed over the years, 

often mentioning that it has become a great deal more inclusive than it used to be. Some 

participants also called for the need to remember or rectify parts of Fort Collins’ less-inclusive 

history to help the town become more welcoming. Participants discussed whether regional 

history should also be considered a part of the Fort Collins history (i.e. the murder of Matthew 

Shepard in Wyoming). 

Bias/Acceptance. Participants discussed how implicit biases affect how diverse groups are able 

to interact in Fort Collins. Creating acceptance seemed key to creating a more welcoming 

environment. In order to do so, participants advocated for reducing biases through education 

and exposure to people different from themselves. Throughout this discussion, community 

members recognized that everyone, including disempowered groups, have biases. Reducing 

biases in the community is, therefore, a shared responsibility. 


Resources. 

To get a sense of the current resources 

available in Fort Collins, participants were asked to 

draw maps of organizations throughout the 

community. After writing down different 

organizations, they were asked to draw lines 

between the organizations that were already 

connected and dotted lines between organizations 

that should work with one another in the future. A full 

list of the brainstormed organizations can be found 

in Appendix 3. 

Throughout the resource maps, Poudre 

School District (PSD), Colorado State University 

(CSU), the City of Fort Collins, and the Poudre River 

Public Library District emerged as central hubs for 

organization connections. This reflects the number of 

ways the community relies on these organizations to 

create partnerships. 

In addition to these central hubs, there were a number of organizations that tables 

consistently included in their table maps. The following thirteen organizations were listed on at 

least five different resource maps: 

• Poudre School District 

• Colorado State University 

• Fort Collins Senior Center 

• Vida Sana 

• Larimer County Food Bank 

• Matthew’s House 

• Poudre River Public Library District 

• Northside Atzlan Community Center 

• Bohemian Foundation 

• Catholic Charities 

• City of Fort Collins 

• FoCo Café 

• The Murphy Center 

Overall, there were 192 individual organizations named throughout this activity. Most of these 

organizations were educational, non-profit, and governmental organizations. However, 

businesses, faith communities, parks and recreation facilitates, and others were also included. 


Action items. 

The Action Items section of the forum was designed to let participants reflect on the ways that 

community change comes from multiple places throughout the community. It is the 

responsibility of many Community Players to ensure that Fort Collins in a welcoming 

community for all. During this section of the forum, each 

table was asked to brainstorm specific actions that various 

Community Players could perform to improve the sense of 

belonging for everyone in Fort Collins. Each table was 

provided a set of 10 Community Player Cards, which allowed 

them to write down ideas and actions for the various players 

to consider. 

Community Players 

• Local Government 

• Non-Profit 

• Businesses 

• People in the Community 

• Coalition/Collaborative Groups 

• Neighborhoods 

• Education/Schools 

Community Players 

Various people, groups, 

organizations, and 

entities throughout the 

city that could take 

action following this 

discussion. 

• University 

• Faith Communities 

• Me 

• A blank card for additional categories 

At the end of the event, those cards were posted on easels around the room. Each easel 

organized by each category of community player, so everyone could look at all the business 

ideas or all the non-profit ideas generated by the other tables. For a full look at all the 

unedited comments from the Community Player Cards please refer to Appendix 4. 

When it came to suggestions for what different Community Players should do, the participants 

filled the Community Player Cards with a lot of great information. Some provided specific 

action steps, while others simply wrote a word or two on how to increase a sense of belonging 

on a broader scale. Within each of the 10 community player categories a variety of themes 

emerged. Below are recurring themes, identified by the CPD staff, organized by community 

player. We hope that members and groups within the community can use these insights and 

will share them with other groups across Fort Collins. Before considering at each individual 

community player, let’s take a look at some common themes that emerged through that data as 

a whole: 


Common Themes. 

Connect and Collaborate. It is possible that some community partners are not aware 

of others. This can be mitigated through networking with one another or having a 

central group in charge of making connections and bringing organizations together to 

collaborate. 

Spread Awareness.There are likely members of the community who do not know that 

others feel like they do not belong in Fort Collins. Many community players have the 

ability spread the word about issues in the community, as well as share information 

and organizations that aid in community belonging. 

Educate. Beyond spreading awareness, many participants asked for more diversity 

trainings and cultural events to help educate the community on diversity and the 

various cultures that makeup the city. 

Diversify Staff. Many felt that if the community at large could see more diversity on 

an everyday basis, the overall sense of belonging would increase. Hiring more diverse 

individuals throughout all entities of the 

city was the primary suggestion to 

increase the presence of diversity in 

Fort Collins. 

Increase Accessibility. Whether it was 

physically being able to access 

something like transportation or 

having access to certain schools and 

programs, accessibility was noted a 

number of times on the Community 

Player Cards. In general, equal access 

for all community members was a 

repeated concern for folks at the 

forum. 

Action Items By community Player 

Local Government 

Please Note 

The comments in Appendix 4 are 

unedited replications of the 

comments written on the 

Community Player Cards. Some of 

the information may be inaccurate. 

However, the information on these 

cards represent folk’s personal 

experiences and the Center for 

Public Deliberation is presenting the 

information as it was reported at the 

event. 

• Increase Accessibility. Many participants wanted access to accurately translated information 

from the City, both online and through flyers. Increasing the use of translation services 

throughout Fort Collins is one way to help all groups feel a sense of belonging within the city. 

Access to public transportation was discussed in relation to insufficient bus stop locations 

around certain areas of town. Some participants felt that public transportation caters too 

much to the CSU and Old Town. This is particularly an issue because many of the large events 


and festivals are held downtown, making it hard for some folks to go to these events using 

public transportation. Participants wanted to improve bus routes to accommodate folks that 

commute from all areas in and around city limits. 

• The City could make public transportation for folks with disabilities more 

accessible by placing all bus stops near clear and even sidewalks. 

• Work on making restrooms accessible for gender inclusivity as well as 

accommodating folks with disabilities. 

• Increase Affordability. Many participants noted concerns about affordable housing. The U+2 

law was described as working against individuals who may not be able to afford living with 

fewer people. 

• Increase affordable housing options. 

• Diversify Representation. One way the participants felt the City could show their dedication 

to inclusion is by having more diverse staff members and leadership. Some participants wrote 

about having this diversity in offices like the Office for Sustainability, while others wanted 

more diverse representation on City Council. 

• In general, people wanted the City to be more aware of their hiring process so 

that all voices have representation and can be heard. 

• Acknowledge Mental Health Concerns. The topic of mental health came up a few times in 

this category. One comment explicitly referred to more police training around issues of 

mental health. Other participants simply wrote 

“mental health” suggesting that local government 

should have some type of role in addressing this 

concern. 

• Increase mental health trainings and 

policies throughout the city. 

• Increase Cultural Competence. Attendees showed 

an interest in learning about various cultures 

throughout the community player cards. 

• Diversity trainings, retreats (i.e. the City’s 

Multicultural Retreat), and more public 

cultural events were suggested to 

increase the community’s cultural 

Non-Profits 

Cultural Competence 

A set of values, behaviors, 

attitudes, and practices within 

a system, organization, 

program or among 

individuals, which enables 

them to work effectively, 

cross culturally. 

competence. These trainings, retreats, and events could be open to the public 

and offered to key players of the community through invitation. 

• In general, the participants felt it was important to increase cultural competence 

throughout the community in order to increase a sense of belonging for all. 

• Spread the Word. Participants highlighted the importance of making these organizations 

known throughout the community. Some members of the community do not know about the 

non-profits around town, let alone what they can offer. 


• Hold open-houses to spread the word about what is available for members of the 

community to learn about this community player at large. 

• Connect and Collaborate. It is possible that some non-profits are not aware of others. This 

can be mitigated through networking with one another or having a central group in charge of 

making connections and bringing non-profits together. 

• A central hub for collaboration could be the City or United Way. 

• To avoid duplicate projects occurring in multiple organizations, collective impact 

needs to be a priority. 

• Educate and Accommodate. Diversity trainings for staff would help non-profits work better 

as advocates on community issues. This is one way of increasing cultural competence within 

non-profits. Ensuring this sector knows who they are serving and what is going on around the 

community will help them understand how to do so effectively. Participants stressed the 

importance of this when serving underrepresented and minority populations. 

• Hold more diversity trainings. 

Businesses 

• Educate and Accommodate. Offering diversity and inclusivity trainings to employees is a key 

way participants felt businesses could increase the sense of belonging in Fort Collins. These 

forms of education would help employees know how to accommodate to certain clients and 

customers. Educating employees is all about being aware of who the clientele is and how to 

recognize and satisfy their needs. For instance, seniors, youth, folks with disabilities, and all 

gender identities require a variety of accommodations and services. Some participants noted 

that it was hard to find certain products and services depending on their identity. For 

example, finding barber shops that know how to cut African American hair was a challenge. 

• Hold more diversity trainings. 

• Sponsor. Businesses could show their dedication to belonging by sponsoring inclusivity and 

cultural events. 

• Sponsor both public events and diversity trainings that are open to the public. 

• Provide volunteers for these events. 

• Diversify Staff. Similar to the Local Government cards, participants would like to see more 

diverse employees in Fort Collins businesses. 

• Work to adjust the hiring processes and be more purposeful with hiring people of 

color and folks with disabilities. 

• Be Welcoming. This section might seem like common sense, but many of the comments 

suggested simple ways businesses and employees could work to help everyone feel welcome 

at their location. 

“Should hang ‘welcome all’ signs 

in all windows downtown where 

[historically] ‘white only signs’ 

used to be.” 


• A simple smile goes a long way, especially when it is aimed at a person who may 

not typically feel welcomed into the community. 

• For businesses that have regular customers, simply learning the names of individuals 

was suggested. 

People in the Community 

• Spread Awareness. Because some community members are not aware that others feel like 

they don’t belong in Fort Collins, it is important to spread the word about the issues 

throughout the city. 

• Listen to the experiences of others. 

• Speak up against problems witnessed throughout the community. 

• Ask questions, learning as much as you can, meeting different people, and 

challenging exclusive ways of thinking. 

• Be Welcoming. Though this a broad action, it came up at multiple tables. Whether it is 

welcoming a neighbor or making someone feel welcomed in a public space, the broad act of 

being welcoming is something everyone can do. Welcoming diverse individuals in a city that 

is not very diverse can help people feel as though they belong in Fort Collins. Many people 

in the community may not have the means to act as a host, but broadly be welcoming. 

• One specific example noted was to host a foreign student. 

• Increase Political Efficacy. It seems that being more involved in local decision making 

processes could help people in the community have a voice and feel like they belong. In 

general, participants expressed the importance of community and civic involvement. 

• Go to City Council Meetings. 

• Reach out to local government officials. 

• Vote. 

• Be Community-Centered. Many participants expressed for a different mindset around town. 

This shift asks that people be more focused on the needs of the overall community, rather 

than being focused on the needs of the self. 

• Have people in the community offer assistance through language classes. 

• Aid in transportation. 

• Offer assistance to fellow community members. 

• Join groups around the community. 

Coalition/Collaborative Groups 

• Spread the Word Many participants didn’t seem to know of many of these groups. A big 

step in spreading the word about coalition groups is identifying them and publishing their 

information in a central location. 

• Use a shared calendar or webpage for collective information. 

• Make sure community members know about these groups and have an opportunity 

to be involved in them. 


• Connect and Collaborate. Coalition groups have the ability to reach out to other groups and 

community players in Fort Collins. Networking and partnering with other coalitions, the City, 

Poudre School District (PSD), Colorado State University (CSU), organizations, and families can 

help expand education and information across entities. 

• Hold quarterly or monthly networking events for coalition groups. These types of 

collaboration will allow coalition groups to communicate their vision and missions 

with other groups in the community. 

Neighborhoods 

• Establish Clear Neighborhoods. It was noted that not all participants know how to pinpoint 

neighborhoods throughout the city. There are many “unorganized” neighborhoods that may 

not have the same voice as more established ones. Rather than thinking specifically about 

neighborhoods, many separated Fort Collins into North and South. Regardless of the how 

people separate regions of the city, more connectivity and collaboration between 

neighborhoods is desired. 

• Connect Within The term “block party” 

came up again and again on these 

cards. Folks really want the opportunity Want more information on 

to get to know their neighbors. 

neighborhood engagement? 

• Connect through social media 

groups and the Nextdoor app. 

• Form service project days or 

Visit fcgov.com 

community garage sale to learn more about the Neighborhood 

weekends around 

Connections Project. 

neighborhoods to establish 

more community cohesion. 

• Wave while driving down the street to make connections and generate relationships 

within your neighborhood. 

• Continue the Conversation. Many expressed interest in continuing the conversation on 

belonging on a neighborhood level. 

• Holding an open forum, more conversations like this Community Issues Forum, or 

even just more meetings could help foster the belonging conversation. 

• Neighborhoods could also hold more diversity programs and cultural events at their 

parks and community centers to spread awareness. 

Education/Schools 

• Increase Accessibility. Access for low income and homeless students was a key concern on 

these cards. Accessing transportation to various schools, uniforms, instruments, and other 

school fees put low income students at a disadvantage. 

• Many participants advocated for equal opportunity for all students. 


• Have gender inclusive areas to ensure the safety of LGBTQ students and faculty. 

• Educate. It is important to educate both student and faculty about diversity to ensure all 

individuals in the PSD community can feel safe and accepted. 

• Promote diversity trainings and awareness programs to both students and staff 

members. 

• Include more diverse American history classes, such as Native American history. 

• Connect and Collaborate. Schools have the ability to connect and collaborate with other 

community players like non-profits and the University. These collaborations help build trust 

throughout the community and could result in events and mentorships. 

• Diversify Staff. As suggested in some of the above categories, a diverse faculty can help 

promote diversity awareness. Diversifying the staff refers to teachers as well as individuals 

who work for the school district at large. There were some comments on getting to know the 

needs of families and students to help accommodate youth with disabilities, single-parent 

households, or others who may face challenges. 

• Be purposeful in hiring more diverse staff members and teachers. 

• Hiring more family liaisons, who can easily communicate with families around Fort 

Collins and can help to identify the needs of students. 

University 

• Connect and Collaborate. Many other community players were listed as being able to 

collaborate with the University for greater community involvement. Collaboration between 

CSU and other community players can help bridge the gap between students and other 

community members. 

• CSU should work to collaborate with the City, PSD, neighborhoods, and other 

community players to host 

events openly advertised to 

the community at large. 

• Allow various groups in the 

community to use university 

resources. 

• Connect with other community 

players when making decisions 

that affects off-campus life; for 

instance, parking. 

• Educate. Participants felt that it was 

important that students know how to be 

good neighbors and community 

members in the City of Fort Collins. 

• Many folks suggested that 

CSU students should be 

required to have some sort of 

Colorado State University’s 

Principles of Community 

Integrity 

Respect 

Service 

Social Justice 

Inclusion 

“We create and nurture inclusive environments 

and welcome, value and affirm all members of 

our community, including their various identities, 

skills, ideas, talents and contributions.” 


diversity training. This could be a training similar to ones given by other community 

players, online short courses, or a required humanities course. 

• Diversify Staff. As mentioned throughout these cards, having diverse individuals present and 

visible is important in making all feel welcomed. It was noted that having diverse staff 

members may attract more diverse students, which would increase the diversity in Fort 

Collins. 

• Hire role models who will spread positive notions of inclusivity and cultural 

competence. 

Faith Communities 

• Connect and Collaborate. The main takeaway from this set of community player cards is 

collaboration and cooperation between various faith institutions and communities. The 

Interfaith Council was noted many times as doing great work. 

• Increase partnerships between Spanish and English speaking institutions. 

