We love celebrating our colleagues and giving back to our community, so we combined these two loves several years ago. Each month, BlueModus’ Management Team selects two colleagues who shine and represent the values that make this a great workplace. These two colleagues select a charity, and we donate to it on their behalf.

For January 2023, one of those colleagues is Chris Blaylock. He joined the BlueModus Team in February 2022 as a System Administrator on our Infrastructure Team. From his very first day, Chris has provided tremendous value to our team and clients. He embodies the level of service we want from our colleagues, and his willingness to help anyone and anywhere is unparalleled.

Chris has selected Safe Boulder for a $500 donation from BlueModus. Safe Boulder is focused on fighting for the rights of unhoused people in Boulder, Colorado, and surrounding areas through mutual aid and direct action. It organizes weekly food and supply distros every Tuesday and Wednesday evening, including warm food, water, and various survival supplies such as lighters, candles, gloves, flashlights, tents, tarps, and sleeping bags.

“Safe Boulder does everything they can to support the unhoused folks around the Boulder area directly,” said Chris. “I drop my wife off at the library 4-5 times a week, and like clockwork, I see the Safe Boulder folks doing all they can to treat people with dignity and keep them fed and warm. I can’t think of a better use of the money, especially given all the changes to the library recently. They’re going to need the support.”

Safe Boulder is committed to mutual aid, not charity. Mutual aid is a community relationship in which people freely share goods and skills without necessarily expecting to receive anything in return. Mutual aid is reciprocal in that it seeks to build a mutual relationship of sharing between participants. Still, it is not transactional in that participants should not expect an “even trade” for aid rendered. Unlike charity, which establishes an explicit separation (and implicit hierarchy) between giver and receiver, mutual aid brings a community together with each participant acting as giver and receiver alike: from each according to our ability, to each according to our need.

Please visit the Safe Boulder website to learn more about how you can support its essential cause.