PUEBLO COOPERATIVE CARE CENTER

Pueblo Cooperative Care Center serves some of the poorest people in Colorado and our commitment is to provide needed food, clothing, homeless showers and other life essentials where it is needed most. Food insecurity, hunger, obesity, poor personal hygiene and inequitable access to healthy, affordable foods are multifaceted issues, and rising income inequality, high costs of housing, transportation and medical care, as well as changing tax structures are all leading factors of poverty. Food and clothing insecurity contributes to disease and sickness, and we continue to have an increased request for services every month from senior citizens, veterans, homeless and low-income individuals and families, many with small children.

Our goal is to provide adequate resources to help improve on quality of life, and to discover innovative ways to address challenges. Ultimately, we also want to be one of many gateways for support that will lead to individual and family self-sufficiency. Fiscal contributions, food and other donations have decreased in past few years and we believe this a reflection of the economic climate in Pueblo County. The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has only increased our challenges as we are now serving 170+ individuals and families every day. We recognize we must work diligently to procure additional resources, be wise in the use of resources received to meet increased requests for services. It is a challenging task, but our mission unites diverse groups which have guided our history of leadership and success.

Our ability to provide adequate food resources is dependent upon many strong, diverse collaborations and partnerships. We reach out every day to form new alliances. We strongly align with the Colorado Health Foundation who believes that “health is a basic human right” as they engage closely with communities across Colorado through investment, policy advocacy, education and capacity building. Pueblo Cooperative Care Center has endorsed the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger and supports their vision where “all Coloradans will have access to affordable and healthy food in their communities.”

We are ever mindful of the generosity expressed by churches, individuals, businesses, civic organizations, schools and public and private funding organizations throughout Colorado and beyond who support our mission. We appreciate our alliance with the U.S. Post Office and National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and their annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive campaign. This was canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19. We appreciate every donor, and we make every attempt to acknowledge their contributions of time, energy and resources. We endeavor to remain accountable to the public in the use of every resource, and we firmly believe in maintaining the trust imparted upon Pueblo Cooperative Care Center.