• Implementing translation services into these communities would benefit Spanish 

speaking community members. 

• Faith communities could aid the homeless population by acting as temporary 

shelters or asking their affiliates of any known job openings. 

• Educate. Participants expressed a desire to learn more about various faith communities 

purely for educational purposes. Some fear that aid from faith communities would come with 


an intent of conversion. Acceptance is key here, so being able to take part in diverse 

discussions around different faiths would be important. 

• Hold educational open houses. 

• Reach out to learn about other faith groups. 

Me 

• Spread Awareness. Many participants felt that they had the ability to spread awareness on 

issues around the city. Some participants specifically wanted to speak against racism, while 

others simply wanted to have their voice be heard in order to mitigate silence. 

• Voicing personal opinions. 

• Speak up for those who cannot or do not feel comfortable doing so. 

• Be Open. Along with speaking up, folks wrote a lot about listening and being willing to 

understand others. 

• Be open-minded, look at all sides of an issue, question certain ways of thinking, and 

challenge yourself. 

• Seek out opportunities to interact with other identities to learn more about what 

you do not know. 

• Continue the Conversation. This conversation seemed to really move some of the folks in 

the room. 

• Take part in more conversations around belonging. 

• Start similar conversations on 

your own. 

• Attend more City council 

meetings and forums like this 

one to keep the conversation 

going. 

Blank Cards for Additional Categories 

• Artists. Art has the ability to bring 

diversity and cultural history throughout 

the city. Creative outlets such as food, 

theater, and storytelling are just some of 

the ways artists can spread cultural 

awareness. 

• Library. On some of the previous 

Community Player Cards, participants 

expressed interest in having a go-to 

“hub” that is filled with information 

about belonging in Fort Collins. The 

library could act as a “hub” for people 


interested in learning about diversity and other cultures. The library website could also be 

used to get the word out about resources and groups in the community. 

• Media. The main takeaway here is that there needs to be more inclusive portrayals displayed 

in media. This can be done by diversifying advertisements. The thought behind this is that 

diverse ads mean more visibility of minority groups. Increasing visibility is suggested to 

normalize a diverse community. 

• Miscellaneous. 

• A central community calendar (similar to the idea mentioned on the Community 

Player Card created for the Library) would help with collaborative efforts. This 

calendar would include all of the community players listed in the Action Items 

section. 

• Accessibility as it relates to public transportation is very important to consider. 

Seniors and people on the outskirts of Fort Collins have a hard time getting around 

town. 

• Educating the community about different cultures through classes and programs is a 

great way to help people feel connected with the community. 


next Steps. 


Next Steps. 

The spring 2016 Community Issues Forum (CIF) was designed to serve as a catalyst to 

additional conversations and community actions around issues tied to inclusion and diversity 

issues in Fort Collins. We hope that this report serves as a useful tool to spark multiple next 

steps in the community, supported by numerous organizations and individuals. A number of 

key organizations are already directly connected, such as the City of Fort Collins, the CSU 

Center for Public Deliberation, the Fort Collins Human Relations Commission, and the Fort 

Collins Office of Social Sustainability. In addition, right around the time of the CIF, a group of 

concerned citizens from the City, university, school district, and other community organizations 

began meeting to discuss these issues. Many attended the event, and are currently working to 

organize more officially this summer. The group is currently calling itself the “Community Equity 

Initiative.” 

All four of these groups will be utilizing this report to help structure their work in the 

coming years. We can in particular speak for the CPD, which expects to host additional events 

focused on themes identified in this report, and provide support for additional community 

groups that may want to utilize the information. 

Lastly, some specific key actions that seemed to emerge from the conversations and the 

pre-meeting survey that are currently being examined by the City and the CPD more closely 

include: 

• More ethnic/diverse celebrations, speakers, music, events 

• More diverse bilingual employees/staff/leaders. In particular, we are examining how to 

get more diverse participants involved in the CityWorks program as well as the city’s 

boards and commissions and budget processes. 

• Removing barriers to civic participation through better marketing to marginalized 

groups, more Spanish notifications and translations, providing child care options, etc. 

• Expanding educational opportunities on the value of diversity and the awareness of 

bias/privilege. Those interested may be particularly interested in the City’s annual 

Multicultural Retreat as well we CSU’s Diversity Symposium. 

We at the CPD hope to announce plans in conjunction with community partners for a fall event 

to share this report, invite responses, and prioritize action steps in the near future. 

To be notified about future events, you can sign up for the CPD e-mail list. Questions or 

comments about this report can be sent Martin Carcasson with the CPD at 

cpd@colostate.edu or Janet Freeman with the City of Fort Collins at jfreeman@fcgov.com. 


Evaluation. 


Evaluation. 

Participating in Deliberation 

Post-Survey. During this event, we asked 

diverse community members to come 

together, share experiences, and move 

towards action on the issue of belonging in 

Fort Collins. From our experience as 

practitioners and research on deliberation, 

we know that the kind of talk that happens at 

a table of ten community members can be 

very different from that of a town hall 

meeting or televised debate. At the end of 

the event, we asked participants to evaluate 

the event. We did this so that we could find 

out how people rated the experience of 

talking in small, diverse groups. 

Choosing Questions. There’s lot of 

evaluation questions we could have asked. 

We could have asked them to rate their 

facilitator or answer open-ended questions 

about what they liked about the event. For 

the sake of brevity, we asked a couple of 

questions that helped us to understand how 

impartial people felt the event was. To 

understand whether people felt the event 

was biased in some way, we asked them to 

reflect on whether they felt they had equal 

opportunities to participate, considered 

different viewpoints throughout the 

discussion, and to what extent they felt 

mutual respect at their table. 

Diversity in Deliberation. We selected these 

questions, because of what we already know 

about deliberating in diverse groups. For 

everyone involved, speaking with a group of 

diverse community members can cause 

people to be exposed to a greater range of 

viewpoints, be open to learning, and 

1 

reconsider previous viewpoints . When 

speaking in groups of white and non-white 

individuals, people of color express a marked 

appreciation for the opportunity be heard 

and to speak 2 . Researchers have also found 

that in racially diverse groups, women are 

perceived as more persuasive and likely to 

say more than they would in all-white 

groups 3 . However, when disempowered 

groups are included there are also risks to 

participation. Minority participants can be 

seen as less authoritative and speak less 

often in forums 4 . When managing token 

positions within conversations, 

underrepresented individuals can feel 

greater isolation and the need to adjust their 

responses, based on how they feel others 

will interpret them 5 . Based on what we know, 

we felt it was important to keep asking 

questions about the experience of 

deliberation for diverse groups. 

Findings. The majority of participants felt 

they had the opportunity to be heard, felt 

mutual respect, and felt heard. In our analysis 

we found no significant difference between 

minority and majority groups (i.e. people of 

color and caucasian people) in these areas. 

This means that minority groups didn’t feel 

more or less heard or respected than 

majority groups. Take a look at the results. 


Would you say you had sufficient 

opportunities to express your 

views today? 

How important a role did you 

play in today’s discussions? 

When other participants 

expressed views different from 

your own today, how often did 

you consider carefully what they 

had to say? 


How often do you feel that other 

participants treated you with 

respect today? 

When you spoke today, how 

often did you feel your ideas 

were heard by your fellow 

participants? 

How often did you feel pressure 

to agree with something that you 

weren’t sure about? 


Endnotes 

1. Ryfe, D. M. & Stalsburg, B. (2012). Democracy in motion: Evaluation the practice and 

impact of deliberative civic engagement. Nabatchi, T., Gastil, J., Weiksner, G. M., & 

Leighninger, M. (Eds.) New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

2. Abdel-Moneem, T., Bingham, S., Marincic, J., Tomkins, A. (2010). Deliberation and 

diversity:perceptions of small group discussions by race and ethnicity. Small Group 

Research, 41, 746-776. doi: 10.177/1046496410377359 

3. Toosi, N. R., Sommers, S. R., Ambady, N. (2012). Getting a word in group-wise: Effects of 

racial diversity on gender dynamics. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 

1150-1155. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.04.015 

4. Karpowitz, C. F. & Raphael, C. (2014). Deliberation, democracy, and civic forums: Improving 

equality and publicity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. 

5. Fung, A., Young, I. M., Mansbridge, J. (2004). Deliberation’s darker side: Six questions for 

Iris Marion Young and Jane Mansbridge. National Civic Review, 47-54. 


Appendix. 


Appendix 1. 

Demographic Information 

Keypad Data. Each participant was provided a keypad. Keypads are a remote clicker that 

allows participants to enter an anonymous response to a survey question. Responses can then 

be displayed in real time in a Power Point. This event asked a series of demographic questions 

(age, gender, ethnicity, geographic location, religion, etc.). By displaying the responses to 

these questions, attendees were able to get a sense of who was in the room that evening. 

These demographic measures may differ from Keypad Data, because they were administered 

at the beginning of the event. 

Keypad Question Keypad Options Percent Count 

1. Ethnicity origin (or Race): White 61.05% 58 

Hispanic or Latino 22.11% 21 

Black or African 

American 

Native American or 

American Indian 

9.47% 9 

2.11% 2 

Asian / Pacific Islander 1.05% 1 

Other 4.21% 4 

Totals 100% 95 

2. Age 17 or younger 4.17% 4 

18-20 0% 0 

21-29 18.75% 18 

30-39 9.38% 9 

40-49 20.83% 20 

50-59 14.58% 14 

60 - 69 21.88% 21 

70 or older 10.42% 10 

Prefer not to answer 0% 0 


3. Gender Female 65.98% 64 


Female to male 

transgender 

0% 0 

Male 30.93% 30 

Male to female 

transgender 

2.06% 2 

Not sure 0% 0 

Something Else 1.03% 1 

Prefer not to answer 0% 0 

4. Sexual Orientation 

Heterosexual / 

Straight 


78.43% 80 

Lesbian 5.88% 6 

Gay (male) 2.94% 3 

Bisexual 5.88% 6 

Something Else 5.88% 6 

Prefer not to answer 0.98% 1 

Totals 100% 102 

5. Employment Sector Education 19.80% 20 

Government 12.87% 13 

Business 6.93% 7 

Medical 1.98% 2 

Service/Non-Profit 17.82% 18 

Student 11.88% 12 

Unemployed 1.98% 2 

Homemaker 1.98% 2 

Retired 18.81% 19 

Other 5.94% 6 

Responses 

6. Region (percent) (count) 

North of Drake, West 

of College 

32.35% 33 


South of Drake, West 


South of Drake, East 


North of Drake. East 


I live outside of Fort 

Collins 

20.59% 21 

12.75% 13 

18.63% 19 

15.69% 16 

Totals 100% 102 

7. Religion Christian 27.72% 28 

Muslim 0% 0 

Jewish 2.97% 3 

Roman Catholic 18.81% 19 

Church of Jesus Christ 

of Latter Day Saints 

1.98% 2 

Buddhist 2.97% 3 

Other 13.86% 14 

Agnostic (you are not 

sure if there is a God) 

Atheist (you believe 

there is no God) 

13.86% 14 

9.90% 10 

None 7.92% 8 

Totals 100% 101 

8. Income $21,999 or less 17.17% 17 

$22,000-58,999 23.23% 23 

$59,000-87,999 15.15% 15 

$88,000-149,999 27.27% 27 

$150,000 - $249,999 5.05% 5 

$250,000 or more 5.05% 5 

Prefer not to answer 7.07% 7 



Post-Survey Demographic Information. Participants were asked to complete a one page 

(front and back) survey. Here are the reported demographic characteristics of event attendees. 

These demographic measures may differ from Keypad Data, because they were administered 

at the end of the event and the post-survey was optional. 

Question 

Count Percentage 

Ethnicity origin (or Race): 

Please Specify your 

ethnicity. 

What is your gender 

identity? 

White 61 65.6% Other 

Hispanic or Latino 20 21.5% 

Black or African 

American 

4 4.3% 

Native American 3 3.2% 

Asian/Pacific 

Islander 

0 0.0% 

Latino Asian 

American 

Also marked 

Hispanic/Latino 

Human (I'm 

French, Belian, 

German) 

Also marked 

Hispanic/Latino 

Other 5 5.4% 

Black/African 

American/Asian 

Pacific Islander 

Total 93 100% White/Hispanic/ 

Latino 

White/Hispanic/ 

Black 

Latina/Asian 

American 

Female 63 67.7% Something Else 

Female to male 

transgender 

0 0.0% Intersex 

Male 27 29.0% 

Male to female 

transgender 

2 2.2% 

Not sure 0 0.0% 

Something Else 1 1.1% 

Prefer not to 

answer 

0 0.0% 

Total 93 100% 


Question 

Sexual orientation: Do you 

consider yourself to be: 

Count 

Percentage 

Heterosexual 71 77.2% Something Else 

Lesbian 8 8.7% Pansexual 

Gay 2 2.2% Pansexual 

Bisexual 4 4.3% Queer 

Age: Which category below 

includes your age? 

Something Else 5 5.4% queer 

Prefer not to 

Answer 

2 2.2% 

This is not 

important to me 

Total 92 100% spaio-demi-sexual 

17 or younger 4 4.3% 

18-20 1 1.1% 

21-29 17 18.5% 

30-39 9 9.8% 

40-49 21 22.8% 

50-59 12 13.0% 

60 or older 28 30.4% 

Total 92 100% 


Appendix 2. 

Gaps 

In order to find out how Fort Collins could improve its sense of inclusion, facilitators could 

choose to ask 5 different questions in this section. Here are the responses to those questions. 

Table Question Facilitator Notes 

1 

1. Gaps - “What challenges do we have as a community in making everyone 

feel they belong?” 

13 1 

Moving here/change status when living here → there is mismatch b/w families 

and housing, single people and housing, and affordability and housing 

13 1 Squeezing out a lot of people 

13 1 Public transit has grown A LOT but needs to grow FASTER 

13 1 

Think beyond what developers think will be most lucrative for them and city 

should limit this to make room for the diverse types of people who are here 

13 1 

13 1 

Community meetings seem oriented to single moms, retired folks because it’s 

hard for others to make time for these events 

The roads and construction are conducive to frustration 

Plan what streets you work on at one time → don’t work on College & Shields at 

same time 

People trying to get to meetings like this, it makes things much harder 

Involved w/ city and school → people included are people of power, money, and 

those who are friends with elected officials and execs. 

The other voices are diminished 

System is set up like this 

13 1 

Well educated people (CSU grads) can’t get a job and leave even if they would 

want to stay 

Ex.: wants to go to law school here but that’s not an option 

12 1 The history of the community isn't inclusive. 

12 1 And some people don't acknowledge that history exists 

12 1 

12 1 

12 1 

Until recently, within my lifetime, there were racists signs that said, "No dogs and 

Mexicans allowed" in businesses in FC. Many people remember that. 

In Snooze, everybody looks when a black person comes in; it also happens at 

CSU with students and and is a problem for faculty retention 

In 1998 Matthew Shepard was abducted and murdered. 

Some people at the table say, but that was in Wyoming. 

Others argue that that is part of our regional history. 

12 1 There is transgender violence in this region and violence against women. 

12 1 

A reason it was hard to live here is not that you're not accepted if you're not 

white but that we rarely talk about diversity. People always say, "don't you love 

Fort Collins?," and I feel weird here because it isn't diverse 



12 1 

The biggest challenge is acceptance, and that's about perception. It's tangible, 

people rub us the wrong way but we end up becoming friends when we get to 

know each other. Perceptions change. Acceptance requires perception change. 

12 1 

It's related to our history, something that we have to overcome. There's real hurt 

that needs to be fixed and addressed, otherwise we still have two groups. 

12 1 People who feel hurt and people who feel guilty. 

