We’ve all found ourselves in a difficult situation and we aren’t always sure where to turn. Pikes Peak Library District offers community resources across the District. Our Community Resources Specialists are here to help you navigate and connect with services by providing referrals and information to get the help you need for your specific situation. Reach out and meet with a Community Resource Specialist at the Library most convenient to you, or contact them by phone or email. We are happy to support you in finding the best resources for you and your needs.
Contact PPLD's Community Resources
- By phone: 719-531-6333 x2506
- By email: communityresources@ppld.org
- By webform: https://ppld.org/contact-us
Common questions from our patrons include
- How to replace personal documents (ID, birth certificate, social security card, etc)
- How to find affordable housing
- How to go about applying for disability
- Where to receive specific services like mental health, medical, or substance use treatment
Crisis Help:
- Mental Health Crisis: 988 (call or text)
- Colorado Crisis Services: 1-844-493-8255
- Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
- Veterans Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255 or text 838255
Emergency Shelter:
- The Salvation Army RJMC (serving families) (719) 578-9190
- Springs Rescue Mission (serving adults 18 and over) (719) 632-1822
- The Place (serving youth ages 15-20) 719-244-3959 (open) or 719-205-7129 (after hours)
- TESSA (serving survivors of domestic violence) (719) 633-3819
Other Resources:
- Helping Hands Guide
- Eviction Information
- Apply for Medicaid, Childcare, and Food Assistance
- Tough Topics
Note: PPLD’s Community Resources Staff are not case managers or case workers.
The 2020 Census is here and it’s not too late to complete it! It is important to fill it out so that local agencies (PPLD included!) have accurate information to use when designing community services. It's safe, easy, and required for all citizens to fill out.
COMPLETE YOUR CENSUS NOW.
In March, homes across the country received invitations to complete the 2020 Census with instructions for responding to the census online, in the mail, or over the phone.
Remember that April 1 is a reference date, not a deadline to respond. When you respond online, by phone, or by mail, count everyone living in your home as of April 1, 2020.
Beginning in August 2020, households that haven't responded yet may receive an in-person visit or call from a Census Bureau employee to help make sure everyone is counted.
As of June 11, El Paso County’s self-response rate, is now at 68.6%, which is higher than Colorado’s self-response rate of 63.4%! We are ranked number 18 in response rates by state, and higher than the national self-response rate of 60.8%!
Here’s a quick refresher of what it is and why it’s essential that everyone is counted.
- Everyone counts: The census counts every person living in the United States once, only once, and in the right place.
- It’s about fair representation: Every 10 years, the results of the census are used to reapportion the House of Representatives, determining how many seats each state gets.
- It’s in the Constitution: The U.S. Constitution mandates that everyone in the country be counted every 10 years. The first census was in 1790.
- It’s about $675 billion: The distribution of more than $675 billion in federal funds, grants, and support to states, counties, and communities are based on census data. That money is spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works, and other vital programs (like libraries!).
- It’s about redistricting: After each decade’s census, state officials redraw the boundaries of the congressional and state legislative districts in their states to account for population shifts.
- Taking part is your civic duty: Completing the census is mandatory: it’s a way to participate in our democracy and say “I COUNT!”
Census data are being used all around you:
- Residents use the census to support community initiatives involving legislation, quality-of-life, and consumer advocacy.
- Businesses use census data to decide where to build factories, offices, and stores, which create jobs.
- Local governments use the census for public safety and emergency preparedness.
- Real estate developers use the census to build new homes and revitalize old neighborhoods.
Your privacy is protected.
It’s against the law for the Census Bureau to publicly release your responses in any way that could identify you or your household. By law, your responses cannot be used against you and can only be used to produce statistics.
The Census Bureau uses a different method to count people in group living situations, called “group quarters,” such as college student housing, prisons, military barracks, and nursing homes. People experiencing homelessness (and who are not staying in a household) will be counted at the places where they receive services, such as shelters and soup kitchens.
2020 will be easier than ever.
In 2020, you will be able to respond to the census online. The online questionnaire will be available in 13 languages.
Click here to learn more!
With a determined posture and a set look on her face, Kim Seaborn takes a deep breath to begin another take.
After singing a few lines, she stops, looking satisfied.
“I think we got it,” says Keagan Kellogg, sound engineer for Studio916.
Seaborn relaxes her shoulders and smiles before stepping away from the microphone to celebrate with the rest of the team. Her full-length album: officially a wrap.
Seaborn worked for weeks alongside Kellogg and Studio916 producer TerryJosiah Sharpe to record her second full-length album without incurring any expenses, inside a facility of Pikes Peak Library District.
“Here, I got to work with professionals,” Seaborn says. “I found the team here was so easy to work with and just really let me be myself, and they helped me flourish creatively.”
Seaborn started performing in front of her church’s congregation when she was just a sixth grader, and remembers the intensely overwhelming feeling of impacting the crowd.
“I saw people crying,” Seaborn remembers. “Seeing that emotion from the crowd… that was something I liked. If I can get a person to be transformed with my singing, that’s what makes it worthwhile to me.”
But standing up in front of large groups wasn’t something that came naturally to her.
“I’m a very shy person,” Seaborn says. “When I was growing up, I tried to do things that would take me out of that shyness. I felt singing was one of the things I could do to get me out of my shell.”
Her first album, His Glory, was completed in 2014. She was ready to record another one soon after but wanted to break away from the traditional feel of her first full-length album.
Plus, the sheer cost of recording an album was another hurdle.
“These hours in the recording studio can cost thousands of dollars,” Seaborn remembers.
But then she learned of a studio she could use at no cost at Sand Creek Library: Studio916. She attended a studio orientation to learn more about using the space. Then, she checked every day for open studio sessions because they were so frequently booked.
As she got into the studio more and more, Seaborn found that she had a team of experts at her disposal in Kellogg and Sharpe. “It helped me break out of my shell,” she remembers. “When you have people who know what they’re doing, it just gels.”
Now, Seaborn has a vision for her future as a musician, hoping to record more music as well as further market herself as a singer/songwriter and get her music out into the world.
She hopes other aspiring artists in the Pikes Peak region will take advantage of Studio916.
“To these young people with a dream, I say go for it,” Seaborn says. “If music is something that is a part of your purpose and you’re willing to put in some work, do it. It is thousands of dollars to do elsewhere what you can do at the Library for free.”