In January of 2020, our neighbor — a single dad of two young girls who works as a cook — unexpectedly became the guardian of his two nieces when their father was incarcerated by ICE. We rallied our community to provide for them, then realized — hey, we could scale this. So we did.
Then COVID hit. We went into high gear, delivering food & other necessary items to our housebound neighbors and those without transportation, and starting our weekly free pantry serving both housed and unhoused neighbors.
While we no longer offer delivery, we have expanded our services in lots of other ways!
In one year, Swing By Street Supply distributed free of charge to the most vulnerable folks in our Aurora & Denver community:
Over 50,000 lbs of free shelf-stable food and pantry supplies
5,000 free diapers per month (+ baby wipes, clothes, baby equipment, formula, etc.)
10,000 lbs of free dog food and 5,000 lbs of free cat food (+ pet supplies)
24 pallets of hygiene supplies (haircare, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, period products, etc.)
Hundreds of COVID tests and thousands of masks
Medical equipment, including walkers, wheelchairs, and even an electric wheelchair!
- Clothing, furniture, and household items
We also helped people access services offered in the community, such as rental assistance, mortgage assistance, free legal assistance, and motel vouchers. We helped multiple women leave domestic abuse situations. We assisted with a free weekly community barbeque for our unhoused neighbors, provided snacks for children’s programs at two Aurora libraries, and delivered food, water, and books to the Safe Outdoor Space in Aurora. When arctic temperatures came to the Denver metro area, we helped to mobilize a large network of street outreach volunteers around the clock to protect our unhoused neighbors from dangerously low temperatures, distributing life-saving cold weather gear (tents, tarps, clothing, blankets, hats, gloves & socks), providing hot food & drinks, and building specially-designed tent heaters that run on 91% isopropyl alcohol.
Last but not least, we shared resources and donations generously with other mutual aid organizations across the state of Colorado. And we did it all on a shoestring budget with very little overhead and virtually no administrative costs, as we are an all-volunteer organization!
We are based along the East Colfax corridor on the Denver / Aurora border, and our work spans both cities. Our neighborhood is the most racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse in the state of Colorado — and also historically and currently under-resourced. We are fiercely proud of and protective of our community, and want to see our neighbors thrive, as we all should.
Everyone deserves to have their basic needs met!
Let’s make it happen, together.
Check out our roots.
The city of Aurora shut down our first food pantry. See the story here