12 1 

I loved the friendship example. We form richer friendships with people because 

we have nothing in common. 

12 1 We need safety to explore what's different 

12 1 Technology makes us so vulnerable. 

12 1 

8 1 

16 1 

16 1 

8 1 

There's the art of belonging but also the art of neighboring. We need to address 

that. We have to figure out what neighborhoods look like. 

I think the other way. I grew up poor and knew my neighbors so that they didn't 

rob me. Now, I don't need that safety. 

Everyone is so busy; We don't see our neighbors until Spring. 

Distraction dementia 

(They were basically moving back and forth between technology making us 

disconnected from one another and a need to make connections with our 

neighbors.) 

We are challenged by not having certain "little" things for ethnic groups. The 

main example was a lack of a hair salon that can work with "ethnic" hair. No biracial 

groups, no bi-rcial community hubs, no all inclusive community ethnic 

centers that promote involvement in and education of differing cultures. 

There's nowhere to get my hair cut or braided because there are very few places 

that deal with “ethnic” hair. 

Barriers in people obtaining programs, for some people it’s hard to do so. 

Finances are a big barrier 

Affordability** 

Don’t have money to do some of the things they want to do on retirement 

Growth, hop that the town can do a better job working with the community as it 

grows and not “cycle people out” pushing people out as more development 

happens.“Keep people in their homes” 

Housing costs 

As a student U+2 laws, limits what students can do for housing as far as 

affordability goes. Enough people to help with rent. 

The Hispanic minority- the largest minority group in Fort Collins is 

underrepresented. I had a problem with [white women] (name omitted) who did 

not speak Spanish natively but spoke on behalf of the Spanish community at the 

beginning of the forum, "I was insulted". There is no [Hispanic] representation 

in city government. 

8 1 

I agree with her, [white women] is not part of the Hispanic community. 

8 1 We are missing "knowledge" and "appreciation" from other people. 



8 1 

I agree with both of you. There is something missing, there is no communication, 

no listening. 

8 1 "We are not any different" 

8 1 

8 1 

8 1 

8 1 

7 1 

7 1 

7 1 

7 1 

1 1 

1 1 

1 1 

When I see someone who is Hispanic I feel proud, I feel inclusion. When there 

are more People of Color included in the community, "I feel something". 

There are some undocumented people in Fort Collins, they are "labeled" and 

excluded. "That is not a nice thing to do". 

"We need to have an honest conversation about racism in Fort Collins...it 

exists!" 

Gender representation is needed. If we look at city council, there is only one 

woman. 

Transportation: The max is great but it stops right at the end of old town so 

families on the north side do not have access to it. Also in general busses stop at 

a central time. That can be a challenge because international students don't 

have a car. Fort Collins also does not offer busses on holidays or Sundays (fact 

check?). We are unsure of the efforts to expand but it needs to happen. From 

the senior perspective at the table, this is one of the biggest concerns in the 

senior community because depending on where you live, you almost HAVE to 

have a car to get around in Fort Collins and some seniors can't drive. Students 

may feel this way too if they don't have a car in Fort Collins 

Housing/Living Prices: The price of living here I just simply to high. Fort Collins 

has tons of housing issues because of the skyrocketing prices and the market. 

Accessibility and affordability is huge when it comes to making people feel like 

they belong. Retail ponds has been a great resource for homeless people. We 

need more affordable housing like this to get people off the streets. 

Child care: Have affordable and accessible child care for everyone is an issue 

too. Its very hard to provide "cheap" childcare to everyone. 

We are the "choice city" so tons of people are moving here; How do we make 

them belong? 

Housing prices --> families/adults in townhouses--> "students" of "poor". 

Autistic son financial challenge/choice/housing prices are too hard. Hard to live/ 

work in community due to cost- which prohibits meeting new people and 

growing community 

Music festivals bring me out, but otherwise I stay in my community/ routine- not 

meeting others 

How accessible are some events? Segregation between communities. Types of 

house/section of city 

1 1 Student v non-student segregation. More integration of students in the city 

1 1 

1 1 

"Are you planning to stay?" - even though I'm a long term resident and member 

of community, why is this always a question? why does it matter or what's the 

fear 

College students- unsightly/unsafe residential behavior- if they felt like more a 

part of their community would they care more/ act differently? 



2 1 

When I was 21 and the only white person, I had not experienced that sort of 

inner city environment. The teachers lounge would go dead silent. Being a 

speech pathologist you travel around a lot. They went on strike and I ended up 

getting a job somewhere else. It was difficult without that common ground. 

Absolutely, I just didn’t have the experience at that point, my mother was raised 

in the south and moving to DC my mother was definitely prejudice and I learned 

quickly that I didn’t like her stance on things, but I had to learn that. 

4 1 Being invisible People feel like they don’t exist 

4 1 People don't feel like the town is diverse 

4 1 

4 1 

People in Fort Collins don’t speak 2 languages, Fort Collins events only have one 

language especially at huge events 

Fort Collins should have bi-lingual speakers at every event 

4 1 Flyers, and messages online should be written in Spanish too 

4 1 

More pipe line and career programs to bring more diversity into the work place 

in Fort Collins 

4 1 Theres is a lack of diversity of leadership in Fort Collins 

4 1 

With hispanics in Fort Collins the socio-economic level this is why they are seen 

as invisible in Fort Collins 

4 1 Usually this ends up putting the hispanics outside the city. 

4 1 Cultural poverty is a huge concern in Fort Collins 

4 1 

The mobility of different groups is a huge reason why we don't see other ethnic 

groups in Fort Collins 

This might be a reason in a sense of belonging 

4 1 Its hard to feel like you belong if you don't have equal affordable housing 

4 1 A lot of low income people in Fort Collins live double families in one trailer 

4 1 There are a lot of families that live in the parks in Fort Collins 

4 1 

4 1 

4 1 

I’m glad that Fort Collins is having this conversation because I couldn’t imagined 

another city in Fort Collins making the effort to have this conversations 

I believe there should be more continuous efforts in the neighborhoods 

(marathons,activities, parks that are central to the center of town) 

Transportation is a huge barrier to take the Fort Collins community to where it 

needs to be, 

4 1 Fort Collins needs to provide better transportation options 

4 1 

4 1 

4 1 

I like to see certain organizations moved out of old town, mid-town deserves 

some events 

I don’t want to go to any events in Fort Collins 

(no transportation to get to Fort Collins) 

(no place to park) (the crowds) 

I understand that there is a great renaissance in old town but holding all the 

events in old town is a barrier to people who do not live close 



4 1 

Old town is a hard place to park, that has its benefits because it inhibits people 

from attending 

4 1 Diversify the events in old town 

4 1 

4 1 

4 1 

4 1 

“I don’t think as a community we’re recognizing how Fort Collins has changed as 

a community” 

Fort Collins has gotten better parks in the community 

“We’ve grown so much as an community that there is not enough room for the 

community in old town” 

“We need mentorship we need to get more people involved we can benefit 

from having more volunteer mentorships” 

4 1 Religious minorities are also a problem in Fort Collins 

4 1 I think it would be nice if Fort Collins could have an arabic night 

14 1 

Latino women grew up in high Latino population area when they moved to Fort 

Collins they felt, "Its so white here." The spaces the individual feels comfortable 

are where there are other people are who share their same identity. Individual 

feels objectified and feels they are under a microscope by people here in Fort 

Collins. 

14 1 

14 1 

14 1 

14 1 

14 1 

Individual moved from Chicago and the first thing they noticed was how many 

white people are here. 

Person asked Latino women, "What does it mean to be treated as a brown 

person?" Latino women responded: At institutions or at stores she notices 

people do not introduce themselves to a person of color. People of color 

experience employees following them around in stores as employee may 

suspect them of stealing. People of color feel a lack of trust from store and 

institution employees. Latino women said, "Men of color have to watch their 

body language," so other don't feel threatened. She has talked with several men 

of color who have told her they do not walk around in old Fort Collins 

neighborhoods (Mountain st) because of fear of the police harassing them. She 

explained people of color are afraid to go to certain places in Fort Collins, 

specifically the bars at night because of possibility of stigmatization, 

discrimination, and racial slurs that drunk people use. Latino women explained 

people of color feel Old town is not a safe place for them at night (when people 

are at bars). 

Another individual adds how he heard in a recent media source that a Latino 

women was at a food restaurant and server purposely did not serve Latino 

women, but served white people. He explained there is a lot of prejudice and 

racial discrimination in Colorado. 

Person was at Walmart and noticed more people of color and what seemed to 

be low-income demographics. She felt these populations may be at Walmart 

because it may be a place of belonging for these people. 

Jewish women moved to Fort Collins and met people who had never met a jew 

before, they asked her identity questions about what is was like to be a jew. 

14 1 Fort Collins struggled with innate implicit discrimination against people of color 



14 1 

Individual feels "we have overly focused on nationality" (in Colorado) and we 

must find something humours about identities 

14 1 

14 1 

Person feels "Most of us aren't aware of our biases and prejudices" and that "we 

need to be comfortable with our differences" 

White woman explained she met someone of different identity and felt 

uncomfortable, women is unaware of what words or gestures may be offensive 

to people of color. Women said, "People who look different may be treated 

differently because they are acting our of fear." 

14 1 Latino women expressed finding commonality is key 

14 1 

To have a person feel like they belong in a community they should be known by 

name at local institutions (like the bank and on the bus). Small things make all 

the difference 

5 1 

5 1 

5 1 

5 1 

5 1 

15 1 

Everyone has biases. Tried to deny them but everyone has them. Try to put other 

people down. Biased to me because of power. Wants to be more welcoming. 

Hidden biases because they are so powerful. Get in touched with biases and 

accepted differences, easier to be more open. Find the biases everywhere not in 

any certain area of Fort Collins. 

Push the idea of more thought and conclusions. PSD as we try to push towards 

normal acceptance, people still try not to accept other people. Feeling 

powerless overall. 

Resources because mental health professional, were growing a lot and how were 

able to handle the growth. Want to make sure we have resources for all these 

people who need help or any resources. 

Identify ourselves as multiple communities-old town, university community, 

Andersonville, little communities, so a sense of segregation or division in this 

town. People have different perspectives depending on their areas of where they 

live. Need to knock down those walls to different communities so we can grow 

as one 

Might not talk about biases all the time, but if we keep it hidden, they will fester 

and never let it up because then when we meet someone who we disagree with 

us we can’t help but share our biases and never see eye to eye with them. Must 

understand our biases and see why we feel and see that way and try to open our 

eyes to seeing the other point of view or culture. 

+We are taking about these issues as separate (age, LGBTQ, race). We MUST 

talk about intersecting identities--we need to look at these from and individual 

and collective lens--Everyone will come out ahead. 

15 1 

-Total inclusion--city council members must represent ALL identities and be 

representative. 

15 1 ?What interferes?--A sense of belonging, no one volunteers anymore. 

15 1 

-There are barriers to people getting involved and volunteering (short 

interviews). 



15 1 

My Comments: Group members felt that when they attempted to volunteer or 

work with city council they were subject to a sort of nepotism--city council 

already had their person in mind. So, city government is insulated from their 

citizens. 

15 1 

15 1 

15 1 

15 1 

11 2 

11 2 

11 2 

10 2 

10 2 

10 2 

10 2 

10 2 

10 2 

-We lost the LGBTQ center in FOCO, so members of that community don't have 

a central resource and there is no connection for those members who have been 

sexually assaulted. 

-Neighborhood engangement is lacking--we all know each other, but we need to 

plan neighborhoods and create a sense of belonging within the neighborhood. 

WE NEED TO GET TO KNOW OUR NEIGHBORS. 

?Neighborhood parties--Can the city provide resources?--Help people who want 

to be engaged. ?What do we do with people who don't want to be engaged? 

+One participant noted that even for events like this, it is difficult to bring 

people to the table. He said that events like this should be better promoted and 

that word-of-mouth excludes people who are not "in the loop." He went on to 

suggest that we hold more than one event at various times, so people who work 

more than one job can participate. 

2 2. Gaps - "Who in Fort Collins might feel like they do not belong? Why?” 

People talked about how many different people weren't represented at the 

event, and they made specific note that they would like to see more student 

leaders here. 

They talked about the issues for families with low incomes. The housing market 

is hurting them a lot because its more profitable for a landlord to rent a house to 

3 college students then to one family. 

They also talked about how the bus transport has really limited options, and this 

hurts homeless. 

I think Fort Collins is predominantly white. Looking at these identities (talked 

about in the introduction), I’d say anyone who is not white might not feel like 

they belong. Even if it is not overt, they may experience a lot of hardship. 

People in crisis may not feel like they belong. Crisis knocks a person out of a 

group and they may feel isolated. Economic crisis, relational crisis etc… 

People are, generally, doing economically well here. Perhaps if you are not doing 

economically well you may not feel welcomed. 

It is possible that people in rural areas surrounding Fort Collins may not feel as 

included. Generally, rural folks are pretty set in their beliefs (they may be more 

conservative) and Fort Collins is a very progressive town. 

People who look different may have a hard time joining into community events 

here. 

There is a Vietnamese community who work in the nail industry, they have not 

been reached out to and/or brought into the greater Fort Collins community. 

They feel comfortable with people from their own homes/community. 

10 2 People with mental health concerns may not feel as welcome here. 

10 2 

One participant notes that they have seen a progressive change towards reframing 

mental health problems in the schools. 



10 2 People who don’t speak English may have a hard time here 

10 2 There is not a lot of outreach/inclusion of places like Alta Vista 

13 2 

13 2 

13 2 

13 2 

13 2 

13 2 

12 2 

12 2 

12 2 

The Hispanic community → these communities with bad roads and lighting on 

the outskirts of town 

One agree! Especially with cost of living going up and trying to get rid of those 

trailer parks 

People who are not part of the economic group 

Pulled in counties from north and south but with no plan to improve those areas 

not to mention areas within old FoCo already need help 

Plans to help businesses but not the people of the neighborhoods 

Addressing homelessness → city ebbs and flows with ability to deal with this 

Never a problem of inappropriate interaction (stealing, trashing, danger, etc.) 

They have a feeling that old town is their home and do take care of this area, 

rather it’s often students that create destruction 

Homeless don’t do this type of action but we still seem to ignore a lot of their 

actual needs even though they have generally good behavior 

They have a lot of needs including mental health needs -- bridge programs 

needed 

Willing to pay to clean up for students because they bring in a lot of revenue for 

the city, this is the difference with the homeless people 

Homeless: negative perception portrayed of homeless people 

Students create revenue, homeless don’t 

Goes in to parking lots too… 

Everything city does is surrounded by their money 

Not good at recognizing veterans within this community 

GI bill only goes so far 

Larimer county has one of highest suicide rates in state 

Words of appreciation and recognition → getting to the things that “aren’t 

talked about” --> Especially with veterans, mental health, homeless and the 

combination of those issues 

People with mental health issues not included enough within the community… 

But being able to talk about it so it doesn’t have to be so excluded 

Can be hard to include those people because often the issue itself makes them 

feel secluded/alone on an individual level → need to do our best to help avoid 

this 

Socio-economic status. Affordable living is a big issue, housing particularly. 

Whether you rent or buy. At CSU, our lowest wage employees have difficulty 

living here. Zoning hadn't created housing segregation, but now, who can afford 

housing? 

We're talking about every single community member here. It's sad that common 

citizens don't belong. I feel so disconnected from the city planner. I feel 

disconnected from decisions about developments and roads and stoplights. 

But they invite you to the discussion where their mind is already made up. (Lots 

of agreement to this.) 



12 2 

I'd like to speak to the empty chair: College aged women don't feel comfortable 

downtown. 

