Change the Trend is not a service provider, but rather fosters a community where all sectors take collective responsibility to address social need.

In 2017, in Englewood, CO, a group of people from diverse backgrounds decided to join forces to explore collaborative ways to address homelessness.  This group, comprised of faith leaders, nonprofit leaders, law enforcement, city employees, and elected officials, took a bet that building relationships across sectors of a community, rooted in a shared value of lessening the impact of homelessness, could produce truly comprehensive solutions.  

Several years later, this bet has paid off tremendously.  That original group of stakeholders has grown into the Change the Trend Network, a consortium of over thirty agencies that meets weekly to work together on addressing homelessness throughout the Tri-Cities of Englewood, Littleton, and Sheridan.  Change the Trend has learned that building social capital amongst stakeholders can be a deeply effective method of addressing social need.  

For Change the Trend, social capital is measured by 1) the level of trust between different stakeholders, 2) the level of collaboration in each stakeholder’s individual work, and 3) the capacity for collective action around an issue.  Over the last several years, Change the Trend has facilitated and maintained trust between law enforcement, city/county officials, and the service provider community.  The network has seen its agencies rally around the initiatives of other partners, and has completed multiple shared projects around homelessness.  This work has amounted to a stakeholder community characterized by deep relationships, excitement around shared initiatives, and willingness to move towards greater levels of coordination in the region’s overall approach to addressing homelessness.  

Change the Trend is not a service provider, but the network serves service providers by fostering a community where it is easy to serve the vulnerable, where those on the front lines of engaging this work are cared for, and where all sectors of the community take collective responsibility to do their part to address social need.

To link your agency with the Change the Trend, reach out at changethetrendnetwork@gmail.com