Sara Sandstrom-Kobi, Nederland. Nederland Community Presbyterian Church (NCPC) is not new to being neighborly. For over one hundred years they have been serving the community.

In the early 1900’s a miner could rent a pew for about a dollar a month for a quiet and safe place to sleep. During the influenza pandemic in 1917-1918 the women of NCPC made sure children of the community had food. Some thirty years ago a food pantry was started in the church and it is still providing for the community today. After the Vietnam War, NCPC teamed up with St. Rita’s Catholic Church and sponsored a refugee family from Vietnam. 

Today they host the Rocky Mountain Mission every summer. Youth come from around the country to serve our community. The church also helps the homeless and summer campers in the area with a weekly meal and forest safety. 

Two years ago, NCPC hired Claudia Schauffler to be an advocate with their mission to the homeless. When the Covid-19 pandemic became a part of our lives, nonprofits in the area came together to figure out how to support the community. An anonymous donor gifted NCPC the funds to create a position as Community Advocate during this time. Claudia was hired to be that advocate. 

NCPC pastor Hansen Wendlandt says, “The goal is to take care of the people who are in a vulnerable place and to be a good neighbor.”

This position is less than part time and will go month to month. If you know Claudia she puts her heart and soul into roles like this. She has years of experience in public health and is a light to the community. 

Claudia is in charge of organizing volunteers to help anyone who needs help in the area. She says, “We have an amazing group of volunteers that may not have known each other before this and are fast becoming friends. We have met some amazing people that we have been able to help and are becoming our new friends, also.”

Claudia and her team pick up prescriptions and pre-ordered groceries for residents. They have delivered food from food banks. Firewood has been donated and delivered. Snow plowing and shoveling has also been done. They make calls to make sure people are okay in isolation and even a local therapist is helping folks with professional help and support. 

Area nonprofits are coming together to provide the basic needs to community members who need an extra hand right now. Claudia is organizing and advocating for the vulnerable in the current crisis that we are all experiencing. 

Please, reach out to Claudia if you or someone you know needs help. This could mean getting groceries or a simple phone call to stave off loneliness. She can be reached at 303-258-3387 or nedadvocate@gmail.com. 

Let’s keep our community strong and serve each other.

(Originally published in the April 2, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)