As they shouldn't 

12 2 There are few handy-capable people here. We could do better. 

12 2 Accessibility is a challenge. 

16 2 Single parents- In the sense of affordability, cost of child care and housing** 

16 2 

Equity and inclusion city program- wants to be a part of it-her son felt as though 

the African American studies (CSU) program for kids made him feel like he 

belongs 

16 2 Lack of places to go- less ethnic facilities 

16 2 

16 2 

16 2 

Nobody else in an upper-middle class neighborhood and he’s the only child 

multi-cultural. 

Strengthen people or find more organizations?- city does a good job connecting 

people. “Never felt a vibe of hatred” more cultural centers would let other 

people experience different cultures 

Not specific things for specific people- bring them together is best** that’s 

segregation. 

16 2 Maybe it could just be events not a whole structure 

16 2 

16 2 

16 2 

CSU does a wonderful job helping with diverse students- help with isolationscity 

could give similar opportunities 

A couple hosts a breakfast ever Sunday to bring people together (Mark 

Oberschmidt) 

City generated a food centered month- cooking classes and all kinds of things 

Thai? Indian?. At the senior center. 

16 2 A challenge to have people believe that the senior center is a diverse place 

16 2 “Strikingly white” 

16 2 When you dig deeper you can find that diversity 

16 2 Should have a ways to do more linking 

16 2 

7 2 

7 2 

Physical disabilities – getting outdoors isn’t possible for everybody. Not a place 

for disabled people to do physical things 

Pockets of Poverty in our community: These people in poverty don't have access 

to all of these things mentioned above and so they might not feel like they 

belong because they can't afford it. The mentor program is starting up so that's 

good but we need more outreach. We need to get these people better access 

to services. How would it make the homeless people feel if for example 

restaurants opened their doors to homeless once a week for free but the 

restaurants rotated and took turns (because they are a business, they do need to 

profit to stay alive) 

People who stick out: There was this African American child who thought she 

couldn't be a Disney princess because of the color of her skin. If you feel like you 

stick out like a sore thumb, you probably don't feel like you belong. 



1 2 

The disabled community are excluded. "Its a rude community". Loveland had 

compassion. Motorists flipping off when crossing street. Not considered a 

pedestrian or a person. Only 30% of bus stops meet standards. More for 

students/ not for me. No access to public transportation/old town. Old town is 

for college kids- not me. 

1 2 

1 2 

1 2 

1 2 

Fort Collins not friendly to older singles- non-family/ non student. 40+ = no 

options, not welcoming 

Limited access/ options for those without families/ partners. Immigrant families/ 

community members- hispanic/ Arabic exclusion. Transgendered exclusions 

(especially in school, sports, eating, etc). 

Community cant talk about race (sexuality in loveland). LGBTQ is supported and 

discussed, race is not. 

Jewish community overlooked/ excluded. Holidays conflict/ ideals conflict with 

university events 

1 2 Exclusionary policy in politics/ governments 

1 2 

No sidewalks to get to store/ limited access. Individual attacks. No wifi areas 

leave communities disconnected. Kids cant do homework- no infrastructure even 

if they can afford it 

1 2 

Larimer County v City of Fort Collins leads to feeling excluded and not allowed 

to participate/ vote. 

1 2 People live in these areas, work, and go to school, but cant have a voice 

1 2 

1 2 

1 2 

2 2 

Hispanic/ lower income communities feel excluded. Predominantly white/ 

christian/ able bodied/ hetero in every way, leading, large institution in town 

Watching young students deal with this, being "shamed", internalizing, and 

becoming depressed. 

Segregation starts at preschool and stays with people (in some areas). "Don't go 

to boulder- lots of "problems" there, ie "a lot of non white families" and I love 

boulder and the diversity at the high school. Stigma with specific schools in city, 

mostly Northern side of town--> lower income 

Homeless and those with disabilities 

Why do we feel like they’re not being represented? 

There could be some discomfort either way, it’s hard for them to have a voice. 

Maybe there aren’t physical accommodations for entering the building. Or 

people with mental illness and not being able to speak to whatever their limits 

might me 

F: Ideas to help meet the needs of the homeless and make them feel more 

comfortable? 

The mission is right on the road, so it would be nice if there was somewhere they 

could go that wasn’t such a spectacle. It’s almost like you’re going passed the 

zoo, it would be nice if they weren’t so exposed 

The city needs to come up with a place that is more consistent where they can 

go and they can have a place where they can call home (like the YMCA used to 

be) instead of telling them they can’t rest somewhere and arresting them. 



2 2 

I fit in more often because I look white. But it can be weird because I’ll hear off 

putting comments about Hispanics because I don’t look Hispanic, and that can 

be uncomfortable 

5 2 

5 2 

5 2 

5 2 

5 2 

Spike in homeless and immigrants, never been around with more people coming 

in, not until this year they have noticed it. 

Everyone is effected by biases, but it can go from gender, race, and body size 

etc. The list is huge to judge someone. The conversation on talking about biases 

is huge and we need to talk about that more often. Making it a norm is easier to 

understand people---great to have a conversation about it. 

LGBT members think Fort Collins is so conservative. Important to keep in mind 

that even in LGBT have biases. It’s interesting to see people’s biases are relevant 

with all of us. People in general need to work on themselves to figure that out. 

Location does not play in 

All have biases, are they evil or can we realize them, put them aside and focus 

on certain people first instead of in general. Person to person basis. 

Seeing the bias, thinking a certain way, might not be true, but recognizing it as a 

bias, but having an open mind of where they came from and their history 

Location: happens in certain places, but not all the time. Diverse thought 

process, fluid so hard to pin point where the areas of differences are. Will create 

a much wider conversation because having different people coming together will 

see everyone’s opinion. Downfall? Could possibly hide their biases. 

15 2 The Latino community--no one reaches out to them. 

15 2 

Seniors--lack of transportation and information. 

Participants specifically mentioned limited access to the Safeway on Harmony as 

being close to the senior center, but difficult to access because of the nature of 

harmony and lack of feasible transportation options. 

15 2 LGBTQ--Loss of central resource. 

15 2 

3 

11 3 

11 3 

11 3 

Homeless or lower income individuals--not members of neighborhoods or the 

neighborhoods they are a part of have no sense of community. One participant 

suggested that Fort Collins should "aid [impoverished] people in finding 

resources and building communities." 

3. Gaps - “What are ways that people have felt like they don’t belong in 

Fort Collins?”“Are there certain places that this happens more than others?” 

People talked about how there is a lack of education about the different sexual 

orientations and this negatively impacts the LGBT community. 

People were frustrated that it often feels like decisions aren't made by the city 

govt. with the community in mind. They talked about how certain companies get 

to build, or get tax breaks, and this negatively impacts the community. 

They talked about how they always see the same people at these events, which 

doesn't make it beneficial for all people, and theres no trickle down. They talked 

about how these forums are often at the same time or on the same day of the 

week and how the public transport can get people to the event but it can't take 

them home. 



11 3 

They talked about how public awareness is not high about the big problems in 

our communities. They discussed how this is the result of people not wanting to 

talk about these problems, and there also being a lack of education, because the 

newspapers often just paint Fort Collins as a paradise and don't talk about the 

real problems that it has. The group thought that many people have a ""out of 

sight out of mind"" mentality and people said this about the govt. as well. " 

10 3 

13 3 

Facilitator: Do people feel unwelcome for institutional or cultural reasons in Fort 

Collins? 

It’s neither, it is individual. I am Latina and speak Spanish but have felt very 

welcomed in the community. 

STORY: There was a Spanish woman who did all of the steps necessary to get 

her drivers license and the clerk at the DMV would not give the license to her 

because they claimed she had cheated via the translator present while she was 

taking the test. This is not reflective of the DMV as an institution but is a 

reflection of the person. 

STORY: There was a group in a high school parking lot with swastikas once. The 

administration should have responded and used it as a learning tool, however, 

they handled it differently. 

Institutions set the pace for how things are dealt with. For example, we have had 

compassionate councils and other councils who have showed more of a lack of 

respect for each other. These type of working groups impact our individual 

response. 

City pushing an image → knocking down the old and building the new 

More concerned with growth than rebuilding what’s here 

13 3 

8 3 

8 3 

8 3 

Stadium, homecoming parade, etc. → very changed 

Identity of what belongs on campus, what belongs in the town, what belongs out 

further --> This excluded a lot of the fan base for these events 

Not meant to be mean but meant to communicate branding of CSU OVER 

branding of FoCO … almost like a turf war… not that negative of a feel, not that 

decisive but was a sudden shift and was CSU trying to brand itself against the 

city 

Buckingham, my neighborhood, there are white pole who have recently moved 

in and tell me to "move to Greeley". Poudre Valley Mobile Park, tres colonias 

this happens in our community. 

"They label you" If you tell them where you live [tres colonias] they make a 

face...they say that is the worst place in town" (note taker asked to clarify 'who is 

they?') response: "White people with money" (head nodding in agreement with 

other women at the table) 

Gentrification is happening in Fort Collins, people are being displaced. We need 

a conversation with city leaders about racism. We keep talking to council, "they 

ignore us! They act like we don't know what is good for us" 



7 3 

What drives diversity away from the city or make people feel like they aren't 

accepted here? 

Not having affordability and access, as we have previously discussed 

7 3 

2 3 

4 3 

4 3 

4 3 

Language barriers: if people can't speak the language, then they are left out of a 

lot of things 

F: Do you feel like maybe that plays into the race commonality, that it’s an aspect 

that’s just naturally there? 

I think so, when I lived in a different culture I loved to learn about it, but breaking 

the ice is harder. Once you get to know each other the race doesn’t matter 

anymore. Common race gives you a head start 

We are missing the integration of people who come from different groups and 

backgrounds 

I want to be able to walk around with different group of people that look 

different than me in Fort Collins 

I think what we are missing is people of color who are policy makers like CEO’s 

of agencies and people of color in high government positions 

4 3 We don't have diversity in our leadership positions 

4 3 

4 3 

4 3 

4 3 

4 3 

4 3 

5 3 

Do people of Fort Collins not come to Fort Collins because is there is a majority 

white population 

qualified people don't come to Fort Collins we cant have diversity if they don't 

come 

If Fort Collins is going to be a proactive community, we need to find diversity 

In Fort Collins there are a lot of unqualified people in different positions 

In Fort Collins I feel that the positions are provided, counseling services are 

offered, churches, and different programs try to help minority group with 

opportunities 

I understand that providing all things for all people do help but its not going to 

help to get to where we need in Fort Collins 

Providing all for everyone doesn't make it equitable giving different positions for 

different people is what Fort Collins needs to work on 

Fort Collins need to be intentional, to continue to diversity our community. We 

need a leadership in our community to get that started. 

Racial slurs-people do not watch what they say because they try to glamorize it. 

saying it in a joking manner is not joking to people who feel that way. such as 

calling someone a queer or gay. people who are actually gay do not think its 

funny when people joke around with that term. need to stop with the terms and 

realize those are hurtful words. 

Agree with above statement: racial slurs and found a lot with in school and 

people around their age, just a sense of comfort insensitivity towards race. Does 

not fit into the stereotypical role he is perceived in. Unexposed-small African 

American population, could that be crossing the line in a sense? Definitely. Lack 

of exposure, awareness and relying on stereotypes and diversity in Fort Collins. 

Not very accurate representation 



5 3 

Changes from different issues-race, falls more towards bias. Struggle with 

acceptance and grew up when it wasn’t a big thing and creates more of a 

discomfort based. 

5 3 

5 3 

5 3 

5 3 

Idea that race is more of the longer thing we would talk about. Coming into a 

situation where one does not know (ignorant) about topic, is that a biases? How 

do we define biased? 

Inexperience with other groups therefore jump back to their own personal biases 

and cannot relate or connect-lack of experience, knowledge, basically relying on 

their biases. 

Settle in to see that this place is wonderful and great. The idea of exploring 

biases more than what is on the surface is more valuable. Easy to do that in a 

place that isn’t celebrated as the best place to live, but in time like this, there are 

some issues here that could possibly be a barrier. Focus too much on growth and 

need to take a step back and focus on the community first before we do any 

growth. 

Pockets everywhere, pockets of strong biases and hatred. We need to end that. 

We also have a few pockets ourselves but we need to realize those, hard to face 

that because of shame that we have biases but we need to realize that. 

15 3 Within city council--lack of volunteer opportunities. 

15 3 

15 3 

4 

11 4 

11 4 

10 4 

10 4 

Seniors don't have easy access to transportation, thus, many struggle to shop 

with ease and/or attend events like these. 

Facilitator comments: Tour de Fat seemed like a point of contention amongst the 

older participants. The consensus was that events like this and others are 

directed at young people and exclude seniors. The Latino male also commented 

on the disrespect that Tour de Fat participants had for the predominantly Latino 

neighborhoods that they were riding through. 

4. Gaps - “Is anyone willing to share a story of a time that they were made 

to feel like they DIDN’T belong in Fort Collins?” 

People of color reported that they often feel like they are not being treated 

nicely, even just on the street. 

There are a lack of things for the youth to do, most clubs require memberships 

which cost money. There are no open spaces for queer or different youth to hang 

out at, because they are discriminated against in public. 

I’m Hispanic and when I was younger I was in Denver with a group of Hispanic 

friends and a group of people surrounded us and threw knives at the ground 

around us and called us names. That is the most discrimination I have ever 

experienced. 

Facilitator: How does Fort Collins compare to Denver? 

We are a lot less diverse and, because of that, we experience different issues 

I am Jewish and was once talking with a Christian when I first moved here (I am 

from California). She could not believe that I did not believe in Jesus and told 

me that I would got to hell because of it. 



10 4 

(A woman in our group told this story about someone else she knows): There 

was a neighborhood situation where a black man and his family moved in next 

door to someone who (from what I understood) identifies with a majority ethnic 

identity. At one point in time, the black family was called racial slurs (n word) 

and, because of tension after so much time, had to move out of the 

neighborhood. Neighborhood groups couldn't do any mediation or anything 

because both parties have to be willing, so that is why they moved. NIODA was 

an organization mentioned during this story who worked and/or had linkages to 

the case. 

13 4 

12 4 

12 4 

12 4 

12 4 

12 4 

CSU students are like a product, CSU is always wanting more and more students 

because students are a product to grow and get more money out of… the more 

students the better… forget about the people who really live here 

Seven years ago, we brought our son home from adoption. We were from CA, 

so we were used to diversity. Here, people ask us why he doesn't look like us 

and seem worried. I even thought about dying my hair to prevent him from 

having a complex. My colleague has the same experience adopting a child from 

China. Strangers come up to them with their kid and ask them why they chose to 

adopt. 

It's a secondary issue, not just perception but entitlement. 

Fort Collins is for privileged people. 

I feel like we're getting policed. 

(Adoptive father): I'd get yelled at for disciplining my son. 

People interject when disciplining anyway. 

It's a small town mentality: it's okay to know your business. 

Small towns produce small minds 

Or community minds 

Fort Collins, where the streets are wide and the minds are narrow. 

Can also indicate caring and good intentions 

In Pueblo, someone touched my husbands face, as if she was taking care of him. 

Making contact 

12 4 Someone in public asked if my son had ADD. 

12 4 (Hispanic participant): someone asked me if I was a gardener when we first 

moved in. 

3 4 

7 4 

The hair salon example came up once again. " I couldn't find a place that could 

work with my hair." 

(Lady from Peru) One homeless man stopped me in the parking lot of a grocery 

store to ask me for money. I didn't feel safe. I felt like I was being asked because 

I'm not white.There are lots of homeless people that just pass through. It's 

important to think about how safe we feel as a community. 



