Perspective: Colorado COVID fund provides $23 million

Over the last year, Coloradans have been challenged like never before. This global pandemic created economic distress and forced us all to recalibrate our daily lives. Coloradans who live without access to critical services due to race and socioeconomic status have been especially hard hit.

In the early days of the pandemic, businesses were temporarily shuttered and some closed permanently. Many people found themselves out of work, unable to pay rent and mortgages, or feed their families. Calls tripled to 211, Colorado’s helpline, illustrating the immense need of so many Coloradans. In the face of these unprecedented challenges, we knew immediately that we had to come together to help.

On March 18, just two weeks after Colorado announced its first case of COVID-19, Gov. Jared Polis called us to launch the Colorado COVID Relief Fund to raise funds to address the public health crisis our state was facing. The Fund’s grants aimed to support organizations providing critical services to Coloradans most disproportionately impacted by the crisis.

As the days and months grew long, one thing remained a bright light in the midst of this darkness — the outstanding generosity of our fellow Coloradans. With contributions from individuals, companies, and foundations ranging from one dollar to one million dollars, each gift represented the sameurgentintenttoprovide help and hope to those Coloradans most in need. This fund became a mechanism by which Coloradans stepped up to support one another and show the true spirit of our state. The Fund received equal contributions from Colorado businesses, foundations and individuals, including more than 11,000 small donors through the helpcoloradonow.org website.

Through seven total rounds of rapid response funding, the Fund has awarded more than $23 million to nearly a thousand organizations serving all 64 Colorado counties. These dollars have gone to community based organizations supporting children and families impacted by school closures, Coloradans without health insurance, folks who lost their jobs, victims of domestic abuse, people experiencing homelessness, and so many more.

Mile High United Way stepped up to provide fiscal management at no cost, and The Colorado Health Foundation lent experts to create an application experience that ensured every dollar donated reached those most in need. Volunteers from throughout the state then reviewed and ranked thousands of requests and made the very difficult decisions regarding funding.

Grant funding was used to support critical needs across Colorado. The Mountain Roots Food Project in Gunnison used their grant to repurpose several local restaurants to prepare and distribute 1,000 meals every week for families facing food insecurity. The YWCA Pueblo utilized the additional dollars to continue providing essential services and housing to victims of domestic violence and their children. Sister Carmen in Lafayette helped provide bilingual advocates to help Coloradans navigate services during the pandemic, and at times provided direct rent and utility assistance.

There are hundreds of stories like these across our state, true representations of what it means to be Coloradan.

The Colorado COVID Relief Fund remains open and Coloradans can continue to make donations by check or wire. After a rigorous seven round process that was completely volunteer driven, we will utilize the 11 regional United Ways across Colorado to continue granting relief dollars and supporting Coloradans on a statewide scale. We’re thrilled the governor will continue donating his monthly salary to the fund.

Looking back on 2020, we can see how far we’ve come and we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. As we move forward, there is plenty that we’d all like to leave behind, but let us bring that spirit of generosity and kindness toward each other and our community with us into this new year.

Christine Benero is president and CEO of the Mile High United Way and Karen McNeil Miller is president and CEO of The Colorado Health Foundation.