The new name reflects a growing footprint across 31 counties in Southern Colorado, an area Farmer said includes more than 640,000 residents and nearly 264,000 households. Across those counties, she said, an average of 45% of households are either living in poverty or fall below the ALICE threshold, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
ALICE households earn more than the federal poverty level but still struggle to afford basic needs such as housing, childcare, transportation, food, health care and utilities. Farmer said the numbers are especially stark for single female-headed households with children, with an average of 80% across the region falling into the ALICE category.
“These are not people disconnected from the workforce,” Farmer said. “These are our teachers, our health care workers, child care providers, retail employees, nonprofit staff, first responders, hospitality and agricultural workers, and countless others who are working hard every day, yet continue to face significant financial challenges.”
For Pueblo, the change raises an immediate question: What happens to the local United Way?
Farmer and board leaders emphasized that Pueblo County is not being left behind. The organization was founded in Pueblo in 1923, and its headquarters will remain downtown. Donations designated for Pueblo County will continue to support Pueblo programs and partnerships, Farmer said.
“Pueblo County is not losing its United Way,” Farmer said. “This is where our organization was founded, and it is where our headquarters will remain.”
Nathan Cape, vice chair of the United Way board of trustees, said the board approached the decision as a governance issue tied to the organization’s future sustainability.
Cape said trustees spent considerable time examining community needs, partnership opportunities and the changing landscape facing nonprofit organizations. One question, he said, kept coming back: Did the organization’s name still reflect the work it was doing and the opportunities ahead?
The board concluded it did not.
“This decision was never about leaving Pueblo behind,” Cape said. “Pueblo is where the organization was founded more than a century ago. Pueblo is where our headquarters will remain, and Pueblo is where generations of donors, volunteers, nonprofit partners and community leaders have helped to build an organization that we are incredibly proud of today.”