2 4 

Been in Fort Collins for 34 years, seems like she fits in and belongs because she’s 

a white female. I’ve never felt like I haven’t belonged. When I first started 

teaching, I was teaching in inner city Baltimore, and I didn’t feel that sense of 

belonging because I was white. I was not accepted. Was a speech therapist and 

didn’t last very long in that environment, but that was the only time I felt as 

though I didn’t belong 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

5 4 

5 4 

Story- (feels sense of belonging to the university because of the time here), BUT 

“there are other needs that I have such as being a gay male, When I walk around 

town I don’t see any homosexual couples holding hands” 

Story: I got elected to the black republican party in Denver. The group told me 

that I’m not the white token and that I wasn't looked at any differently. Some 

people have to over come fear to get across the bridge. 

Story: I lived in Washington Dc, I worked for a governor in Washington. Other 

states are so far ahead of diversity like California. My wife and I decided to move 

to colorado, it was surprising to me how hispanic people like me were not visible 

in this town 

With hispanics in Fort Collins and the socio-economic level this is why they are 

seen as invisible in Fort Collins 

Usually this ends up putting the hispanics outside the city. 

Story: My son was on a soccer team and there were hispanics on the team, most 

of the families didn't stay. i don't know if they had to work, or didn't have the 

money. But all the hispanics eventually dropped out 

Story: A women created a video to create a perspective of the Fort Collins 

culture to show how Fort Collins is not diverse , more people need to see this 

Story: When I go to silver grill in Fort Collins the african american and hispanic 

community is invisible I don’t see much of different ethnicities 

Story: My ancestors were jewish and i’m glad that we are raising the issue about 

religion in Fort Collins, I believe that religion has to be more diverse 

Story: I have Cerebral Palsy, I’m not allowed to call the school district. I think 

there is a need for organization Fort Collins and educational systems 

Story: My sister is jewish and she doesn't feel like she's welcomed here because 

she doesn't see any Jew 

In grocery store, someone yelled raciest slur and the girl who got called the slurs 

did nothing about it. Some pockets where people are really doing some hate 

speech and it does come out in the most common areas. What do we do about 

that? Couldn’t tell you, but would handle it better next time. Maybe there’s some 

pockets, in nearby communities teaching people biases that are contributing to 

the problem. 

Have never actually seen a place in foco that is very LGBT focused or people 

who struggle/accept their sexual orientation. Sad one cannot go to a place 

where they feel like they belong and safe. Whether they are present or not, need 

to have awareness of those resources. 

5 5. Gaps - Any Additional Information 



10 5 

One participant discussed the community group NIOTA and talked about the 

documentary they are involved in concerning the murder of a migrant worker 

coming home from work (this happened years ago). She said that the 

organization really works to stand in solidarity with certain groups of people, this 

includes the time there were objects thrown through Mosque windows. This 

group was there for support. Our group was, overall, really interested in the work 

of this organization and one of the women seemed to have involvement with it. 

5 

13 5 

There was once a CSU diversity event that spanned for 3 days. Each day (one of 

the days was a Friday) fell on a non-dominant religious holiday. Therefore, certain 

people were not able to attend. 

Balance of people, planet, and profit 

Got a discount selling "people" because they conflict with "profit" 

Need to have people come first, then planet, and final profit when it balances 

with the other two; no one of these should outweigh the others 

Check proposals off with each group, does it meet peoples needs, check that off 

then move on to planet, then profit, if whatever is being advocated for can get 

checks from all three departments it should be pretty good to go 

Can’t over focus one one aspect, can’t over focus on money! 

12 5 

(Someone from the city): we're better in some ways than we used to be. When I 

moved here, there was an HOA meeting and the kids went to the church across 

the street for daycare, but we were Jewish. That community has grown, we're 

more mindful. 

7 5 It takes a community to bring people in and together 

7 5 

7 5 

7 5 

FOCO Café: (lady that doesn't live in Fort Collins) I just went to FOCO café for 

the first time and it was Amazing! It was my first experience in Fort Collins and it 

felt great. Maybe that's where my open mindedness view point is coming from. If 

this takes off and expands, it can be great for the community. I think its the 

coolest concept. (student) It brings people of diversity together into one place. I 

volunteered there a few times and you just get to know people and talk to 

people you wouldn't necessarily talk to at a regular restaurant. 

Representation is huge: For the public, we don't have a GLBT center anymore. 

There's no Spanish center either. We need to get more Spanish speaking staff 

every where in Fort Collins. The media plays a role in this topic too. They portray 

gender roles and that's not good to make people feel like they belong in a 

society. We also need more diverse representation in local government. 

Although, women actually have more roles in the city and that made me (lady 

that doesn't live in Fort Collins) feel like I belonged quicker. 

What is the role of the church in diversity?: How can the faith community try to 

get the message across about promoting diversity? Communication is key. The 

connections would be nice to know what going on in other churches and areas 

of Fort Collins. The interfaith council? There is one and they do a good job but 

aren't fully inclusive. 



7 5 

Everything right now is soiled (Not sure how to spell but basically everything is 

separated and not connected): we need more connectivity to bring everything 

together 

2 5 

2 5 

2 5 

2 5 

2 5 

2 5 

2 5 

2 5 

2 5 

2 5 

I’ve always been the short white person working in non profits and I have been 

the odd one out. I don’t know if its my way of approaching, but I seem to seek 

those situations out. 

When people think mentally ill they think crazy. I think if we were able to they’re 

obviously not all there when you come across them in DC 

You can say the same about the homeless, but if you knew their story you would 

know more beyond just “they’re homeless” 

Refugees. We might help to facilitate their entrance into the states 

People wise yes, but where do we house them? I think education would be 

something that would really help in that case. 

Yeah but it hasn’t happened often because I look white, but I think most of the 

time people tend to be respectful, but there are some bad eggs 

Do you think they’re just trying to act cool? 

Most of the time it’s pretty extreme like “Aw fucking Mexicans” and I think, why 

do you feel the necessity to say something like that? It’s just openly racist. 

F: Do you feel like education would help with that? What would help to open 

their eyes? 

Yeah. Education would help, discrepancies are always an issue because people 

see things in different ways 

I think the media doesn’t help with that, portraying things in extreme ways 

I work at CSU and see it a lot with the staff. The custodial staff or the front like 

cook staff sometimes are treated like they’re invisible, and they’re under 

appreciated. If you’re cleaning bathrooms it’s easy for people to walk by and not 

notice you 

Homosexuals. Thinking about derogatory language people really get going with 

that one 

I don’t think you could make fort Collins more appealing than it is right now, 

there are a lot of people moving here 

F: What stops people? 

Cost of living. (unanimous, lots of agreement here) 

I was really surprised to see we didn’t have any Muslims. I don’t know how 

people came to this 

I think quite a few forums; many have come out of the city or out of CSU. There 

was a professor and a Muslim and talked about their relationship. It was at a 

library and well attended. Those are educational things that are enlightening for 

people 

2 5 

In Indianapolis they went neighborhood to neighborhood and invited people to 

a forum like this to get a base line and then discussed next step and it really 

helped to turn around the community. Having those conversations. 



We have neighborhood night, it’s a block party type thing, it was sponsored by 

2 5 

the city, but it was only the diversity within your 2 or 3 blocks. So it wasn’t diverse 

if you didn’t live in a very diverse area 

2 5 

The US fest got out of control about 6 years ago. A big community event, but 

there were some issues that had been going on downtown that boiled over that 

night. They overlooked some issues that weren’t addressed 

There was animosity between police and bars downtown and it got out of 

control. The police thought they had things under control but it made things 

worse. 

5 5 

5 5 

5 5 

15 5 

15 5 

15 5 

3 5 

3 5 

Affordable housing-homeless: would be very sad if every economic couldn’t find 

a place in the city. They should be able to find places to work, live and thrive. 

Need to help the homeless. Need resources put into the homeless community 

Resources for homeless-main shelter in foco won’t accept animals. There are 

requirements to get into certain shelters and thinks that’s stupid. Need to have 

more understanding of needs to the homeless. They are people too. 

Mental health center: talk about homelessness. Support from the city and county 

to figure our facilities for homeless could just stay local instead of-- stream lining 

existing resources. Bond issue for the building to accept people whether they 

are suicidal or drug problems. Shouldn’t go to the jail but somewhere that will 

really help them. 

Citizens should be involved in City Planning--developers should not be allowed 

to be "cheap." 

Planning and land use must be conducive to ALL citizens--not just young, rich, 

white people. 

My Comments: There was substantial talk of the need for a non-profit clearing 

house of sorts that would direct people who want to be involved or who need 

resources. Latino and LGBTQ communities are especially in need of a clearing 

house website, because they are often unaware of the resources available to 

them. It is difficult to get people in these populations involved, because they 

already feel disenfranchised, so it is difficult to get them to trust the process. 

Moreover, because the distrust of the system is passed down from generation to 

generation, it is unlikely that these populations will try something new. 

"Latina/o community are not as accepting of her since she is a lesbian. She has 

no strong connection with her latina/o brothers and sisters. She has no strong 

connection to the hispanic community because she is lesbian. She feels there is 

no place where she belongs. She even looks at voting records when she chose a 

home. Then she even drove around to look at bumper stickers in the area she 

was look at a home to see if she would belong. 

She (Black, Lesbian) was curious to see if the refugee population feels like they 

belong. 



3 5 

She (Black, lesbian) tried to move to certain sections of Fort Collins and did not 

feel safe because she is lesbian. There is a difference between feeling safe and 

welcomed. She has even received death threats because she identifies as a 

lesbian. 

When finding a home, she walked the neighborhood to see how people would 

react to her and to see who would talk to her. She identifies as a person of color 

3 5 

3 5 

11 5 

She feels that police have been profiling students and black individuals. Her son 

has been profiled by the police. He has been pulled over and asked why he is 

going into the specific neighborhood he is driving into. (She identifies as Black). 

She believes that police are working on the issue but it is still a problem. 

The lesbians from the table seemed to feel unsafe in many place of Fort Collins 

as did the People of Color from my table. 

They also talked about the huge amount of diversity at the university was being 

wasted because no one is talking to one another, and people need to talk to 

other cultures. 


Appendix 3. 

Resources 

Organization 

Table Numbers Number of 

Tables 

Poudre Valley School District 1,2,3,4,5,6,9,10,11,16 10 

CSU 1,2,3,4,5,9,10,12,15 9 

Senior Center 1,3,5,6,11,12,14,15,16 9 

Vida Sana 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,16 9 

Food Bank 2,3,5,6,7,11,14 7 

Matthew’s House 2,3,6,7,9,11,12 7 

Poudre Valley Public Library 1,6,8,9,11,14,16 7 

Atzlan Community Center 2,3,6,9,12,14 6 

Bohemian Foundation 2,4,11,12,13 5 

Catholic Charities/Mission 4,5,6,7,13 5 

City of Fort Collins 2,5,8,12,16 5 

FoCo Café 1,4,6,7,11 5 

Murphy Center 2,3,6,7,11 5 

CPD 1,3,13,14 4 

Homeless Gear 3,6,7,11 4 

La Familia 1,3,6,16 4 

Larimer County 2,5,9,11, 4 

Neighbor to Neighbor 3,4,7,12 4 

United Way 2,3,4,12 4 

ARC 1,2,4 3 

Crossroads Safehouse 5,7,11 3 

CSU Cultural Resource Center 1,3,11 3 

CSU LGBTQ 1,3,6 3 

DHS 2,6,7 3 


Organization 

Table Numbers 

Number of 

Tables 

Family Center 3,7,9 3 

FLTI (Family Leadership Training Institute) 4,13,16 3 

Fort Collins Housing Authority 5,7,12 3 

Fort Collins Natural Areas 1,7,16 3 

Fort Collins Office on Aging 2,3,14 3 

Fort Collins Office of Social Sustainability 3,7,14 3 

Mission 2,5,6 3 

NOCO Pride 1,6,11 3 

Poudre Valley Hospital 2,5,14 3 

Project Self-Sufficiency 5,7,12 3 

Respite Care 2,3,4, 3 

SAVA 4,11,13 3 

Volunteers 8,10,16 3 

Boys and Girls Club 6,11 2 

Breweries 6,12 2 

Churches 1,14 2 

City Parks and Rec 2,16 2 

Community Life Center 11,12, 2 

CSU Extension 3,11 2 

CSU International Center 6,16 2 

CSU Staff 8,12 2 

Disabled Resources 3,4 2 

Downtown Business Authority 11,16 2 

El Centro 4,16 2 

Faith, Family, Hospitality 3,12 2 

Faith Groups/Organizations 6,11 2 

FCCAN 12,13 2 

Fort Collins Police Department 5,7 2 


Organization 

Table Numbers 


Tables 

Front Range Community College 4,16 2 

Homelessness Prevention Initiative 3,11 2 

HRC 6,14 2 

Interfaith Council 3,10 2 

Lincoln Center 3,14 2 

Mental Health Services 5,6 2 

Miramont Rec Center 1,14 2 

Museums 14,16 2 

Natural Areas 7,16 2 

Oii USA 6,14 2 

Otter Cares 2,11 2 

Planned Parenthood 7,11 2 

Redtail Ponds Housing 2,15 2 

Salud 9,11 2 

TransFort 15,16 2 

Tres Colonias 8, 15 2 

UC Health 7,16 2 

Unitarian Church 3,4 2 

Women’s Shelter 5,11 2 

5 K Fun Run 14 1 

Affordable Housing 16 1 

Alliance for Suicide Prevention 11 1 

Alternative Spring Break 7 1 

Arts Community 10 1 

ASP 7 1 

Bail 5 1 

B Sharp 12 1 

Cam. Life Center 7 1 


Organization 

Table Numbers 


Tables 

CASA 5 1 

CDVR 4 1 

Center for Family Outreach 11 1 

Center for Fine Art and Photography 14 1 

CFC 4 1 

Childsafe 7 1 

Citywide Volunteer Program 16 1 

Colorado Civil Rights Division 5 1 

Community Foundation 13 1 

CSU Health Center 5 1 

CSU Rec Center 16 1 

Cultural Organizations 16 1 

DDA 11 1 

Dentists 8 1 

Department of Aging 3 1 

CSU Dept. of Ethnic Studies 3 1 

Dial-a-Ride 11 1 

Discovery Museum 14 1 

Doctors 14 1 

DRS 2 1 

Early Education Council 3 1 

EEOC 5 1 

Elderhaus 14 1 

Ensight Center 16 1 

EPIC 1 1 

Family Liaisons 6 1 

Farmers Market 14 1 

FCHM Church 14 1 


Organization 

Table Numbers 


Tables 

FoCo MA 12 1 

Food Co-op 14 1 

Food Stamps 7 1 

Foothills Church 14 1 

Fort Collins Homeless Coalition 5 1 

Fort Collins HUD 2 1 

Fort Collins International Center 3 1 

Fort Collins Neighborhood Response 15 1 

Team 

Fort Collins Public Media 13 1 

Foundation on Aging 14 1 

FSL 11 1 

Geller Center 3 1 

Global Village 7 1 

Grocery Stores 1 1 

Habitat for Humanity 11 1 

Harmony House 5 1 

Harvest Farms 5 1 

HBI 7 1 

HFR Youth Continuum 2 1 

Hillet 3 1 

HOAs 16 1 

Holy Faith Church 3 1 

Homeless Connect 3 1 

Homeless Shelter 5 1 

Homeward 2020 3 1 

Honest Farms 4 1 

Hope Lives 14 1 


Organization 

Table Numbers 


Tables 

Human Relations 8 1 

Humane Society 6 1 

IFC 7 1 

INTO 7 1 

King Soopers 14 1 

KRFC 13 1 

Larimer County Social Services 5 1 

Larimer Latinos 4 1 

Light House 4 1 

Little Shop of Physics 4 1 

Medical Navigation 4 1 

Mobook? 11 1 

MOCA 14 1 

Mosques 11 1 

Museo de los Tres Colonias 8 1 

My Street 14 1 

National Parks 4 1 

Native American Cultural Center 4 1 

NCAP 11 1 

Neighborhood Organizations 16 1 

New Youth Center 9 1 

Next Door App 1 1 

Niota 9 1 

NOCO Equality 6 1 

Non Profits 16 1 

Northern Colorado AIDS Project 3 1 

Northern Fort Collins Rec Center 1 1 

Northside Action 1 1 


Organization 

Table Numbers 


Tables 

Off Campus Life 3 1 

Old Town Fort Collins 14 1 

Parks and Trails 1 1 

PFLAG 1 1 

Philanthropy 10 1 

Plymouth Congregational 3 1 

Poudre Valley Health District 5 1 

PPS 4 1 

PSS 7 1 

Ram Ride 16 1 

Raptor Center 4 1 

Rent-a Bike 4 1 

Salvation Army 7 1 

SAWV 6 1 

Sherriff’s Office 3 1 

Small Businesses 4 1 

Student Think-Tank 2 1 

Summary Stone 4 1 

Sunstone Mental Health Services 6 1 

SOLGBT 7 1 

Synagogues 11 1 

Temple 14 1 

TMFCSR 14 1 

Touchstone 5 1 

Tour de Fat 14 1 

United Men of Color 16 1 

Workforce Center 2 1 

Youth Activity Center 6 1 


Appendix 4. 

Action Items 

Community Players. This section includes the raw data collected during the final session of the 

event. Each table was asked to brainstorm specific actions that various “community players” 

could perform to the sense of belonging for everyone in Fort Collins. Each table was provided 

a set of 10 “Community Player Cards” which allowed them to write down ideas and actions for 

the various players to consider. At the end of the event, those cards were posted on easels 

around the rooms so everyone could look over the ideas generated by the other tables. This 

document includes all the unedited comments provided at the event, organized by community 

player category. Notetakers also captured discussion at the tables. These discussions are 

italicized. 

Table 

12 

10 

3 

7 

3 

Facilitator Notes 

Artists: Address diversity and cultural history in their art 

Thinking about the artists in North College, how do we teach artists to 

address livability? 

North College has 6-8,000 residents; they don't need a huge network to 

get connections going, just a few leaders, create work from the bottom 

up 

Theater and arts has a role. Telling stories and histories. Someone with a 

camera films someone making a family recipe that brings the 

neighborhood together. 

Like Holocaust Awareness, had to change location because of turnout 

this year. 

I appreciate remembrances but can't participate. We aren't representing 

a cross section of the public with remembrances. 

It would be nice to see businesses collaborating more with the 

homelessness issues/resource distribution. 

Businesses and the city: Inclusivity training 

Businesses have to engage in inclusivity training, is your establishment 

one where transgender, women, people of color feel safe? 

I said that too, the city should offer classes to businesses about diversity 

and being an ambassador to your community. 

Businesses: equal and fair pay at work- that is really important to make 

sure that families can survive; especially if cost of living is increasing; also 

promotes equality between different types of people 

Businesses: Regulate or require those places. –diversity training and 

biases. 


Player 

Artists 

Business 

Business 

Business 

Business 


Table 

15 

IDEA: Businesses should be more aware of different populations--seniors 

in particular. They shouldn't compromise their main market, but they 

should make things more amenable seniors as well. 

IDEA: Business should not be able to use "religious freedom" as a 

screen for discrimination. 

Business 

3 

Higher more diverse populations (recruit, hire, retain) 

Create more opportunity for diverse populations (specifically at CSU) 

Business 

1 Hire individuals with disabilities and make accessible Business 

1 Stock products that appeal to diverse communities Business 

1 Sponsor events that are inclusive and welcoming Business 

1 Train staff in diversity and inclusion Business 

1 Hire diversity Business 

1 Smile and welcome diverse community members Business 

1 Restaurants should give away leftovers not toss them Business 

1 Gender inclusive bathrooms Business 

2 Living wage Business 

2 

Understand and welcome NPOs to educate their staff on common issues 

as a partner 

Business 

2 Affordable housing for middle income Business 

3 

Fund community groups/ activities. 

Sponsor training; invite community members 

Liaison with other organizations to address issues 

Trainings available to buisnesses at low cost 

Fund pool of money for marketing companies to speak to D, I, E 

Business 

Family leave policy 

Market to diverse populations 

Hire more diverse employees (at all levels of the organization) 

4 10,000 villages Business 

4 Otter box- at last provide numerous volunteers, supports PSD well Business 

4 Demand supplier diversity through internal MOU stipulations Business 

4 

Intentional hiring practices, talent acquisition, pipeline programs and 

mentorship for underrepresented populations 

Business 

4 Quality translation and interpretive services available Business 

4 Low cost/ no cost/ sliding scales available Business 

5 Actively promote diversity/equity Business 

5 Provide health insurance Business 

6 

Insure employees are welcoming to every client they interact with (core 

values) 

Business 

6 


Value diversity in hiring processes- take the time to make sure they have 

diverse staff @ all levels 


Player 

Business 

7 Aim to be more inclusive during hiring process Business 

7 Ensure that there is equal pay for equal work Business 


Table 

7 

Provide resources/support for employees with families (maternity/ 

paternity leave/ time off) 

Business 

8 Hire diverse workforce Business 

8 

Business should look to invest in Hispanic organizations and people of 

color 

Business 

9 

Make an effort to unlearn prejudice and present your employees with 

opportunities to do so as well 

Business 

10 Offer diverse services/ products Business 

10 Bus stops nearby? Business 

10 Partner with non-profits to collaborate inclusion Business 

10 Partner with schools Business 

10 Appeal to diversity that exists in town Business 

10 Work to avoid/ reduce gentrification when developing Business 

10 

They have great self-sustaining local business that make fort Collins 

more enjoyable and memorable (like krazy karls) 

Business 

10 

Needs more businesses that cater to ethic and cultural needs (for 

example more barber shops that know how to take care of African 

American hair) 

Business 

11 Community friendly policies in business, make hire diverse Business 

11 More youth accepting spaces, affordable housing for families Business 

11 Encourage employees to volunteer and give back to the community Business 

12 Work force housing- assume some role Business 

12 

Should hang “welcome all” signs in all windows downtown where history 

“white trade only” signs used to be 

Business 

12 Employ triple bottom line practices Business 

12 

Train employees on inclusivity to make businesses safe spaces for 

customers and employees 

Business 

13 Low interest loans for small business Business 

13 Hire outside comfort zone Business 

13 Hire from universities with more diversity Business 

14 Know names of regular customers, welcome all customers Business 

14 Become educated n working with serving all clients Business 

15 


Examining “religious freedom” as cover of some businesses for 

discrimination against targeted people (lgbtq) 


Player 

Business 

15 Business should be more oriented towards seniors- different populations Business 

15 

Maintain hours longer in the day/night for those who work double shifts, 

have sleep disorders, or work odd hours 

Business 

16 Business overall contribute much economic and resources to the city Business 

16 Allow employees certain amount of hours to volunteer Business 

16 Business need to be mindful of wages provided to employees Business 


Table 

12 

5 


City or businesses: Create and display "All are welcome signs" 

We mentioned historical signs, like "White Trade Only," the city now has 

the "All are welcome" slogan. I would love for the city to create a sign 

that says the new slogan in the old font and put it in every store 

downtown. 

Businesses or the DBA could sponsor it 

They should have the city stamp. It would get people talking about our 

history. 

Get people curious. 

My aunt grew up here and saw those old signs. 

How do we encourage people in the majority to ask difficult questions. 

Coalition groups/Task forces: more churches or religion places do more 

to really up those who are in need. More opportunity there, but having 

someone who is on their side really helps. Opportunity to help people, 

would be more of that coming from faith communities 

1 Work to offer more minorities 

1 Partner 

1 Collaborate on grants to work towards inclusiveness 

2 Inclusiveness 

2 Identify ones and publish this information 

3 Communicate more about vision and missions 

3 Bring them together quarterly for info/networking 

3 Collective impact, shared agenda, etc 

4 United way 

4 Bringing diverse people together around common values 

4 Having important conversations in safe spaces 

4 Major political parties 

5 Listen 

5 Fund multi access point web site to interconnect organizations 


Player 

Business/Local 

Government 

Coalition Groups/ 

Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Table 

6 Out reach to their community and the overall community 

6 Talk to each other 

6 

6 

Make sure there are diverse voices at the table- don’t just broadly invite, 

invite personally- let the marginalized or minority voice lead some 

discussions 

Make sure time/place/transportation/ childcare are conducive to diverse 

participants can attend 

7 Pool resources, see where there is need or overlap 

7 Advocacy at the policy level 

7 Reduce silos- collaborate more 

8 Awareness 

8 Advocacy 

8 Opening communication 

8 Work with city council- make aware of issues 

9 

10 

Make a greater effort to be welcoming at every opportunity. Make 

friends with members of your organizations, as well as with their families, 

helping others feel they belong with help you do so, too. 

The do an excellent job at out reaching local cultural centers and 

directing people to those centers that need them 

10 Provide events 

10 Support other non profits and insight skills center 

10 Community foundation of Northern Colorado 

10 Excellent community work/grants to nonprofits 

10 Lacks diversity on staff board 

11 Disability access and resources 

11 


Provide outreach/ professional development to school districts and 

government 


Player 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Table 

11 Be transparent 

11 More lgbt education and connections 

12 Should promote/advertise cultural events and welcome all 

12 

Unite to woke independently within the city on stabilizing 

neighborhoods 

13 Work together monthly meeting of executive directors 

14 Find a way to reach out to involve minorities 

15 Reach out to other groups 

15 Greater cross pollination between groups 

15 

Participate in hared projects such as community resource database and 

shared calendar 

16 Work among different age groups 

16 

Work with other nonprofits to meet broad range of needs. Business and 

non profits together 

16 A great resource of people is coming together for the greater good 

12 


Collaboration: City, neighborhoods, health systems, schools, non-profits, 

university, faith-based: Leadership and community training for 

marginalized communities 

We spend so much time and resources giving services to marginalized 

communities or training majority communities in diversity; we should 

offer marginalized groups training in leadership and community 

organizing and knowledge of their rights. 

Like Promatores 

Recognize systemic oppression. 

Sometimes it's just not taught, the school, the city, they are teaching and 

empowering people. 

Schools should do it for parents. 

The healthy system should do this and is doing this. 

Neighborhoods are creating formal organizations. 

All kinds should do this, we should have a community plan for churches, 

cultrual programs, boys and girls clubs, the university, cultural 

organizations, representatives should all learn at same time, all ages. 


Player 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 


Task Forces 

Collaboration 


Table 

14 

16 

7 


Organizations need to work on avoiding overlapping services 

Maybe have a non-profit conference 

this would save funding because when multiple organizations are 

working on same issues they are wasting funding when they could 

consolidate and it could go to other things 

Lay people also need to know the services provided by different 

nonprofits 

Nonprofits should supply information to local newsletters (like senior 

ones) and also this would be good for schools 

Local non profits and PSD could be doing a lot more work together 

Book trust isn’t in the schools- but scholastic brings books to the schools 

Disability equality in the classroom; including and incorporating them 

more, especially autistic kids. 

More inclusive history lessons that show representation of diversity and 

inclusion so that students are learning their background and other 

peoples backgrounds and they are equally represented in the class room 


Player 

Collaboration/ 

Non-Profit 



5 Could do more to help people Education/Schools 


Table 

2 


F: I know these conversations kind of happened as we went, but can we 

talk about why you wrote down where you did? 

LGBTQ and shelters under Non-profits. Our school has a really big lgbtq 

population and so we need somewhere they can feel safe and loved 

Students as a group underneath the question. Because a lot of this can 

be fixed from a young age. 

It becomes generational, different generations are coming up with a 

whole different mind set 

Under schools dealing with the homelessness and mental health all has 

to do with funding and make sure theres services for lgbtq to be treated 

fairly 

Transportation under government because we have the most 

incompetent bus system ever, just to go from point a to point b can be 

time consuming and expensive. Take it away from the well to do in the 

city to outside where it can reach the communities that really need 

public transportation 

The north west side specifically, anything away from CSU doesn’t have 

much of any services. It’s extremely time consuming and transportation 

around here requires a car. It’s almost faster to ride a bike 

The only reason we have a bus is because we live around PHS 

The one next to us only goes to the mall, and it’s really long. 

Businesses: We get a lot of phone calls about businesses refusing 

business to people. To educate their staff to practice inclusive behavior 

and provide access for disabilities. 

Affordable housing: So many people I work with make a pretty good 

salary but have to commute because of the cost of living here. I think it’s 

a little bit of the University and local government. 

Not a fan of the stadium. 


Player 


1 Fund IEP services more Education/Schools 

1 Take students out on field trips Education/Schools 

1 Require work with community Education/Schools 

1 

Bring psd students to the libraries, be more welcoming to lgbtq+ 

students and faculty 


1 Hire more staff like Marie that can build relationships in community Education/Schools 

1 Gender inclusive bathrooms Education/Schools 

1 Address access, opportunity for all students from low income Education/Schools 

1 Exhausted transportation fees to participate, $ uniforms, instruments Education/Schools 


Table 



Player 

1 Barriers to equity Education/Schools 

2 Homelessness Education/Schools 

2 Mental health Education/Schools 

2 Safety Education/Schools 

2 Food Education/Schools 

2 LGBTQW Education/Schools 

2 Night workers Education/Schools 

3 

Do peace circles! (community building dialogues) 

Hire more diverse teachers, coaches, and administrators, provide more 

inclusive training and dialogue for students and staff 

Get to know the families of their students 

Provide students opportunities to understand and help students with 

specific needs. 

Partner with different offices on campus to host event/initiatives where 

k-12 students work with university students 

Diversity training for all teachers in PSD 


4 Student diversity Education/Schools 

4 FRCC single parent student support group Education/Schools 

4 PSD high schools Education/Schools 

4 Mckinney program Education/Schools 

5 Mental health advocacy, awareness, and resources Education/Schools 

5 Promote diversity awareness Education/Schools 

6 More qualified role models Education/Schools 

6 Look to increase student population- diversity Education/Schools 

6 More service learning programs Education/Schools 

6 Self-esteem courses/mentoring Education/Schools 

6 Increase funding to inclusion office. Need more family liaisons Education/Schools 

7 Try to prevent bullying Education/Schools 

7 Sex ed Education/Schools 


Table 



Player 

7 Provide more resources for ESL students Education/Schools 

7 History lessons that are more diverse Education/Schools 

7 Provide more resources for free and reduced lunch students Education/Schools 

7 Better resources for the emotionally disturbed. Education/Schools 

9 Transparency on hiring process Education/Schools 

9 Do not discriminate against minorities, older professionals Education/Schools 

9 Offer “equal opportunity” Education/Schools 

9 Do not allow nepotism in a public organization and favoritism Education/Schools 

10 Schools should partner with UC Health for healthy kids Education/Schools 

10 All schools should be responsible for including students with disabilities Education/Schools 

10 Partner/collaborate better with local nonprofits serving kids Education/Schools 

10 

Partner with City if FC utilities for career development/internships in 

water resources and treatment operations 


11 Make schools more accessible to parents and CBOs Education/Schools 

11 Ensure equitable collaboration/engagement for all families Education/Schools 

11 Safe schools for ‘queer’ youth Education/Schools 

11 Support for wrap-around services and follow up Education/Schools 

12 

Greater equality of treatment of underrepresented student by teachers 

and administration. 


12 More cultural competent/inclusive teachers in the classrooms Education/Schools 

12 

12 

13 

13 

Address bullying issues, harassment, sexism, in student to student 

interaction 

Include curriculum broader representation of cultures and contributions 

of individuals of many backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities. 

Teach inclusive history, not just mainstream culture version of events and 

foundations of our government 

Native American history is American history. Positive examples of diverse 

leaders 





13 More diverse student government Education/Schools 

13 Higher admittance of minority students Education/Schools 


Table 



Player 

13 Tax break incentives for meeting certain diversity numbers Education/Schools 

14 Encourage involvement of parents Education/Schools 

14 Reach out to parents – go to them Education/Schools 

14 Encourage critical thinking about surroundings and environments Education/Schools 

14 Newsletters that advertise community services Education/Schools 

15 

16 

Get gender/ sexuality and equality into our schools early curriculum. 

Gender is learned in first grade so teach it young! 

Embrace other languages in curriculum 

Multicultural/inclusion education not only for students, but or parents, 

families, staff, support staff, neighborhoods and neighbors 



16 Design community programs bigger than students and parents Education/Schools 

16 

Encourage (and fund!) student groups that promote diversity, equality 

and scholarship 


16 Shadowing opportunities Education/Schools 

16 

3 

Need transportation on Sundays, but realized a lot of churches do have 

trans so who’s role is it? 

Reactions: People are trying, but it’s difficult to get ones that can offer on 

Sundays—I think it does belong to the church—there are partnerships, 

we offer English classes because of ties to a strong Spanish community. 

Cooperation among faith communities to benefit those in need 

(homeless population) Interfaith council does this " 



1 Open houses to invite community in to learn about their religion Faith Communities 

1 Make events accessible to individuals with disabilities Faith Communities 

1 Provide translators for people who don’t speak English Faith Communities 

1 Open their doors to other groups Faith Communities 

1 On csu stop harassing people Faith Communities 

2 Food Faith Communities 

2 Homelessness Faith Communities 

3 Preach acceptance Faith Communities 

3 Interfaith dialogues Faith Communities 

3 Share efforts to assist those in need Faith Communities 


Table 



Player 

3 Research “toxic charity” Faith Communities 

4 Serve 6.8 Faith Communities 

4 Food bank Faith Communities 

5 

Do more to serve or provide shelter to the homeless populationsprovide 

shelter space and referrals to resources in the community. Get 

members to provide jobs (even part time, temp work) to those in need. 


5 More interfaith interaction Faith Communities 

5 Challenge biases/outreach Faith Communities 

6 

Fostering community growing relationships by creating space for people 

to connect and share 


6 Lift people up through food, money, ect Faith Communities 

6 

Reach out to homeless people to help create safe place to be across the 

city 


6 Provide services without bringing religion to it Faith Communities 

7 Don’t necessarily have to be a member to utilize resources Faith Communities 

7 Promote diversity to acceptance in their teachings/discussions Faith Communities 

7 Be involved in community actions to enhance diversity Faith Communities 

8 

Our faith communities need to do more to think outside of their comfort 

zones and reach out to the poor communities to learn about other 

people. If we are truly God’s people, his word says help the poor. Reach 

ot to people of color to be inclusive in their churches. 


9 Keep supporting their community members Faith Communities 

9 Co operate with other faith communities Faith Communities 

10 Need transportation available on Sundays Faith Communities 

10 Partner with each other- Hispanic and English speaking Faith Communities 

10 Community activities Faith Communities 

10 Promote diversity Faith Communities 

10 Offer English classes Faith Communities 

11 Be part of community dialogues Faith Communities 


Table 

12 

12 


Should start conversations as to why some lack so much diversity and 

how can make others feel welcome 

Taking social justice more centrally in their mission and community 

development work 


Player 



13 Choose a common goal to focus monies/activity Faith Communities 

14 Work together for common goal Faith Communities 

14 Interfaith council is great Faith Communities 

14 Promote open services for anybody Faith Communities 

15 

Viewing Betty Aragon’s “choice city” film with opportunity for 

conversation on issues presented 


16 Working w non profits Faith Communities 

16 

Need more faith communities to participate in the interfaith council to 

learn to be inclusive 


16 May feel they are better than non-faith based groups Faith Communities 

16 

So many resources people just don’t know about- the library could close 

that gap 

Reactions: yes—right – We talked at the Lion’s club that there should be 

a website or something where we can pool those things, where can I find 

that? 

Library 

11 

11 

1 

More people should experience the multi cultural retreats so that they 

can better understand each other. Each quarter a different type of org 

(govt., faith based, university) would bring a group of people for a retreat 

focused on multi culturalness. 

There needs to be more accessibility for disabled people, there are 

currently "no rules" on making things accessible, at events and festivals. 

Gender inclusive bathrooms with changing tables in all bathrooms. All 

need to be handicapped accessible. Everyone at table enthusiastic and 

supported. 




5 Regulate or require those places. –diversity training and biases. Local Government 

7 

U+2 is unfair against students and can make them feel like they don't 

belong in Fort Collins because they can't afford to live with fewer 

people. Creates/created a conflict between students and the 

government if they get busted for just trying to survive. It can also be 

discriminatory against LGBT couples who might not be married but have 

kids. 



Table 

14 

14 


Multicultural communication on City's home page 

Website does not have easily accessible language options 

City of fort Collins need to invest in good translation services (not 

google translate) they need to spend time and money on finding 

translators that are sensitive to dialects 

Individual read the original "Art of Belonging" brochure sent to La 

Familia and said whoever created it used google translate and La Familia 

was unable to distribute it to Latino families. Individual had to rewrite 

brochure with correct Spanish. 

There needs to be more outreach activities for low income and 

underserved populations. these activities should be more community 

based and involve the participants who will be attending the event. 

Event coordinators need to "Meet them where they're coming from." 

Participant explained all the many times the city or an organization/ 

institute will hold a cultural event for a minority community, but will 

impose the event onto them. this is not successful. City should do more 

to bring events into the town and community as a whole. There needs to 

be more outreach for elderly population as they are often isolated. 

Individual feels there isn't an expectation for outreach from people like 

law enforcement and mention Red Feather Lakes. 


Player 



1 

1 

Unincorporated Larimer county bus services/ public transport. Young 

students have no access and have to travel of busy N/E area where there 

have been fatalities. Construction also closes/ limits access. Bike lanes 

are there but need more continual improvements. Traffic is a challenge- 

"small town mentality with larger town issues" leads to frustration and 

rudeness 

Online event boards for people to be able to see events that are not on 

the particular email list of events. If you aren't on the email list, then you 

would never know about them. (Community calendar) 

More festivals for cultural events 

Higher more diverse populations (recruit, hire, retain) 

Create more opportunity for diverse populations " 



1 Wifi Access for all Local Government 

1 Make bus stops ADA accessible Local Government 

1 

Create support for mixed neighborhoods so different people get 

experience living with difference 


1 Gender inclusive bathrooms Local Government 

1 Mediation services for community conflict in housing Local Government 

2 Housing- affordable Local Government 

2 Aging Local Government 

2 Mental health Local Government 

2 Migrant workers Local Government 


Table 

2 LGBTQ Local Government 

2 Transportation/ access outside city Local Government 

2 Reliable and late hours/ weekends Local Government 

3 Better health policies Local Government 

3 Examine customer services Local Government 

3 Police training in mental health issues Local Government 

3 Affordable and desirable housing Local Government 

3 Facilitate some kind of online community event site Local Government 

3 More police training for diversity Local Government 

3 

3 

Hire more diverse staff\get city council to make DIE a priority for city 

leaders 

People of color in leadership positions is critical. Find qualified folks and 

get them here 



4 This type of community conversation Local Government 

4 Office of sustainability Local Government 

4 Need to put Latino staff in visible and leadership positons Local Government 

4 

Transportation needs to be accessible and convenient, not all for just 

downtown and csu 


4 Don’t forget Larimer county and law enforcement Local Government 

5 


Provide networking opportunities 

Individual mental health collaboration a lot to help families but not so 

much individuals 

Lead the way toward diversity awareness 

Support an array of affordable housing initiatives and solutions 


Player 


6 Listen more, talk less Local Government 

6 Help not hinder people Local Government 

6 Stop justifying areas of growth Local Government 

6 Hire diverse workforce especially in the diversity and inclusion office Local Government 

6 Hire diverse admin Local Government 

6 Denial of problems that are in existence Local Government 

7 Provide affordable housing Local Government 

7 Have policy representation which represents diverse community interests Local Government 

7 Enhance transportation services- especially to north side Local Government 

7 Have Sunday/holiday bus service Local Government 

7 More resources to support not for profit organizations Local Government 

8 Increase affordable housing Local Government 

8 Solve the homeless people situation Local Government 

8 Stop displacing people from low income neighborhoods Local Government 

9 Hold more workshops like this one! Local Government 

10 Neighborhoods have basic infrastructure (sidewalks) Local Government 

10 Hire for diversity Local Government 


Table 

10 

Library specifically: Do a better job at making people know about their 

programs 


10 Increase their programming to include more ethnic offerings Local Government 

10 Tone down on parking and speed traps Local Government 

11 Community friendly policies in government Local Government 

11 Access to events/festivals for more people with disabilities Local Government 

11 Multicultural diversity training Local Government 

11 Engage more citizens in policy making Local Government 

11 Make it easier for citizens to participate Local Government 

11 Go to where people are at. Don’t expect them to come to you Local Government 

12 

12 

Co creating and creative place making annual summit to share ideas and 

build community around building community 

Continue to introduce ideas related to diversity and inclusion for city 

employees 



13 More public hearings outside of council meeting Local Government 

13 Listen to homeless and do what they need Local Government 

14 Stop trying to be a “white knight” Local Government 

14 Bilingual translation Local Government 

14 Multicultural communication on city home page Local Government 

14 Outreach activities for low income and under served population Local Government 

15 Remove caucus closed limitations by enforcing party elections Local Government 

15 

Foster community and partner involvement in businesses by providing 

community stipends 


16 Multi language skills increased Local Government 

16 Health department needs to update its agenda as for Collins changes Local Government 

16 More youth coalitions Local Government 

16 How to better publicize positives an reasons for not doing things Local Government 

16 Mentor civility in interactions Local Government 

16 

8 

5 


Continue what you are already doing so well let people participate have 

their voice heard use their input to get better 

We need to bring more awarness about racism. There needs to be more 

showing of the film, Fort Collins: Choice City for Whom? We are not 

having a conversation about racism and ignorance. 

Facilitator: What makes it difficult for people to stop being racist? 

"Maybe they don't like hispanics" 

"If they are not willing to change their mentality" 

Seeing different sides of issues and background ands culture-most 

beneficial thing you could do. See things with 360 vision could 

understand everyone/everything. Getting started is the most important: 

could potentially miss a lot of aspects 


Player 


Me 

Me 


Table 

13 

Speak out because silence is complicity 

As individuals we have responsibility to talk about things, participate, 

and remind others in our everyday interactions → being constant voice 

for diverse people, creating respect for others 

Attitude of exceptionalism in FoCO so if no one is talking about issues, 

we are the best and can stay the best 

1 

Continue speaking up 

Find allies in the vision to be more inclusive and affirming of diversity 

Ride my bike more 

Stop my routine and look out for others more 

Me 

Attend more work shops like this 

Join groups: meetups, newcomers 

2 Open mind Me 

2 Involvement Me 

3 

Host neighborhood get-togethers/open houses 

Join groups to volunteer, work on these issues 

Have more listening conversations 

4 I work with csu diverse offices and programs Me 

5 Talk less, listen more Me 

5 Take an active role Me 

5 Engage/participate/volunteer Me 

5 See as many sides of an issue as possible Me 

5 

I work with outreach and engagement within the field of health equity. I 

learn about people different from myself and seek opportunities to 

interact with folks of other cultures 

Me 

6 I talk to diverse groups not just my own Me 

6 Not to profile Me 

6 Get involved in efforts to make a positive change Me 

7 Attend public forums Me 

7 Consistently be aware of who’s not at the table Me 

7 

Inspire others to speak up about their beliefs by inviting them to group 

discussions like this 

7 Question my own pre conceived notions/views Me 

8 Bring awareness about racism Me 

8 


Talk with community about inclusion and diversity. Attend city council to 

speak on behalf of the working poor and Hispanic community 

8 Be able to speak and be heard Me 

9 Be more accepting/ try to understand different cultures Me 

10 

Attend city county wide meeting to help develop diversity needs within 

organizations like senior center, lions club, etc 

Me 

10 Volunteer Me 

10 Find ways to be a lead in the community Me 


Player 

Community Issues Forum 94 

Me 

Me 

Me 

Me

Table 

11 Be an ally for someone different from me Me 

11 

Educate the community about youth homelessness, LGBTQ equality, and 

safe spaces, disability access 

Me 

11 Encourage more individuals to engage in these conversations Me 

11 Share this experience with groups I’m involved in Me 

11 Listen better to peoples stories Me 

11 Work to get youth involved in policy making Me 

12 Reaching out more to our elderly neighbors Me 

12 

Taking more time to clean up my neighborhood as a neighborhood 

project 

13 Speak out- silence is complicity Me 

13 Listen to others Me 

13 I’m do it by attending these meetings Me 

14 

14 

Make more effort to go out and meet, accept, and learn about people in 

the community 

Step out of comfort zone and get to know others- might mean going to 

something I don’t normally go to 

16 I can actively seek out people with other identities to learn more Me 

16 I can stand up against microaggressions Me 

16 


Keep on learning. Not stay silent. Let my voice/ opinion be heard when 

needed 


Player 

Me 

Me 

Me 

Me 


Table 

13 

MEDIA - more inclusive media portrayals 

Even if demographics don’t add up, make ads more diverse to make 

those marginalized populations feel included 

“The more you see something, the more you’ll be okay with it” 

Have more diversity in media will make it more normalized… the actual 

population will feel more accepting and able and comfortable to catch 

up 

Still some things that aren’t inclusive → never actually dealt with racism 

here even if it’s not as inclusive as it could be, there’s rarely actually open 

racism (compared to major cities like growing up in Denver) 

Inclusivity and diversity are here in fort Collins but needs to be open 

about that diversity existing, you can see it in this room, need to 

promote that throughout the city 

When only perception of diverse ethnicity is what the media portrays: 

this is the start and end of where the problems come from and can 

change 

Once you have someone to vouch for you and no this is not a scary 

person or a scary place and that breaks down those walls → people are 

scared of what is foreign and what is not us 

Sitting in student center w/ white, Indian, and black (Self) roommates → 

ask black man if he plays football or basketball and when he said no they 

asked well then what are you here for? --> That was his most overt ex. of 

racism here in his whole life (now an old man) and even that was just out 

of ignorance 

Media 

1 Arts programs Miscellaneous 

1 

Foundation provide funds for leadership development at residents in 

neighborhoods that are in transition (Northside fort Collins) [the new 

frontier] 

Miscellaneous 

2 Federal government Miscellaneous 

2 Students Miscellaneous 

3 

Need some sort of central community calendar location website where 

every organization can enter events, services. Time after time I hear 

people say they never knew till after something was over and maybe or 

maybe not ( a lot) saw it in the newspaper. Even the city doesn’t know 

what the left hand is dong verses the right hand at times. This would Miscellaneous 

help make the city more inclusive. People would see totally new things 

to try where they wouldn’t know the actual individual website to 

research. Need to include city county, csu, organizations, FRCC, clubs, 

etc. 

4 More inclusive/realistic media portrayals in society Miscellaneous 

4 Ending media perpetuated stereotypes Miscellaneous 

5 


Transportation: expand MAX bus to the university center for the arts at 

CSU. 


Player 

Miscellaneous 


Table 

6 Accessibility Miscellaneous 

6 More accessibility in all buildings as a requirement Miscellaneous 

7 

Encourage politicians to better follow the community guidelines. I.e. be 

brief, listen with curiosity! etc 

Miscellaneous 

9 Hospitals Miscellaneous 

9 

Provide education classes and services at senior center and through 

aspen club provide access to services to all citizens in community 

Miscellaneous 

9 Provide information and research for health to diverse populations Miscellaneous 

10 Poudre Library Miscellaneous 

10 

Needs to collaborate with local organizations and work towards being 

the hub of information for our community 

Miscellaneous 

10 Should promote or give voice to local/diverse organizations Miscellaneous 

10 Do provide educational and cultural programs Miscellaneous 

12 Is Fort Collins becoming a “white city”? Miscellaneous 

15 

5 

7 

11 

1 

Trans-fort transportation: Sunday service and evening use max as 

backbone target senior and out of reach locations 

Don’t identify as a certain neighborhood. Hard to see where they are. 

Renters come and go. Hard to keep track of. Very tough due to lack of 

understanding. –promoting neighborhood to have block parties and 

outreach events to gather more people together and come to a 

community. –knowing your neighbors is important to have a connection. 

Establishing neighborhood coalitions to promote diversity and including 

where they live. Residents felt discriminated against the (story)HOA 

owner and are starting to organize to argue and fight against ir because 

it is ridiculous how people are getting kicked out. This is happening 

between latino communities and their Caucasian landlords 

Have block parties/get to know your neighbors, the barrier is getting 

people interested. Also a block party has to be registered, and this is 

tough especially around campus. There are a lot of unorganized 

neighborhoods, and they want to give them a voice. 

" 

Hold events that promote getting to know each other like yard sale, 

group volunteer project 

Miscellaneous 

Neighborhood 

Neighborhood 

Neighborhood 

Neighborhood 

1 Use next door app Neighborhood 

1 Wave to each other Neighborhood 

1 Make an effort to meet new neighbors Neighborhood 

1 Be good neighbors Neighborhood 

1 Students have issues with landlords with causes disputes with neighbors Neighborhood 

1 


Have a “sister city” type relationship with underserved communities 

where we get to know people from different areas and experiences. 


Player 

Neighborhood 

2 Help with school communities Neighborhood 

2 Open to diversity Neighborhood 


Table 

2 Open to holding forums to discuss community issuies Neighborhood 

3 Neighborhood centers for parents and preschool Neighborhood 

3 Neighborhood service projects Neighborhood 

3 Neighborhood cleanup days Neighborhood 

3 Host block parities Neighborhood 

3 Community potlucks Neighborhood 

4 Helped me move my car in the snow Neighborhood 

4 Neighborhood block parties that bring people together Neighborhood 

4 Free programing in neighborhood parks Neighborhood 

4 

Could use more neighborhood diversity events in old town 

neighborhoods beyond marathons and foco mix and beer festival 

Neighborhood 

5 Outreach Neighborhood 

5 Interconnection Neighborhood 

6 People welcome new neighbor Neighborhood 

6 Host open houses/ potlucks/ block parties Neighborhood 

6 Fix streets Neighborhood 

6 

7 

Help neighbors participate in civic processes- offer rides, or take notes, 

or something else to allow folks to participate 

Establish neighborhood groups/ coalitions to enhance diversity where 

they live. 

Neighborhood 

Neighborhood 

8 

For manager to work with community with respect. To see the 

community playground improved with all age equipment 

Neighborhood 

8 Public meeting to address concerns and ideas Neighborhood 

9 More diversity/ diverse groups of people within communities Neighborhood 

10 

Needs to change you plus 2 law to something more reasonable for 

students and potential home buyers 

Neighborhood 

10 Good at keeping neighborhood clean, snow free, and well kept Neighborhood 

10 

Does well, neighborhood night out. Would like more opportunities for 

people to meet socialize with neighbors 

Neighborhood 

11 Have block parties to build a sense of community Neighborhood 

11 Tools for neighborhoods to raise a sense of community Neighborhood 

12 

12 

13 

Form registered neighborhood orgs to hold inclusive forums for 

addressing community development issues 

Encourage communication methods to allow folks to age in place/ 

community by helping neighbors with minor chores, shopping, etc. 

Communication between CSU and local neighbors in regard to 

transportation 

Neighborhood 

Neighborhood 

Neighborhood 

13 Care for the open spaces/ plants/ animals Neighborhood 

14 Have more street gatherings Neighborhood 

14 Welcome new neighbors Neighborhood 

15 


Create neighborhood support structures (social media groups, 

networking groups) 


Player 

Neighborhood 


Table 

15 More in person contact opportunities Neighborhood 

16 Need more cross pollination get north to partner with south Neighborhood 

16 Highlight cultural identities Neighborhood 

16 Allow low income housing into their midst Neighborhood 

16 

5 

5 

Neighbors get to know each other. If the neighborhood does not have a 

leader to organize neighborhood, city- please step up and offer 

something to the neighborhood under your leadership 

Need to recognize these more and make them more relevant to the 

community. 

focuses on family and children on mental health. Summit stone is only 

one but expanding resources for adults in mental health would be great. 

–looking at all of these connections, trying to make connections between 

them. Enter and drive at the same time. 

Focuses on family and children on mental health. Summit stone is only 

one but expanding resources for adults in mental health would be great. 

–looking at all of these connections, trying to make connections between 

them. Enter and drive at the same time. 

Neighborhood 



1 Hold more open houses to invite community members in their door Non-Profit 

1 


Have groups that are working on similar projects with similar groups 

collaborate more- city can facilitate? 


Player 


1 Reach out to non traditional audiences like outdoor organizations Non-Profit 

2 Aging Non-Profit 

2 Homelessness Non-Profit 

2 Food Non-Profit 

2 LGBTQ youth housing Non-Profit 

2 Education on community issues Non-Profit 

3 United way could bring related non profits together to collaborate Non-Profit 

3 Inclusivity, diversity equity training for all staff including leaders Non-Profit 

3 

Examine client services (for providing) in respectful strength based 

welcoming environments. Approach collective impact! 


4 Bohemian foundation Non-Profit 

4 Project self sufficiency Non-Profit 

4 Foco café Non-Profit 

4 Team fc Non-Profit 

5 Connect more with existing organizations Non-Profit 

5 network Non-Profit 

6 Collaborate with one another- collective impact Non-Profit 

6 Train staff on cultural competence Non-Profit 

6 Hire diverse workforce by hiring talents and not degrees Non-Profit 

7 Support for more access to meet needs (unserved needs) Non-Profit 

8 Education Non-Profit 

8 Services to under severed populations Non-Profit 


Table 

8 advocating Non-Profit 

9 

I think they’re already doing so much that I don’t know about, so I can’t 

really say what they could be doing more of. 


9 No competition- trabajar juntos Non-Profit 

10 

Role: assist all people who have a particular need (food, shelter, special 

circumstances) 


10 Should try to reduce duplication Non-Profit 

10 Use data to identify gaps in services Non-Profit 

10 

Community weaving- collaborate with a non profit and a community 

organization 


10 Collective impact Non-Profit 

11 Gender identity and sexual orientation equity Non-Profit 

11 Reducing rape culture Non-Profit 

11 More cultural centers/ orgs Non-Profit 

11 

Increased education for non profits on how to be advocates and how to 

change current systems 


11 Access for people with disabilities at festivals and events Non-Profit 

13 Stop duplication where possible Non-Profit 

13 Support youth programs Non-Profit 

13 Inclusive of different abilities Non-Profit 

14 

14 

15 

Responsible for knowing what other non profits to do so they don’t 

overlap a lot of services and fight for funding 

Make sure entire community knows about them and what it can offer the 

public 

Resource databases for under privileged populations, helping people to 

get involved to increase participation make for better economic growth 

by opening up to partnering 




16 Using resources effectively Non-Profit 

16 Collaborating Non-Profit 

16 It is a continuous, never ending process Non-Profit 

16 Senior center- provide services to all citizens in the community 

People in the 


5 

14 


Understanding the different cultures and people that are living in this city 

and try to make it a more welcoming and less cliquey town 

We have to make more of a push to welcome and integrate people who 

are different from us (white people). 

1 Be welcoming to diverse cultures 

1 Continue learning 

1 Ask questions instead of judging and discriminating 


Player 

People in the 


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Table 

1 Go out of your typical routine to meet diverse people 

1 

Don’t accept problems—for example with different rules in trailer home 

areas—this is unacceptable. 

2 FOOD 

2 Become aware and educated 

2 LGBTQ acceptance 

3 Engage in actions to influence city government 

3 Vote 

3 Join groups 

3 Go to representative’s open forums 

3 Write letters 

3 Welcome neighbors 

3 Landlords lower rent 

3 Offer assistance to individuals in need—homeless, hungry, lost. 

3 Listen to each other’s stories 

4 Show Betty Aragon’s film about the need for Latino/a acceptance in F.C. 

5 Challenge ways of thinking 

5 Community involvement 

5 


Speak up/talk to local government officials and representatives about 

concerns or issues that negatively impact diversity or inclusion in our 

community 

6 Challenge ways of thinking 

6 Community involvement 


Player 

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Table 

6 

Speak up/talk to local government officials and representatives about 

concerns or issues that negatively impact diversity or inclusion in our 

community 

8 Work together as a community 

8 Feel with rights 

9 Speak up/ be proactive about community needs 

9 Reach out to new people in the community 

10 People need to be able to access transit 

10 People need to feel welcome in public spaces 

10 People need to hear about opportunities to get their voice heard 

10 Affordable housing 

10 OFFER LANGUAGE CLASSES 

11 Get outside your comfort zone 

11 Reach out/awareness 

11 Realize that prejudice happens in Fort Collins 

11 Promote safe spaces for all identities 

11 Be aware of the community in which you live 

11 Poverty is real 

11 Homelessness is real 

11 Inequity in our schools is happening 

12 Get engaged—be part of the solution 

12 


Volunteer—get a goal each year and find new issues/causes to engage 

with 

12 Increase awareness, understanding, acceptance 


Player 

People in the 


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Table 

13 Be accepting 

13 Don’t be a jerk/scary 

13 Learn another language 

13 Host a foreign student 

15 All people involved and included 

15 

Offer more mixed scheduling [for events] to include 2nd and 3rd shift 

workers 

16 Publicize individual events that are part of their community 

16 People like to help—they just may not know how/are fearful 

16 Encourage partnership with diverse communities 

16 It’s okay not to be involved 

12 

5 


University: Broadcast debates on diversity issues 

Big schools often do debates that are broadcast on the radio, like is free 

speech alive and well on campuses 

We should have these forums 

The conversation needs to breech through the usual players 

More people have opinions that would never show up here 

We always here that Ferguson could never happen here, but it could 

And it has to Latino populations. 

We've seen the party areas, Trayvon Martin could happen here 

University: connect more with the city by merging more with other 

schools around the city, and businesses-having them back their university 


Player 

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University 

University 


Table 

13 


UNIVERSITY: dictation rather than communal/inclusive decision with the 

community, only inclusive of city officials they need to pass their votes 

-Agrees → the parking issue within neighborhoods right around CSU is 

horrible 

-There is no venue for communication between CSU and neighborhoods 

on these issues 

-Need serious solution for this … can’t just call yourself a green campus 

by having students park in neighborhoods surrounding, make enough on 

campus, cheap parking! 

- Need better infrastructure laid down for these students 

- Is there even an on-going way to communicate between the city and 

CSU as a person who lives in a student neighborhood? 

- Meetings for Campus West with CSUPD and community → this was 

built b/c it was a serious problem area 

- Dense student living areas increases lots of problems → crime is 

concerning in it’s heightened increment 

- It’s better than a lot of places but how do we keep it from getting to 

that level 


Player 

University 

1 Partner more with community University 

1 Offer csu culture speakers etc events for all community University 

1 

1 

Intentionally invite groups feeling disenfranchised- lower income/ethnic 

groups 

Partner in professional development to offer diversity and inclusivity 

throughout our community not just on campus 

University 

University 

1 Provide students with tools to be good neighbors University 

2 Housing University 

2 Mental health University 

2 LGBTQ University 

2 Education on community issues University 

2 Diversity training University 

3 Publicize more campus events to community University 

3 

3 

3 

3 

Examine more ways to collaborate with the city (programs, speakers, 

events, etc) 

More events that encourage students to become involved in the 

community 

Provide expertise to community at very low cost night improve town/ 

growth relations 

Welcome community member to campus- perhaps a welcome and get 

involved” centered effort 

University 

University 

University 

University 

3 Affordable desirable housing University 

4 Attracts diverse employees and students, speakers University 


Table 

4 

Raise awareness about diversity through programs, events, campaigns, 

etc 

University 

4 

Does yearlong diversity programming and is a space where some 

individuals experience the most diversity they’ve ever experienced 

University 

4 FRCC University 

4 ROTC athletic dept. University 

5 Connect with neighborhoods University 

5 Community outreach University 

6 Hiring role models as examples University 

6 

6 

6 

7 

Help students connect with neighbors and be citizens of fort Collinsengage 

Act as a community hub- network resources, bring diverse individuals 

together 

Have every new student/staff/faculty member go through a great 

diversity program including visual voices 

Better awareness of international students around campus and the 

programs students can get involved in to make them feel welcomed 

University 

University 

University 

University 

7 Addressing of discrimination by CSU staff, faculty, students, etc University 

7 

Making a “no nonsense” policy so those that are discriminated against 

don’t feel ignored 

University 

7 Requiring ethnic studies, gender, sexuality and women’s studies courses University 

7 

Requiring participation of men in the movement to address sexual 

assault and not always putting role on survivors 

University 

8 Collaborate with community facilitate training for community University 

9 

Promote feelings of safety on/around the neighborhoods to the campus 

by promoting many different opportunities to help member of the larger 

fort Collins community. Varied cultural exposure 

University 

10 Affordable housing University 

10 Food access University 

10 International cultural events University 

10 Giving great student and social resources to different diverse students University 

10 Good student organization University 

11 Engage in community University 

11 Encourage employees to be advocates in community University 

11 Recognize community involvement for tenure University 

11 Establish better partnerships with psd especially for teacher training University 

12 Public broadcasted debates on community development issues University 

12 Integrate students into community and service opportunity University 

12 


More vocal advocacy for marginalized communizes in fort Collins 

(housing, diversity etc. more committed off campus) 


Player 

University 

12 Developming a sound relationship with rest of the community University 


Table 

12 

13 

13 

13 

Should spend less time breaking diverse students out into their own 

groups and more time educating the “white” population to be more 

welcoming 

The university can provide bussing from the old stadium for their 

students instead of having them park in city or community housing 

parking 

Include Fort Collins in decisions, don’t just dictate. Create a university 

board 

The university can admit a more diverse student body to make fort 

Collins a more accepting community 

University 

University 

University 

University 

14 Teach diversity inclusion classes as requirement University 

15 Better vehicle and foot path transit University 

15 

Use golf carts rather than a bus that doesn’t penetrate campus inner 

paths 

University 

16 University contributes hugely to the economy of the city University 

16 

2 


They can be more mindful of allowing the campus to be used by city, 

nonprofit, and business organizations 

Hire more diverse populations (recruit, hire, retain) 

Create more opportunity for diverse populations (specifically at CSU) 


Player 

University 

University

Community Issues Forum: Art of Belonging

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